Like most aspiring producer/songwriter/singers, Ryan Leslie started out making his own records as a teen because he couldn't afford to pay for studio time or producers when he wanted to record his demo. Counting self-contained producer/artists like Stevie Wonder and Prince as his heroes, it's been a long ride from being a 19-year-old senior in college who had no music contacts - to overseeing studio sessions with the likes of Diddy, Usher, Britney Spears, and many other of today's top stars.
The road was not easy, as anyone who has tried to make it in music would understand. When he graduated from Harvard in 1998, Ryan started out selling beats for $200 to anyone who would buy - a questionable career move for an ivy-league graduate. He stayed in the Boston area for a while, taking on a community service job to make ends meet, and spending his nights in the recording studio. Eventually, in the summer of 2000, he linked with a young artist named Corey "Latif" Williams, and he produced a song that won a contest sponsored by Teen People magazine, earning them a performance at the famed Apollo theatre in Harlem.
A few months later, in 2001, the two had generated enough buzz as a producer/artist duo to score Latif a record deal with Motown. Though initial excitement in the project was strong, the album they made together in thirty days took two years to get released. In the meantime, Ryan returned to a suburb of Boston and began to experiment with making his own records again.
Times were tough, the advance money from his work on Latif's album ran out, and in late 2002, after nearly a year grinding with little to no money coming in, Ryan was forced to move back in with his parents, who were living in Phoenix. Though he was devastated, he remained determined, and after a long talk, his father gave Ryan a glimmer of hope, offering to max out the family's credit cards to buy the keyboards and recording software needed to create a modest project studio. Moved by this vote of confidence in his potential, Ryan vowed that he would do whatever it took to repay the nearly $15,000 worth of equipment - even if it meant going to law school and getting a job more suited to his academic pedigree.
For the next five months, Ryan locked himself in a room, eating infrequently and sleeping even less, spending countless hours formulating a distinct sound that would prove useful when in the spring of 2003, his music career took an unexpected turn. Encouraged by his long-time music lawyer and advisor, Ed Woods, Ryan got on a plane to New York to take a 30-day contract as a music production intern for former Bad Boy Hitman Younglord. One week into his internship, a record they created together became "Keep Giving Your Love To Me", a song performed by Beyoncé for the Bad Boys II movie soundtrack. That record led to a meeting with Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was supervising the project.
Honored by the opportunity, Ryan played a few of the instrumentals he had created while in Phoenix for Diddy, and there was one in particular that caught the Bad Boy Records CEO's attention. Though it was a simple track, consisting mostly of a conga loop and a guitar riff, the magic in the music emerged when Ryan played a song he had written and recorded to the track, called "Hot 2 Nite". Thoroughly impressed, Diddy offered Ryan a producer management contract on the spot, and the song became the first single for New Edition's Bad Boy album.
Diddy immediately put Ryan on every project that came across his blackberry, and Ryan produced a string of records, including Loon's 2003 summer hit "Down For Me". He shared his unique talent with everyone from Britney Spears, B5, Cheri Dennis, Danity Kane, and many other Diddy-helmed projects. In six months, he had collected enough money from advances to be able to repay his father, and after sending a check home, he requested that his equipment be shipped to New York, where he set up a project studio in a one-bedroom apartment in Harlem.
Simultaneously during that time, Ryan inked a publishing deal with Tommy Mottola's Aspen Songs, cementing his relationship with two of the most legendary and notorious executives in the music industry. Under the mentorship of Diddy and Mottola, Ryan began to absorb the mannerisms of a savvy entrepreneurial music executive.
Soon the word began to spread of his unorthodox approach to record-making (eschewing programming and beat machines for real-time playing of instruments and on-the-fly song writing), and people began reaching out to Ryan for his "NextSelection" sound. He produced singles for Donell Jones ("Better Start Talking"), Cheri Dennis ("I Love U"), and dancehall legends Tanto Metro & Devonte ("News For You"). He also signed a recording contract as an artist with Universal through Mottola's imprint. Though he recorded an album for Universal in 2004 between projects for other artists, his production schedule kept him from paying any real attention to promoting a single.
It was when Usher called on him to produce some records for his new label, US Records, that Ryan, being the same age as Usher, became inspired to champion his NextSelection brand by developing an artist of his own. After writing and producing the title track "Private" for Usher's act One Chance's debut album, Ryan returned to New York and met a strikingly beautiful young artist named Cassie with a distinct vocal texture and a unique point of view. With the help of some coaxing by her mother, he convinced Cassie to record a song with him. Encouraged again by his attorney, Ed Woods, he played the record for Mottola, who immediately signed Ryan's young protégé to a management contract, urging the two to continue the recording process.
The next record he wrote and produced for her, a song called "Me & U", would prove to be a defining work in Ryan's career - earning him his first number one hit, and the opportunity to work as an executive producer alongside Diddy, who outbid 2 other labels to partner with him on Cassie's project. "Me & U" went on to be the biggest record at radio in the history of Atlantic Records (Bad Boy's distributor), and Ryan's dream to introduce the world to the NextSelection brand was achieved.
