Posted on 03/02/2009
This new day of “instant hits” can easily give us the perception that success is an overnight actuality. Artists hit the charts one day, appearing from near obscurity, and are soon forgotten… unless they can produce another hit, of course. As a producer, songwriter, singer, marketing specialist, scholar and now director, Ryan Leslie is already proving that he’s got staying power in the fickle music industry. His self-titled debut album was released in February, but the road to getting the project out was anything but a snap.

After testing out of high school early, Ryan went on to graduate from Harvard University. He began writing songs and developing artists through his own NextSelection Lifestyle Group, and secured a deal with Universal Records in 2003. Although his own album was shelved for several years, Leslie made a name for himself by cranking out songs for Cassie, Danity Kane, New Edition, Beyoncé, Britney Spears and more.

Even though he was garnering respect across the board for his production and songwriting abilities, it was his infamous battle with Youtube.com in 2006 over the legitimacy of account subscribers and ranking on the site that made him a household name. To this day, Ryan Leslie is heavy on the internet with RyanLeslie.com, where he blogs regularly, as well as with active social networking accounts on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

As Ryan Leslie forges ahead in 2009 with new songs for Mary J. Blige, Jim Jones, Kid Cudi, Wale, Cassie and more, he can finally bask in the satisfaction of having his own album in stores. Okayplayer took some of Leslie’s precious time to find out more about his thoughts on music, education and the joy of progress.

OKP: Let's talk about how long you waited to get this album out. I read that you've been signed since 2003 and you were forced to do a European release because your first album wasn't put out here?

Ryan Leslie: It actually never even hit the stores in Europe. This is actually my first real release. It's been a beautiful challenge to convince my record label that we had some sale-ability - for lack of a better word. The response has been really great, and I appreciate it.

OKP: People want to dub artists as overnight successes, but they don't realize all of the years of work that goes on behind the scenes. How has it been for you to have to sit and watch the clock ticking, and have your songs get hit records for other people, while having people doubt your own music?

Ryan Leslie: I consider that just part of the experience. There are gonna be doubters. As incredible as our new President is, he doesn't have any unanimous support, and as a human being he's definitely gonna make mistakes and fall short of expectations - because the more enamored you are with someone, the higher the expectations. So I really believe the consistency with which my music was received as a producer definitely set the expectations either high or low for my contributions as an artist.

In the end, I don't have any control over how people receive the stuff, but I do have control over the work ethic, passion and discipline with which I approach the creation of music. I just try to open the floodgates of passion and hard work to contribute the best of what I can contribute, and the way that it's received is the way that it's received.

OKP: You've done something that a lot of people could never do, which is graduate college at a very early age.

Ryan Leslie: [Laughs] I wouldn't say I've done something that a lot of people could never do, I think anyone could possibly do anything, but it depends on the actual stimulus, the encouragement, the people around them and their own personal makeup. My parents really encouraged education from an early age. They said, "Look, Ryan if you want to be able to achieve the American dream, we believe that education is the cornerstone of your ability to achieve the American dream, which is making your passion into your profession."

So from an early age, that was really drilled into my head. I'm a September baby and you can either start school late or early, I started early and went to high school for three years. California has a program called the California High School Proficiency Program, and you can test out of high school. I tested out of high school, did well on my SAT and achievement tests, and next thing you know I was a freshman in Harvard, and at 19-years-old I'm sitting there in my senior class at Harvard. I graduated and went on to give the speech and I had a good time.

I had a great time doing it, and I think it's 100% possible for everyone if that's something they want to do. I encourage folks to take advantage of the opportunity that we have in the United States to make that thing happen. But you gotta make it a priority.

OKP: In the music industry you definitely have some college educated people, but then you have your hustlers who came up on their own. How important do you feel that college education is to every citizen? Do you feel that it plays into everyone’s success, or that some people can get by without it?

Ryan Leslie: Well, I think we can all get by just to get by. But I think the fact that there are institutions of higher learning and environments where you can challenge your intellect, I think there's a reason why some of the great contributors to society outside of art are really products of these educational institutions. What these institutions do is challenge your intellect, and allow you in turn to have the problem solving experience to approach obstacles and take on the problems of the world and of humanity, and be able to approach them with a sharp mind.

