You Know I Got Soul: Ryan Leslie

This edition of You Know I Got Soul picks the brain of a man who scored a perfect 1600 on his SAT exam in high school and graduated Harvard at 19 years old. While the brain power of Ryan Leslie may be ideal for more practical professions such as medicine or law, Ryan undoubtedly chose music as his battle to divide and conquer. Ryan Leslie’s newly released self-titled debut album has won the affection of many fans as “Diamond Girl” and “Addiction” set the tone of his long awaited project. From managing the content on his website, www.ryanleslie.com, to assembling the music he produces, including vocal and instrumental arrangements, Ryan has proved that he is self sufficient in the literal sense. Does his bank of creativity ever run dry? In no particular order Ryan forfeits his top five songs of inspiration and artistic masterpiece that would spark his creative juices, but if he had his way the list would be extended and highly dedicated to Stevie Wonder. 1.     “It’s a Man’s World” by James Brown First of all, the string arrangement, the topic that he’s talking about, his passion in the delivery, the way that record is recorded, the lyrical content – I mean, it’s James Brown. It’s a man’s world and it also speaks to me because as much as I consider myself self sufficient in the studio and everything, if I don’t have a muse – I don’t know if it’s a good rep or a bad rep that I had some very beautiful muses in my experience in New York City – but it’s a man’s, man’s world, but it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman or a girl. So, you know, it speaks to me because it’s real. We as men are so ambitious and we want so much and in history we’ve been afforded so many opportunities that maybe haven’t been fairly offered to the opposite sex. I think it’s always good. I think it’s always important to understand the value of women to us and they have definitely been extremely valuable to me from my mother to my sister to the various relationships that I have fallen into and fallen out of and succeeded and failed at. 2.     “Diamonds & Pearls” by Prince Amazing record. Lyrical content, once again. That’s something that all of us have whether we’re wealthy, whether we’re just struggling to make ends meet. Something that we all share equally is the amount of hours in a day and the amount of times that we allocate to our loved ones [because it’s] very important. It’s a very important decision that we make. Even in just listening to the way that the song is recorded melodically, the use of [Rosie Gaines] singing adlibs. I love that! It’s Prince, man! He produced it and he’s playing on it. I love that. 3.     “The Line” by D’Angelo I just love the lyrics. I love the vibe of that song. The song is just so cool. It has a lot of very cool confidence without being histrionic. D’Angelo is just one of the coolest cats musically I’ve ever experienced in listening to his stuff. That song really speaks on the way that I approach my music every day. That lyrical content has always been inspiring to me. I like the music, the harmony, the lyrics, everything. 4.     “As” by Stevie Wonder Amazing lyrical content, amazing musicianship, amazing vocal performance – I mean just so inspirational. There’s so many ways I could describe the genius of Stevie Wonder. I’m almost overwhelmed. I can’t even begin to describe how crazy that record is – the chord changes, the layers and textures, his use of back-up vocalists, just incredible all around.5.     “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson An amazing collaboration between two titans of the music industry – Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. To know that Michael Jackson was, I believe 20 when he wrote this song and he brought it to Quincy Jones it was based on an experience that he had where someone jumped over the fence of his hotel and accused him of being the father of her child. He was able to take that experience, which had nothing to do with – it was just a real life experience and turned it into the most enduring dance, party, club tracks in history to me. I just loved the fact that as a 20 year old he could put this – I actually heard the demo of that song. The demo of the song is on the 20th Century re-mastered collectors edition of Thriller. And you got to listen to the demo of that song because he’s there and he’s kind of thinking of the melody and he has his synthesizer [sings the melody of “Billie Jean”]. The way that Quincy Jones arranged that piece is always inspiring to me. I can always listen to that and be inspired. I mean [there are] a lot of records off the Thriller album, but that one [is the one] and because Michael wrote it too at such a young age. **To get the latest AllHipHop Alternatives Features, follow us on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/AHHalternatives**