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Who is Ryan Leslie?
Ryan Leslie-That's
a very broad question.
In the entertainment form. I am going to tell you why
I am asking this. One minute I'm thinking artist, then
one minute I'm thinking producer, then I'm thinking writer,
then I'm thinking manager so maybe you can sum it up for
me?
Ryan Leslie-To be
very clear, I'm more of a media impresario. This means
I'm dealing with anything that has to do with media; video,
artistry, production, artist development. I'm about creating
great entertainment. Production and being an artist is
only a small piece of it. Even putting the video diary
together that I share with my fans; which is a first of
its kind in the world, is a small piece. Developing an
artist that provides entertainment and great songs, that's
a great piece of it.
When did you get started in the music industry?
Ryan Leslie-I was
in training in 2001, when I signed on to be the executive
producer for an artist that I was working with, Corey
Williams. In the music world, he's known as Latif. He
was signed to Motown Records which is the first deal we
got together as a team. That was in 2001, and I cut my
first album in Chicago at CRC studios with him and it
finally came out in 2003.
I'd say 2003 is when I got my real start. This is when
I signed a contract to be managed as a producer by P.
Diddy and I signed a record contract through Universal
with Casablanca Records, Tommy Mottola's label. Since
2003, I've done a couple of singles; New Edition's "Hot2Nite,"
currently Donnell Jones featuring Jermaine Dupri, "Better
Start Talkin'" and also the Cheri Dennis single featuring
Jim Jones, "I Love You".
I had my own track we did as a test single featuring Fabolous,
"Used 2 Be". The Universal team couldn't get excited enough
about the song to take a risk with it. I'm not straight
R&B, I don't sing like an Usher, I'm not old school R&B,
and I'm not a neo-soul type of guy. The amazing thing
is some people say its kinda euro. Whatever it is, it's
my own little thing. We had apprehension at the Universal
Records marketing level about how to market this thing
and really turn it into a hit.
I felt like I didn't want to take a risk on a career as
an artist, especially since I was doing so well as a producer.
To show the industry I could make a hit, I signed Cassie.
Right now her record "Me & U," is reaching audiences before
it's become a hit. "Me &U" is currently around 317 spins
in the country as of this interview and I think within
two weeks it should chart on Billboard. Whereas someone
like Cheri Denis has been signed for six years, Cassie
has been signed for a week and we're catchin' it.
One of the things about Cassie is that she already
has such a huge fan base, you know I see that because
I spend so much time on-line.
Ryan Leslie-NextSelection,
my media company, is actually responsible for that fan
base. Between myself and my partner, we are the ones who
actually started the MYSPACE profile on November 9th to
show the music industry the power of the online evolution.
We put up the profile, we put up some songs and to date,
Cassie has nearly 2 million profile views, nearly 50 thousand
fans, and nearly half a million song plays.
When did you start your own website Ryanleslie.com?
Ryan Leslie-Well,
I started my own website a while back. I started Ryanleslie.com
back when I was in college. It wasn't until my partner,
Rasheed, said 'Ryan you are doing all this great stuff,
you should blog about it.' Rasheed's own blog is probably
the 33rd most visited blog on the Internet, RasheedRichmond.com.
On December 23, 2005, I set up my blog and had an interesting
idea to do a day-to-day video blog. I really wanted to
make it a little less focused on Ryan Leslie and a little
more focused on NextSelection and the lifestyle. The drive,
the desire, the discipline, and the dedication to creatively
and tenaciously pursue your creative passion. I decided
to change the URL to NS4Life.com.
I launched that on January 9, 2006, and as of right now
its consistently in the top 100,000 sites on the Internet.
Its innovative. You really get to see a lot of stuff
you don't see all the time.
Ryan Leslie-Exactly.
And that's what it's about. It's really about providing
a window into the music industry especially for me. I'm
really into motivational inspiration and education, so
I thought this site would be a good way to provide that.
It's not about Ryan Leslie, even though I am the main
guy. It's really about illustrating a lifestyle of hard
work and the tenacity in terms of everybody that wants
to pursue a career. It's really hard work. It's not just
going to the club, poppin' bottles, hanging with models,
and doing all the glamorous stuff. As for my record project,
I can't tell you too much right now but I will tell you
I got out of the deal with Universal and I worked out
a different deal with Tommy Mottolla as management, counselor,
and advisor. First of all, the video journal is something
that has never been done in the music industry. When it
comes to the record, I am going to do something that has
never been done in the history of music.
You write music also right?
Ryan Leslie-Yes, I
did the Cheri Dennis record. I actually wrote the hook.
I'm about nurturing new talent and providing opportunity
for new talent. On that record, I had Corey Williams,
who is the same artist that I came in the game with, he
actually wrote all the verses.
Here is my question. A person who wants to get started
in song writing what should they do? For instance people
always say stuff to me like, "I wrote a hot song for Chris
Brown how do I get it to him?" How does a person really
get recognized as a song writer in the industry?
Ryan Leslie-I'll tell
you exactly what it is, you have to have your music recorded.
That's number one. It needs to be recorded and it needs
to get to those people who can take it places. The music
business is a very tough business. Contacts and access
are really hard to get. The people who have the keys to
the contacts and access, you're going to have to pay for
that access. So like with Puffy, he's my manager and he
has contacts with all those people, and I pay him 20%
of everything I make. You can do non-traditional deals
where you may not hire somebody for management, but nine
times out of ten they aren't going to do anything for
you unless you have a long term deal. Here is a case in
point. Say you wrote a song called "Yeah". You wrote it
for Usher, you wanted to get it to Usher, but had no way
of getting it to him. Someone gets it to Usher for you
but then the song just blows up like "Yeah" did and you
didn't have a contract with the person who brought it
to him. All of a sudden people are calling you for songs,
but the person you never made a deal with is cut out of
the picture. Usually that's why it's very difficult to
get anywhere in the music business without creating a
long term relationship with someone who can help you.
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is an author and the webmaster
For Thabiz.com.
Ryan Leslie interview copyright Dorrie
Williams-Wheeler, and Thabiz.com 2006
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is the author of Be
My Sorority Sister Under Pressure and the Unplanned
Pregnancy Book for Teens and College Students. She
is the founder of Thabiz.com
and Imissthe80s.com
and writes for the Rap,
Teen, and 1980s
section at Bellaonline.com. She is an ASCAP member as
a writer and a publisher. Please contact Dorrie for advertising
inquiries, lyric writing inquiries, reprint rights,
paying
entertainment jobs, or general comments.
Visit Dorrie on the web at www.sparkledoll.com
or add her as a friend at MYSPACE.
Ryan Leslie interview may not be reprinted, copied or distribute
without permission. You may link to this interview.Interview
copyright Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com February 2006.
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