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Biography
Ryan Leslie, from a young age, has been proving himself a bit out of the ordinary. Achieving a remarkably high SAT score as a teenager, Leslie went on to graduate from Harvard at the age of 19 with a degree in Political Science. Following an obsession with Stevie Wonder, Leslie wished to pursue a career in music, devoting much of his time whilst completing his studies to creating and producing music in a studio basement on campus.
After graduation, Leslie worked hard to enter the music industry, eventually landing a production internship, going on to produce the song "Keep Giving Your Love to Me," which was later featured on the Bad Boys II soundtrack, performed by Beyonce. He then went on to produce tracks for Britney Spears, Carl Thomas and New Edition. Yet it was in 2006 that Leslie really made a name for himself, following his work on Cassie's "Me&U" which went on to become a number one hit on the R&B Singles Chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Leslie then produced Cassie's entire album which also faired well in the charts.
Leslie went on to release his own solo recordings under his label Next Selection, to which he achieved moderate success. His first single, "Diamond Girl" (2008) broke into the top 100 at 95, going on to release his self-titled album in 2009 and his second, "Transition" with both albums entering the top ten of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. Following these releases, Leslie decided to produce his music independently with his 2012 album, "Les Is More,"which featured an appearance from Raekwon.
Leslie's biggest success lies in his use of online media, such as YouTube, Twitter and Myspace, developing a huge fan base thanks to his clever videos and earnest interaction with his audience. Realising the importance of using online resources in order to make a success as an artist in the modern age, he continues to expand his digital presence through well thought-out marketing.
Live reviews
After hearing the concert had change venue my mind was in doubt, questioning myself "will it be a good vibe at the new venue"? "Ryan is taking a risk of losing recognition" "will we have a good view"? "What if my pregnant lady is not safe amongst others while at a concert"? Which is why I purchased specific tickets to avoid this. How all these questions turned out was all to be revealed. Firstly I would like to give the biggest thank you to Ryan Leslie and the entourage for taking care of the fans, knowing them individually and accommodating their needs. We were welcomed at the venue doors by Mr Mylez whom knew what exactly Ryan Leslie wants his fans to experience. And how spot on he got it, we were welcomed into the venue avoiding the queue and cold as we have here in uk. Once into the venue we were shown exactly where our seating location was and I must be honest I was like "REALLY" how close could I have been having if not the best seating and even down to the gang considering my pregnant lady by making sure the vibrations from the sound system wasn't directly hitting us. Before show started a member of the team once more came to make sure that we felt welcomed and were comfortable, using the phrase "if I don't check you guys are ok and have any problems I will be in trouble". Although I knew the member was not actually going to get in trouble, how nice it felt to be made feel welcome by normal human beings not people who let stardom go to their head. What a pleasure. How glad I felt to have taken the love of my life to meet such good people and experience such a good performance. I think her words of "I will never forget that" say it all.
The show began and I was pinching myself asking are we really this close to such a great performer and inspiration. How real this became when Ryan Leslie noticed myself and the lady who had used the Whatsapp and Email to connect with him and submit a request around her being pregnant etc. Reality hit when Ryan Leslie gave us a shout out by full name and even went as far as mentioning our baby boy to be name as I had asked of him. Special moments forever with us now. Once again to every single member of the crew and himself Ryan Lesie thank you for making this all happen and representing such a worth while artist, producer, inspiration, percussionist, songwriter, singer, plus many more talents. Makes every moment I have mentioned to other individuals "oh have you heard of Ryan Leslie". "You need to listen to real music" "whatever mood I find myself in I can listen to him" worth while. I would strongly recommend anybody making this a part of their life as it's as easy as listening and the music will take care of the rest.
Again many thanks and I will never forget the event. Peace
ashley1985
Ryan Leslie’s talents are certainly not in question! Harvard must have taught him well, as the producer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist ands rapper was well respected in the music industry many years before deciding to take to the stage himself. A bizarre court case in 2011 first brought him to my attention. In which, he had to honour a $1,000,000 reward for the return of a stolen laptop. Yes, $1,000,000! Ouch! That must have hurt! However if it wasn’t for that online article Ryan Leslie would still be unknown to me. I hope he finds some solace in the addition of me, too his ever growing following of fans. I first saw him on his ‘Les is more’ tour in late 2012. The venue was quaint and intimate, mellow red lights glowed from the walls on either side and the stage at the front was remarkably low and close to the audience. It wasn't overly crowded which made making my way to the front remarkably easy and with Ryan only a few feet away the gig began… and he certainly did not disappoint! He is an unbelievable performer, energetic, confident and charismatic. I am still surprised he spent so much time under the radar as a performer. One moment he was rapping, the next singing and playing the piano. And all the time directing the band and engaging with the audience with a remarkable level of enthusiasm. His tracks, even ones I wasn’t so familiar with, are wonderfully written. With riffs and sing along lyrics that are catchy and memorable. He wonderfully dropped a couple of classics into his set as well. ‘I Found Love’ by Rihanna and Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ brought the noise level up and the house down simultaneously. All in all this was a 5 star show. So my advice to you is………BOOK A TICKET! You won’t regret it!
aaron-perrins
Anthony Ryan Leslie performing under his latter two names is one of the most prolific hip hop performers to have come out of Washington in quite some time. With almost twenty years of experience on the circuit, he has absolutely no trouble selling tickets thanks to the ever increasing reputation of his performance. He also has no issue in handling the fast increasing venues as he manages to make the whole performance feel personal whether he is performing to 10 or 1000.
His albums took a while to come around yet he has been releasing regularly so has a lot of material to lean back on. The first single 'Diamond Girl' always goes down well as does the follow-up collaboration with Cassie 'Addiction'. It feels though the crowd adore Ryan so much he could have played any combination of twelve tracks and achieved a similar level of pandemonium within the packed out room. Although he keeps a cool demeanour all evening, he looks visibly pleased with the reaction at the finale.
sean-ward
