The latest from R-Les new LP, Black Mozart, available now.

Ryan Leslie shot his new video at The Bank in Las Vegas just a few days ago.

From Kweli’s Attack The Block mixtape. Directed By Ryan Leslie.

Ryan Leslie is one of music’s largely still undiscovered super-talents, on par with artists like Pharrell and Kanye West, as each a producer, writer, singer, and emcee. He completely self-produced his last two albums, his self-titled Universal / Motown debut, and it’s follow-up, Transition, both released in 2009. Despite this, Ryan Leslie has yet to become a household name, leading to his departure from the major label system, with his new album Les Is More released on his own label, Next Selection.

With this third LP, Leslie attempts to sing less and rap more, all while producing each track on the album, and directing a video for each of the LP’s tracks. The album, like the accompanying videos, suggest the Harvard grad lives an elevated lifestyle of expensive things, in a far off land where they drive on the opposite side of the street. Yet while his previous albums seemed to present him as a bit more down to earth, he really goes all in this time around, sparing no expense in brand-name dropping, as Audemars watches and Cartier bracelets are a regular part of his subject matter.

We do get a bit of the more light-hearted Leslie on the excellent lead single, “Beautiful Lie”, which has a bit of a harder edge than most everything else on the album. Yet much of this record is spent in breezier territory, seducing the females, with warm-comfy tracks like “Dress To Undress You” and “Maybachs and Diamonds”, that find him saying all the right things into a lady’s ear. And if he’s not alluring with his words, there’s a catalogue of finer things to boast about, as heard ad naseum on songs like “Swiss Francs” and “Lovers and Mountains”. While Leslie does attempt to open up and round himself out a bit on tracks like “Glory” and “The Black Flag”, he sadly spends much of his time repeating himself, sounding less like the innovative singer-songwriter of the past, and more like Rick Ross’ ghostwriter of the present.

The musical brilliance of Ryan Leslie cannot be denied, but it’s almost like he’s using his power for evil on Les Is More. Obviously a smart dude, astute businessman, and a talented guy, we simply get a dumbed down version of Leslie this go round. While industry evils have turned the tide of what artists “should” sing or rap about in this day and age, given his track record, we simply expect more from Les.

Talib Kweli serves up this alternate Boi 1da edit of “Outstanding” from Attack The Block. Look out for the video of this track, coming soon.

The sixth and seventh in a series of 10 videos making up the Les Is More visual album – in stores in the US on October 22nd.

Ryan Leslie decided to give his fans a treat at Re:Mix Lab presented by Hyundai and SoundCRTL in New York. R-Les spoke about how he was able to get the attention of Kanye West and also gives fans some very powerful Inspirational words.

The gathering was in celebration of innovative collaborations between brands, artists, and technology. In the trendy area of The Chelsea Market, Hyundai showcased brand collaborations with major corporations like Mountain Dew, Nike, Adidas, Casio, G Shock, Kaws, Dos Equis, Heineken, Hennesy, and influencers like Ryan Leslie, Kanye West, Jeff Staple, Jeremey Scott in the music, fashion, beer and beverages, and tech industry.
Bamboozle founder/Live Nation senior talent buyer, Christian Mcknight, also spoke at a festival spotlight moderated by Jesse of SoundCTRL.

Originally appearing on Kweli & Z-Trip’s Attack The Block mixtape, here is the full-length, official version of Kweli and R-Les’ collaboration, produced by Boi-1da.

The fifth in a series of 10 videos making up the Les Is More visual album – in stores in the US on October 22nd and in Europe on October 26th.

R-Les preps Les Is More, set for an October 23rd release date, with this new remix featuring Booba.

R-Les’s Les Is More cover was embroidered by hand at Hampton Court Palace under the royal patronage of The Queen of England, and is due October 23rd. This beats Lupe…

Tracklist:
1. Glory
2. Beautiful Lie
3. Good Girl
4. 5 Minute Freshen Up
5. Dress You to Undress You
6. Maybachs & Diamonds
7. Swiss Francs 8. Ups & Downs (Prelude)
9. Ups & Downs
10. Ready or Not
11. Lovers & Mountains
12. The Black Flag
13. Joan of Arc
14. Beautiful Lie (Remix) feat. Fabolous

Here’s another track from R-Les’ upcoming Les Is More, hitting Oct. 23rd.

Ryan Leslie’s album-in-limbo finally gets a solid release date, as Les Is More will drop on October 23rd, according to an announcement he made today on his Twitter.