ryan leslie

with his self titled debut album hitting stores this past week, it was only right that i shed some light on this man's creative genius.

ryan attended harvard at the age of 16 on a full scholorship, finished studying and gave up law school after graduating to pursue his dreams of being a musician and making his career as a hit maker and entrepeneur. utilizing viral media outlets such as myspace and youtube and the web at large - his previoulsy thought of as "unorthadox marketing strategy" paid off when he broke a smash number 1 single for his artist cassie. the single "me and u" went to sell over 3 million digital downloads after tearing up the radio charts and her debut album finished with a soundscan of over 500K world wide. fans are not just attracted to ryan's voice and his production style, but the way he shares his creativity and his journey as well as his insights for others chasing a dream. his viewers and subscribers have access to his studio sessions, music videos (he is known to shoot up to 2 or more videos per single all with independent directors and budgets), short films, radio visits and show performances. The success of cassie's first project and the growing attention by fans online has only created more production opportunities for ryan, allowing him to produce for a long list of major artists both domestically and internationally, most recently jim jones, slim of 112, ll cool j and kid cudi. ryan has shaped his own destiny by his constant hustle and passion for putting forth his best work for all to enjoy. with out any major label push he has created his own lane in the music business. as the music industry takes hit after hit due to piracy and in my personal opinion: fans just falling out of artists who just push single after single instead of a great album; ryan has delivered exactly that - a great album (and because of it - his album is officially my first music purchase of the year =D). even with controversy surrounding his artist cassie last year, she has now over 22 million plays on her myspace for her first single "official girl" off of her upcoming project - proof that ryan's upcoming record company and creative group "Next Selection" is seeing more success and love then most artists still making noise these days. ryan's hustle sets a platform for upcoming talent and what i think should be the standard for what it takes to be a breakout entertainer these days. his hardwork has earned him my money, and i hope this blog has at least earned him some new devouted listeners and fans. check the videos and links below to see just exactly what the ryan leslie experience is all about.

ryan leslie blog/official site
ryan leslie @ myspace - listen to his debut in its entirety!
ryan leslie @ youtube - see all of his studio sessions, music videos, and video diary posts of becoming a breakthrough artist and producer








on a fashion tip: ryan self or custom tailors most of his wardrobe, including most of his kicks. and his aviator game is pretty up there