Ryan Leslie

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Like most aspiring producer/songwriter/singers, Ryan Leslie started out making his own records as a teen because he couldn’t afford to pay for studio time or producers when he wanted to record his demo. Counting self-contained producer/artists like Stevie Wonder and Prince as his heroes, it’s been a long ride from being a 19-year-old senior in college who had no music contacts - to overseeing studio sessions with the likes of Diddy, Usher, Britney Spears, and many other of today’s top stars.

The road was not easy, as anyone who has tried to make it in music would understand. When he graduated from Harvard in 1998, Ryan started out selling beats for $200 to anyone who would buy - a questionable career move for an ivy-league graduate. He stayed in the Boston area for a while, taking on a community service job to make ends meet, and spending his nights in the recording studio. Eventually, in the summer of 2000, he linked with a young artist named Corey “Latif” Williams, and he produced a song that won a contest sponsored by Teen People magazine, earning them a performance at the famed Apollo theatre in Harlem.

A few months later, in 2001, the two had generated enough buzz as a producer/artist duo to score Latif a record deal with Motown. Though initial excitement in the project was strong, the album they made together in thirty days took two years to get released. In the meantime, Ryan returned to a suburb of Boston and began to experiment with making his own records again.

Tagged as:

rnb, soul, hip hop, urban, hip-hop
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Transition
Ryan Leslie
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Just Right
Ryan Leslie
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Ryan Leslie
Ryan Leslie
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Used 2 Be f/Fabolous
Ryan Leslie
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Top Tracks

1	How It Was Supposed To Be full track	736
2	You're Not My Girl full track	637
3	Zodiac full track	540
4	Never Gonna Break Up full track	537
5	Is It Real Love full track	452
6	Sunday Night full track	445
7	To The Top full track	421
8	I Choose You full track	416
9	Nothing full track	381
10	Guardian Angel full track	372
11	All My Love full track	356
12	Used To Be full track	350
13	Something That I Like ft. Pusha T	289
14	When We Dance (Bonus)	213
15	Diamond Girl	205

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Mysstique wrote:
yesterday evening

"Transition" album is everything! <3 [2]

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martynnnn wrote:
yesterday evening

Love "Transition", but I have to say that his previous self-titled album, "Ryan Leslie", and his older album, "Just Right", definitely top the new one for me...[3]

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blufire32 wrote:
yesterday evening

Love "Transition", but I have to say that his previous self-titled album, "Ryan Leslie", and his older album, "Just Right", definitely top the new one for me...[2]

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Mjuzik_zg wrote:
Friday evening

"Transition" album is everything! <3

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mhunke wrote:
Friday morning

"Just Right" is still his best album imo

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jlegend369 wrote:
Friday morning

Love "Transition", but I have to say that his previous self-titled album, "Ryan Leslie", and his older album, "Just Right", definitely top the new one for me...

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blazeablaze08 wrote:
Wednesday evening

ryan leslie created cassie's career and she should have stuck around if she was smart

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mhunke wrote:
Wednesday morning

Highly talented individual that sadly has not been given the platform to reach a wider audience that his artistry deserves. [2]

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NorrinRav wrote:
Tuesday evening

Highly talented individual that sadly has not been given the platform to reach a wider audience that his artistry deserves.

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ndeppindeep wrote:
Tuesday evening

The production is, as expected, unbelievably flawless!

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orangesoder wrote:
Monday morning

I'm glad I really started paying attention to him, his voice is amazing & the album is soo good.

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Ocks wrote:
Monday morning

I don't know who told Les he can spit but the production on these tracks is FIRE!

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rattla wrote:
Sunday afternoon

That new album's hot, love it! <3

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illadelphianjb wrote:
Sunday afternoon

nvm, apparently it was only a single

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illadelphianjb wrote:
Sunday afternoon

does anyone have R-Les' first album Just Right, circa 2005, that they care to upload?

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ewelinka937 wrote:
Sunday afternoon

That's the real R&B that I like, new album is great <3

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skitzotsp wrote:
last week

http://www.last.fm/group/Discuss+Your+Weekly+Top+5+Artists!

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-kufi- wrote:
last week

NS4LIFE <3 [2]

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Mjuzik_zg wrote:
last week

NS4LIFE <3

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mhunke wrote:
last week

baby i'm yours, baby your mine...

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