Million-selling producer, songwriter, label entrepreneur – and now recording artist – Ryan Leslie, Harvard class of ’98, brought special news to his 10th class reunion recently, as he entered the next phase of his career with a new single, “Addiction” featuring Cassie, and an August release date for his long-awaited first U.S. album release, the self-titled RYAN LESLIE, on the Next Selection/Universal Motown imprint.

 

“Diamond Girl,” a Top 40 R&B hit released in December 2007, was written and produced by Ryan.  The new single, “Addiction,” features Cassie, the young singer discovered by Ryan in 2006, and signed to his Next Selection label, via Bad Boy/Atlantic.  Cassie’s debut single, “me&u,” also written and produced by Ryan, turned into one of the biggest hits of that year – #1 R&B and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, certified RIAA platinum for digital sales and at the time was the #1 most played record at radio for 7 weeks.. 

 

“Addiction” featuring Cassie and “Diamond Girl” can both be heard on Ryan’s busy MySpace website, http://www.myspace.com/ryanleslie.  The site – with an invitation to “lock in” Ryan’s new phone number, 917.720.7507: “Put it into your address books and don’t hesitate to call!” – has logged a phenomenal 3.6 million-plus total plays and 3.5 million-plus profile views, with more than 1.1 million friends on board.

 

Within a few short years, Ryan  has amassed writing or productions credits (often both) with Beyoncé (“Keep Giving Your Love To Me”), Britney Spears (“The Answer”), JoJo (“Like That”), New Edition (“Hot 2Nite”), Snoop Dogg (“Heavyweights”), Danity Kane (“Touching My Body,” “Ooh Ahh”), Nelson (“Choose Us”), Cheri Denis (“Down for Me”) and many others.  In 2003, he was signed as an artist to Universal/Motown and began recording his debut album, Just Right (a Europe-only release).

 

The self-made businessman, who lives in Harlem, took his media marketing savvy one step further when he launched his controversial YouTube channel, RyanLeslieTV.  The channel serves as a living documentary of Ryan Leslie’s journey over the past five years, as he shares video content ranging from production clips to live performances – and welcomes his fans to contribute to the site as well.