Way Back: Ryan Leslie (2009)
Ryan Leslie released his eponymous debut album on February 10th, 2009. While debuts are considered victories for fledgling artists, the time and hurdles to release this one may’ve been more of a burden.
After graduating from Harvard at 19, Leslie decided that he wanted to pursue a career in music full-time. Against the wishes of his parents, he started that career and landed a one-month internship with a former member of Diddy’s production team. During that time, he earned his first official production credit on the Bad Boys 2 soundtrack with “Keep Giving Your Love To Me” by Beyoncé.
Just Right was supposed to be Ryan’s debut, but Casablanca Records never released the mid-2000’s project
Leslie began work on a solo project in 2003 titled, Just Right, but differences with the label prevented the album’s release. Ryan would have to find another way to introduce the world to his sound. He wrote and produced all of model, Cassie Ventura’s 2006 debut album, including the hits “Me & U” and “Long Way 2 Go”. This, combined with his affiliation with Diddy, and his budding YouTube viewership created the momentum needed for the relaunch of his solo work.
Critics harped on his vocal skills, but Leslie’s work was never about his singing ability. He was always a jack of all trades. He raps, writes, and sings at a respectable level to accompany his outstanding production skills. His old viral videos on YouTube showcased a musician with extensive experience on the keys, drums, horns, and a knack for putting songs together. In one of his most popular videos, he walks the viewer through the day he created his single “Addiction”:
Alongside Soulja Boy, Ryan was a pioneer in pushing his music through social media. He debuted the single “Diamond Girl” and the track “I-R-I-N-A” on his YouTube channel in 2007. Still, the quality of these tracks couldn’t prevent his album from being pushed back until it’s eventual 2009 release.
Leslie didn’t have the track record that could endure what delayed release dates can do. Interest and promotion for the album disappeared. Much of the material grew old and familiar from the snippets on YouTube. In the end, a rock-solid R&B album went underappreciated.
There are obvious 90’s R&B influences with an extra helping of instrumentation that is uncommon for the genre. If you don’t listen until the end of each track, you might miss it. “Addiction” has synth riffs reminiscent of the Neptunes in the early 2000’s. “Quicksand” has slick piano progressions during the bridge and outro. “Wanna Be Good” and “I-R-I-N-A” have mean guitar and drum solos respectively at their conclusions, far past Leslie’s last words. That’s the beauty in his music, you get upbeat R&B grooves with impressive switch-ups and raps sprinkled in.
By 2009 Leslie was clearly sitting on a ton of material, and Ryan Leslie would be only the first of two major releases from him that year. Though it took a ton of time and delays for his debut to be released, it shouldn’t stop us from celebrating the quality of the album on its tenth anniversary.
