On the latest episode of “Drink Champs,” N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN were joined by producer, singer, and songwriter Ryan Leslie.
With the influence of his parents, who worked as Salvation Army officers, Leslie opted for education as his springboard to success early on. At the age of 15, he attended Harvard College. While on campus, he fell deeper in love with music and started creating his own, which he would play for his customers as he cut their hair in his dorm room. Upon graduating in the late 1990s, Leslie started earning his stripes in the music industry, producing records for Beyoncé, New Edition, and Britney Spears.
Leslie soon had enough success to scout his own acts, to which he discovered Cassie Ventura. He wrote and produced the entirety of her platinum-selling, self-titled debut album in 2006. From there, he went on to release his own music through efforts like the “Addiction”-led Ryan Leslie, the Grammy-nominated Transition and Les Is More into the 2010s, all while continuing to produce for artists like Fabolous, Mary J. Blige, and Chris Brown. Next, he charted a path in entrepreneurship, launching a text app called SuperPhone as well as a financial literacy program called WealthPlan™.
During the conversation, Leslie talked about the many ripples of his career with plenty of insight on how each circumstance came about. Nine takeaways from the interview can be found below. And check out the full episode here.
1. On going to Harvard at 15
Leslie attended one of the most prestigious Ivy League colleges in the world at the young age of 15. Looking back at his early experience at the university, he noted, “It took some getting used to being of color. And then also being as young as I was... So, you learn very early on to move in any type of room.” He also noted that the importance of education was instilled through his parents. “My father, very early on, decided, ‘Hey, we immigrated to the United States. I want my kids to be set up and I know the way to get there.’ And the only way to really get there in his opinion was through education.”
2. On setting the blueprint of promotion as a producer
Back in the day, Leslie had to find a creative way to flex his muscle as a producer. He did so by utilizing YouTube in a way that a lot of creatives do regularly now. “If you go on YouTube now, every producer that is looking to illustrate their skills, they follow the blueprint that originated when I was trying to show my skills,” he said. “I would just be on YouTube, have a camera like, ‘Yo this is how I make a beat.’ [I was] early, early on YouTube. Early on MySpace.”
3. On discovering Cassie
Leslie expounded on how he was able to help propel Cassie to new heights. The idea came as a result of the producer wanting to create something special outside of a record label system. “I decided that I wanted to actually sign an artist, do the whole album top to bottom, produce the whole thing, write the whole thing. I didn't have no big studio. I was in a one-bedroom apartment in Harlem. But we made that whole Cassie album,” he said referring to her self-titled debut album. With some help from Leslie’s friend who oversaw the Myspace charts, the album and its lead single “Me & U” caught enough traction on the platform to elevate Cassie’s career online and on the Billboard charts. “I mean, that record, almost 20 years later, still has a life of its own. But that’s really how it all started. And so, we had built for Cassie a quarter million in audience on Myspace in terms of friends.”
4. On leaning into cryptocurrency
The esteemed musician didn’t hesitate much when he had the chance to lean into cryptocurrency before it became really popular in society. In the episode, he explained that he did so as a strategy to block the government from accessing his money during a legal case proceeding that ultimately froze his assets. “Necessity is the mother of innovation. So, in order for me to feel like I could actually still have control of my finances, I moved everything to decentralize. So, all of my tour advances, all of my merch, all of my digital sales, I had taken it off Spotify, but you gotta pay me in Bitcoin. So, in 2013, we got hundreds and hundreds of payments and transactions in Bitcoin. And at $125 dollars a coin,” he explained.
5. On if he produced Watch The Throne
The platinum-selling producer worked on an inaugural version of Kanye West and JAY-Z’s collaborative album Watch The Throne. However, the project was never released as Leslie lost the laptop that had the recordings on it. With that in mind, N.O.R.E. asked Leslie what his trajectory would’ve been like if the original project came out as is, to which the producer responded, “I'd probably be Hit-Boy. It's nothing wrong with that. And I think he's had an incredible run. But I think the world and the universe and God shows you where your light can really shine. And that's how I really feel,” he voiced. “The bottom line is I feel like the gauntlets have been passed. We passed the mantle on. Now I'm doing what no other producer could actually do.”
6. On working with Fabolous
Leslie and Fabolous have a longstanding working relationship with one another, which has led to notable tracks like “You Be Killin Em” and “Addiction.” As the story goes, they were introduced by the late Ed Woods and in their first studio session, they had to iron out how they approached working with one another. “We got in the studio and I tried to tell Fab that I didn't like one of his lines or something like that… He said something like, ‘It could be how it used to be, because it used to be the charm. I'm early like the rooster in the farm. With a Jacob exclusive on the arm.’ And I said, rooster? That's not a good line,” Leslie recalled. “He said, ‘Look, this is what I'm known for, Ry. These types of lines and punchlines, that's what I'm known for.’ So, I said, ‘Ok.’ I understood my place [from there]. Straight up.”
7. On being inspired by Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre had a profound impact on the Grammy-nominated act as a creative. But unlike many musicians, that inspiration came after projects like The Chronic and 2001. “The ‘In Da Club’ beat was the beat that I felt like I modeled my entire career off of just the beat itself… the simplicity of that and the ability, even without the lyrics, for me to be able to beatbox that beat and how simple it was and how it knocked, is unbelievable,” Leslie explained. “I don't know if Dre was musically trained. But there was something that he has to be able to recognize and be that sort of sonic architect.”
8. On the synergy between music and technology
As someone who has launched his own technology via the SuperPhone, Leslie chimed in on the relationship between the music and tech industries. “I believe that a symbiotic relationship between creativity and technology is necessary, and it will take several iterations until it will be perceived as fair. But I believe that there was no other way to go than a Netflix or a Spotify. The entire library of all recorded music is in my device right now,” he said. On what may be deemed as unfair advantages for artists when it comes to streaming specifically, he added, “At some point, through different iterations, we will get to a relationship that's fair and equitable but in the early stages, he who controls the cash flow controls how the actual pie is divided. And right now, as artists, we don't.”
9. On the WealthPlan™
For those who aren’t familiar, Leslie has his own financial literacy program called the WealthPlan. He discussed why he created the program, which aims to emphasize financial freedom. “For what we do at WealthPlan, it's kinda twofold. Number one is just how to teach people how to invest. But number two, what is money unless you can enjoy it with the people you love when you're in the best years of your life?... If you wanna hire your mom, that, in many cases, it would seem like a massive financial commitment. But if the money is doing it for you, then you can do it and actually feel great about it. And that's really what the WealthPlan is actually about,” he explained.