The success of Cassie's project also proved to be definitive in a different way for Ryan, who had partnered with a young on-line media entrepreneur named Rasheed Richmond to wage a ground-breaking internet marketing campaign using non-traditional media to raise awareness about Cassie, NextSelection, and the infectious song he had written for her. Thanks to their joint efforts, she became the first major new artist to break from social networking phenomenon MySpace.com, prompting so many internet searches that Yahoo crowned her the first "Internet diva".
Fueled by this momentum, Ryan's next moves will be made with laser focus on brand development and will be watched intently by an evolving music industry. He is building a management company, led by Sean Collins, a long-time friend and early supporter who invested in him during the early stages of his career, to develop and nurture budding production talent. He is expanding his on-line media properties with Rasheed Richmond to create a network of sites dedicated to entertainment content developed by NextSelection. He is assembling a roster of acts that will embody the characteristics of his signature 4 D's - drive, desire, discipline and dedication.
Most importantly, amongst all of his endeavors, he's campaigning as Ryan Leslie - the artist. With a goal to fill arenas around the world where he has already been performing for small crowds of die-hard NextSelection fans, he is pursuing the dream that started his foray into music in the first place: being an entertainer. His live show is explosive, channeling of the energy of a young James Brown mixed with the swagger of a modern day Marvin Gaye. The soundtrack to the Ryan Leslie experience is just as engaging. Fusing thick analogue synths, heavy drums and lush vocal harmonies, his double album, consisting of his best unreleased gems like "The Way That U Move", "Just Right" and "Used 2 Be", plus an entirely fresh crop of newly-inspired recordings, will be a collection of all the songs he wouldn't sell to anyone else, songs that he really loves, stories told in a way only he can tell them.
A look at Ryan's daily schedule, which usually starts on-line at 5am and continues (with meetings, calls, rehearsals and studio sessions) into the wee hours of the following morning, suggests that he may have too much on his plate to lead the life of an ordinary twenty-something year old. Thankfully, his approach to life is, arguably, extraordinary.
© 2006 NextSelection Lifestyle Group
Carnival of Venice
Ryan Leslie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I’m tryna see the best of things
Lace my girl, 5 carats in her ring
Get my moms a crib, my pops a new whip
When it’s all said and done – stack a mil for my kids
Work hard, play hard, stack dough, live well
Get away
Stay on an island in my own hotel
She happy I put a pool in her house – she love to swim
I’m known for my taste in ladies
Plus a Murcielago and a pair of twin grey Mercedes
Staties leave me alone when I cruise the expressway
Can’t touch me the community loves me
I’m on the news shaking hands
Had to give back
Salvation Army get a hundred grand
And – I own a company of which I’m the chair
I’m the boss, El Jefe premiere
And I’m knowin’ they stare
When they see me at the Rolex store
On the low – the rose gold cost a hundred and 4
That’s a house on the arm, couple cars on the wrist
Yea – success served cold is a remarkable dish
When they see me, yea – they might stand around for a photo
Watch for a king, got a crown for a logo
Owe it all to God, so the greatest, I thank
The whole team gettin’ green, celebrate at the Bank
Yea- that volcano flow slow burn thru your stereo
You know what the business is, you know the scenario
Black Mozart flow, hated like the Taliban
With a black fur coat made of astrakhan
Thick in the club, man, you know I’ma turn up
Money here to get, homie, you know I’ma earn up
Ace for the entourage, bring the Methuselah
Envy make haters turn green like arugula
Still make a fool of you – ‘Pagne (pain) in a gold bottle
Stunt hard these lames need a role model
Shorty with the pretty face that’s my plus one
Feature presentation – word to Suss One
Gold on the wrist – no time for the gimmicks
Living a self-made “Sweet Dream” Annie Lennox
Class in session, hope you all in attendance
Puttin’ the mask on for the Carnival of Venice
In "Carnival Of Venice," Ryan Leslie expresses his aspirations and achievements as a successful musician. He speaks about his desire to provide for his loved ones by buying his girlfriend an expensive ring, purchasing his mother a new home, and his father a new car. He mentions his intention to accumulate wealth for his children's future. Leslie also reflects on his achievements, including owning his own company and being known for his exquisite taste in women and cars. He talks about his philanthropic acts, like donating $100,000 to the Salvation Army, and being involved in his community by shaking hands with locals.