In many cases we've had incredible strides in economic policy, medicine, architecture, technology… and a lot of those are products of people who have challenged themselves at institutions of higher learning. So I couldn't be a stronger proponent of taking advantage of the fact that we do have access to those institutions.

OKP: A lot of people say that music has been dumbed down and that people want to hear simpler music. Do you feel it's important for people to start focusing on intelligent music, or do you think we can just have fun and forget about it?

Ryan Leslie: The beautiful thing about music is that there's a lot of it, and a lot of people creating it. If you want to find what you want, you can find it. For me, if I'm ever at a loss for intelligent, sophisticated music, we have in history amazing artists that have contributed that, and these are the inspirations for my career. Stevie Wonder, Prince, James Brown - these folks have really contributed incredible music. Music is also entertainment, but for me it's more than entertainment. Music is actually very closely related to religion, music can also be used therapeutically in scientific means.

I believe that the folks that want to focus on intelligent music will do so. I think a lot of times the media is focused on what the public chooses. If the public chooses Soulja Boy and T-Pain, then the more cerebral critics and pundits are gonna say, "Hey, what's going on with music in society?" But this is a choice that millions of people have made, saying that this is the way they want to be entertained. That doesn't mean that there's a lack of intelligent music. It's just a matter of whether or not people choose to respond to it in a way that makes financial sense to marketing. Maybe it doesn't make financial sense to marketing, but we're in an age where you can find anything you want and almost interact personally with any artist you want if they're willing to give you that personal interaction window, which is something that I do.

For me, it's like, if you like my music and you can't get enough of it on TV or the radio, I got ryanleslie.com. Go listen to my album all day long if you want, you can see my videos as much as you want and sit in on my studio sessions as much as you want. You want to talk to me, go to ryanleslie.com and put your info in my Blackberry and I'll keep in touch with you, I give you as much access as you want. So I think that's the beauty of the technology age, it allows us to say, "We don't have enough exposure to great music" but that's really what NextSelection and my business paradigm is about. It's about giving people what they want when they want it, and allowing people to support it financially - and the concentrated numbers, as opposed to throwing a single out there and hoping it sells a million records.

OKP: What's your personal favorite song on this new album?

Ryan Leslie: "Just Right." I've delivered two full-blown bodies of work to Universal, and this is the song that made the cut of both of them. I just love it because it's very simple and just one of my favorite records period, hands down.

OKP: Of all of the songs that you've written and produced for other people, what has been your favorite placement, and who has been your favorite person to work with in the studio?

Ryan Leslie: My favorite placement has to be [Cassie’s] "Me And You," one of the most exciting records of my career and also the biggest record of my career. It was so huge for many reasons, that's my artist, and because of the way we broke that record through non-traditional media channels. My favorite person to work with actually happens to be Cassie, and I look forward to doing a lot more work with her. OKP: In terms of working with developing artists like Cassie and working with a more established artist, what have been the challenges on either side?

Ryan Leslie: To be totally honest, I absolutely love making music, so I don't really find it to be a challenge. I find it to be just the most fun experience I've had in possibly my entire life. It's always fun, I believe that's how the best music is made. I think there are technical challenges, like how many times does it take for someone to sing the right intonation, or how many times does it take for me to play the right sequence of notes, but I believe that's all a part of the fun and process.

OKP: What's next for you in the coming months?

Ryan Leslie: I'm going in [the studio] with Mary J. Blige, I'm in talks with 50 Cent, Usher, and Chris Brown. I've already gone in with Jim Jones and obviously Slim. I've been in with Kid Cudi, Wale, I'm gonna get in with Lloyd. So there's a lot of production on the horizon. I got a new artist named Chris Ivory that I just signed, a new artist from the UK that's just joined the NextSelection family named Louie Robinson, Cassie's new album, I actually have a new album that I've already started working on and NextSelection Pictures, we got a short [film] that I'm working on. We got a lot of stuff going on, but really the focus is the online experience at ryanleslie.com

- Dove, ~Sheepish Lordess of Chaos~

*Ryan Leslie’s self titled debut, Ryan Leslie, is in stores now.

Watch the video for “How It Was Supposed To Be,” below: