The Case of Ryan Leslie- Where Talent, Passion and Drive Collide

On New year's Eve 2008, I was down in the dumps; distressed that I would have to make a transition from the career goals I had set and had been working on for a long time to something else. I had to write a personal statement for  (GASP!!!) a grad school application and I had writer's block, so I went to Youtube to escape. I needed some inspiration. I happened upon a spoof of a music producer called Ryan Leslie by Alphacat (the best Barack Obama impressionist on this planet). I didn't know it then but I was about to step into a rabbit hole I like to call rabid fandom.  Unfamiliar territory- I'm a bit jaded.

Ryan Leslie, aka R-Les, is a music producer based in Harlem, NY and LA who has made music ( mostly R&B and Hip Hop) for a gaggle of artists including  Beyonce, Britney Spears, Danity Kane, LL Cool J and New Edition. Ryan is best known for introducing Cassie Ventura to the world via his NextSelection LifeStyles imprint. He was an early pioneer of the use of  the internet via MySpace and Youtube as a marketing and promotional tool for music artists through which he gives his fans an inside look into his creative process. Although many (like me, until recently) may not be familiar with the name, I can guarantee you've heard his music and that when you did you were bobbing your head and/or dancing. There's a reason R-Les fans stay devoted. He doesn't disappoint.

To say that Ryan Leslie is  talented is to make the biggest understatement of the century. He's a musical genius. Unlike a lot of his peers in the music industry, he almost never uses samples in his work. He builds instrumental element by element until he creates rich, textured beats that serve as more than a backdrop to whatever is being sung . He has an uncanny ability to find melody and doesn't even need lyrics(see below). When he does write lyrics, he writes interesting, unconventional lyrics; romantic yet witty, that most people can relate to. Only Ryan can make a song called Lay You Down classy.  The crazy part is he's self taught. He is probably the only person in the world who went to Harvard (yes Harvard, at 15!) to teach himself to arrange music while studying government and economics. He uses words like 'artistry' , 'creativity' and 'expression'. Words which haven't been used much and haven't meant much in the music industry for a long time.

 This is Ryan making a single from his upcoming album Ryan Leslie:



That's all well and good. But the talent isn't the only reason R-Les fans love him. They love the way he throws himself into his work with sheer abandon. This is what it looks like when you love what you do:



 So...What does this have to do with anything? Well, for one thing this guy has been so overlooked, especially for someone that has more talent than anyone out there. His record company has shelved 2 albums of really good music already and they're barely supporting the current one which btw has at least 2 hits;  Addiction and Diamond Girl( the whole album is fantastic).  They seem to be losing touch with their listeners. He's pretty much done all the work as far as promotions are considered. He's huge in the international market.

But the most interesting thing to me is how he doesn't seem to let it get to him.  He just keeps going. Making music, growing his company and working hard. This is the kind of person who young people need to look to for inspiration not gangsters and drug dealers or their praise singers. I think that in a few years people will mention NextSelection in the same vein as Universal (his label), Motown, EMI et al. But in the mean time I will be copping his self-titled album on Feb. 10th and I hope you will too. I highly recommend it.

True Talent must be celebrated.

R-Les Fans Unite! Keep the movement going!

Check out his website ryanleslie.com

Oh yeah, I finished my personal statement shortly after watching Ryan's Sometimes video!