The song also features words of gratitude to God for his blessings and acknowledges that success does not occur overnight. He alludes to his luxurious lifestyle by using metaphors such as "a house on the arm, couple cars on the wrist," and a "rose gold" Rolex costing around $100,000. He mentions the necessity of hard work and putting in long hours to achieve the success he has now attained. The song ends with Ryan Leslie putting on his mask, symbolizing his readiness for the fun and festivities at the Carnival of Venice.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm tryna see the best of things
I'm trying to focus on the positive in life
Lace my girl, 5 carats in her ring
Buy an expensive engagement ring for my girlfriend
Get my moms a crib, my pops a new whip
Buy a house for my mother and a car for my father
When it’s all said and done – stack a mil for my kids
When I reach my financial goals, I want to leave a million dollars for my children
Work hard, play hard, stack dough, live well
I believe in working hard, enjoying life, saving money, and living comfortably
Get away
Take a vacation to relax and escape from everyday life
Stay on an island in my own hotel
Rent my own hotel on an island for a luxurious vacation
Got my little sister proud – like, check him out
My little sister is proud of my accomplishments and likes to show me off to others
She happy I put a pool in her house – she love to swim
My sister is pleased that I added a swimming pool to her home because she enjoys swimming
I’m known for my taste in ladies
My taste in women is well-known and often talked about
Plus a Murcielago and a pair of twin grey Mercedes
I own a Lamborghini Murcielago and two Mercedes-Benz cars
Staties leave me alone when I cruise the expressway
Police officers do not bother me when I drive on the highway
Can’t touch me the community loves me
The community respects me and does not cause me trouble
I’m on the news shaking hands
I am often on the news and meet people by shaking hands
Had to give back
I felt a need to give back to those less fortunate
Salvation Army get a hundred grand
I donated one hundred thousand dollars to the Salvation Army
And – I own a company of which I’m the chair
I am the chairman of a company that I own
I’m the boss, El Jefe premiere
I am the leader and boss, with a name that translates to 'the boss'
And I’m knowin’ they stare
I am aware that people are staring at me
When they see me at the Rolex store
People notice me at luxury stores like Rolex
On the low – the rose gold cost a hundred and 4
I discreetly bought a $104,000 rose gold Rolex watch
That’s a house on the arm, couple cars on the wrist
My expensive watch is like a small house on my arm, while my jewelry looks like tiny cars on my wrist
Yea – success served cold is a remarkable dish
Being successful and flaunting it can make people envious
When they see me, yea – they might stand around for a photo
People often stop to take photos when they see me
Watch for a king, got a crown for a logo
People should watch for me because I am the king, as indicated by my crown logo
Owe it all to God, so the greatest, I thank
I credit God for my success, and I am grateful for all that I have achieved
The whole team gettin’ green, celebrate at the Bank
My entire team is making money, and we celebrate our success at the bank
Yea- that volcano flow slow burn thru your stereo
My music has a fiery, passionate energy that flows slowly through your speakers
You know what the business is, you know the scenario
You understand what the industry is like and what to expect
Black Mozart flow, hated like the Taliban
My style of music is similar to Mozart, but people still hate on me like they hate on the Taliban
With a black fur coat made of astrakhan
I wear a black fur coat made of astrakhan, which is a type of fur from young lambs
Thick in the club, man, you know I’ma turn up
I am popular and have a good time when I go out to clubs
Money here to get, homie, you know I’ma earn up
I am motivated to make money, and you know I will earn it
Ace for the entourage, bring the Methuselah
I bring a bottle of champagne (or other alcohol) called Methuselah for my group of friends
Envy make haters turn green like arugula
Jealousy makes my haters turn green, like the vegetable arugula
Still make a fool of you – ‘Pagne (pain) in a gold bottle
I will still make fun of and embarrass you, while enjoying expensive champagne in a gold bottle
Stunt hard these lames need a role model
I show off how successful I am because others need someone to look up to
Shorty with the pretty face that’s my plus one
I bring a girl with a pretty face as my date
Feature presentation – word to Suss One
I am the main event, with a shoutout to a friend named Suss One
Gold on the wrist – no time for the gimmicks
I wear expensive jewelry on my wrist and do not participate in fake or unnecessary actions
Living a self-made “Sweet Dream” Annie Lennox
I am living proof that hard work and passion can create a successful and fulfilling life, just like in the song 'Sweet Dreams' by Annie Lennox
Class in session, hope you all in attendance
I am teaching a lesson about success and hope that everyone is listening
Puttin’ the mask on for the Carnival of Venice
I am playing a role and putting on a show, like one would do at the Carnival of Venice
Contributed by Savannah L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
The Pour Project
Still bump this in 2022 and will probably still bump it 20 years from now.
tristty
Do not understand why Ryan Leslie is not much more popular. Obviously one of the best and most talented artists out there
Raja Sewan
The most underrated artist in the world!!!
Jersen Prez
With all the hard work that he does; I feel he deserves everything that he raps about. I feel he is the Ryan Leslie that is evolved and more mature since the glimpse of the lifestyle he lives? Is a lifestyle that is easy to come by or live in. Therefore i salute him and hope he can continue to be blessed in the position where he is able to get all of those things he raps & sings about.
TheManloc
The beat is so dope!! RYAN IS A MUSICAL GENIUS!!
Kuzajatu Katjatenja
Wish this was a full song, chorus and all. Dude you on the right path with your plan to inspire in awe, I'm hooked completely.
EnzoTheWarrior
two words. SO COLD. the beat is cold. the rhymes and delivery were cold. Just cold blooded talent, mixed with imagination and determination.
Ian | Ingénieur du Son
Dope sound as usual, I'm a real fan
Mike Griffen
My god...this song is as close to perfect as you can get. The beat, the flow, the lyrics, the content. Damn. Props R-Les.
Juelz Jeter
I like him rapping with this laid back tone than he does with his hype tone. None the less, this guy is doing it all. Keep it up!