Musical Mondays--Ryan Leslie

photo courtesy of djforge.com

Anthony Ryan Leslie, otherwise known as Ryan Leslie, is one of the newest artists on the music scene. I recently took some time to really listen to his debut album, Ryan Leslie (2009). Unbelievable album!! Everything from the instrumentation, to the lyrical content, to the singing and rapping was carefully constructed to give Ryan’s audience a dose of what this newcomer has to offer.

Ryan was born in Washington, DC in September of 1978. He is a multi-instrumentalist, a record producer, singer, and rapper. He is the founder of the marketing and media company NextSelection Lifestyle Group. Ryan is not only musically talented; he has accomplished much more. He attended Harvard University, graduating at the age of 19.

In late 2004, Ryan became a singer after years of producing music. He landed a recording contract with Universal Records, where he began recording his debut album, Just Right. The singles he released did not chart and the record was shelved indefinitely. Returning to the studio in 2006, Ryan began working on a new debut album (Ryan Leslie), which was eventually released February 2009, after several setbacks. Between the start date and the release date, Ryan released a few singles including “Diamond Girl,” “Addiction,” and “How It Was Supposed To Be.” He also released videos for each these songs via Universal Music Group YouTube channel and his own YouTube channel, where he displayed his debut directorial talent. Amongst his newfound success, Ryan was nominated for two BET Awards, 2009 Best Male R&B Artist and 2009 Best New Artist.

If you’re a fan of R&B, rap, hip-hop, and great instrumentation, check out the playlist I’ve put together for you. As you can probably tell from my previous Musical Monday posts, I’m not to much into mainstream music, but I gotta say, I’m digging Ryan Leslie’s sound, plus at the moment, he’s still not 100% mainstream.

Resource links:
Official Ryan Leslie site
RyanLeslie TV
RyanLeslie Myspace

ryan leslie