Anthony Ryan Leslie (born September 25, 1978, in Washington, D.C.) is an Am… Read Full Bio ↴Anthony Ryan Leslie (born September 25, 1978, in Washington, D.C.) is an American singer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and rapper. Founder of the multi-media company NextSelection Lifestyle Group, Leslie has produced hit singles for a number of artists including Cassie, Keri Hilson and Fabolous. In 2003 he started recording his debut album, Just Right, but it was shelved after differences between him and his record label. He then returned to the studio in 2009 and recorded his self-titled debut, and followed it up later that year with his second studio album, Transition.
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
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
Overdose
Ryan Leslie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
[Intro:]
(NextSelection)
(R-Les)
(Sss...)
(Just rock with it, uh)
(Uh huh, ha, ha, ha...)
(Aw...)
[Verse 1:]
Girl your like a stereo can I crank ya?
Oh you're like a stack of dimes can I bank ya?
On a scale of one to ten I can't rank ya, you're a thirty-five, uh
Meanin' that the average man just can't take it
Knowin' you could steal his heart and just break it
Aw, I got an addict shirt, I can't shake it girl you know that I
[Chorus:]
Overdose of your sweetness, (yeah)
I can't talk, you got me speechless, (uh)
When you're close, you are my weakness, (I)
Overdose, I can't get enough I
Overdose of your sweetness, (yeah uh)
I can't talk, (uh), you got me speechless
When you're close, you are my weakness
Overdose, I can't get enough I overdose
[Adlibs:]
Overdose, Overdose, Overdose, Overdose, Overdose, Yeah, Uh
[Verse 2:]
Uh, girl it's like a medicine for my healin'
Lovin' you can take me straight through the ceilin'
Just to hit the view can have my head reelin', I get dizzy
And when I am away from you my head's achin'
Feenin' for the good love that we be makin'
Tell them other fellas girl that you're taken 'cause I need to
[Chorus:]
Overdose, (off of), of your sweetness, (yeah)
I can't talk, (uh), you got me speechless, (yeah)
When you're close, (oh), you are my weakness, (yeah)
Overdose, (oh), I can't get enough I
Overdose of your sweetness, ('Cause you're sweet)
I can't talk, you got me speechless, (I can't speak)
When you're close, you are my weakness, (Got me weak)
Overdose, (over you), I can't get enough I overdose
[Bridge:]
Feel like I'm gonna
(Overdose)
Strange as I wanna
(Overdose)
Feel like I'm gonna
[Ha, ha, ha, ha]
Overdose on your love baby
Feel like I'm gonna
(Overdose)
Strange as I wanna
(Overdose)
Feel like I'm gonna
Overdose on you
[Chorus:]
Overdose, (oh), of your sweetness, (uh)
I can't talk, (no), you got me speechless, (uh)
When you're close, (baby), you are my weakness
('Cause you...)
Overdose, I can't get enough I, (Are my weakness)
Overdose, (yeah), of your sweetness, (oh)
I can't talk, (yeah), you got me speechless, (Got me speechless)
When you're close, you are my weakness, (Overdose)
Overdose, (I can't get enough I over), I can't get enough I overdose
[Chorus:]
(I overdose, I overdose yeah), Overdose of your sweetness
I can't talk, (Overdose, I overdose) you got me speechless
When you're close, you are my weakness, (You are my weakness)
Overdose, (I can't get enough I overdose), I can't get enough I
Overdose of your sweetness, (Of your sweetness)
I can't talk, you got me speechless, (Can't even speak yeah)
When you're close, (you're), you are my weakness, (My weakness)
Overdose, (I), I, can't get enough I overdose
(I overdose oh, ho, oh whoo oh I)
[Outro:]
(Overdose)
(Overdose)
I just can't get enough
(NextSelection)
(R-Les)
(Sss...)
(Just rock with it, uh)
(Uh huh, ha, ha, ha...)
(Aw...)
Girl your like a stereo can I crank ya?
Oh you're like a stack of dimes can I bank ya?
On a scale of one to ten I can't rank ya, you're a thirty-five, uh
Meanin' that the average man just can't take it
Knowin' you could steal his heart and just break it
Aw, I got an addict shirt, I can't shake it girl you know that I
[Chorus:]
Overdose of your sweetness, (yeah)
I can't talk, you got me speechless, (uh)
When you're close, you are my weakness, (I)
Overdose, I can't get enough I
Overdose of your sweetness, (yeah uh)
I can't talk, (uh), you got me speechless
When you're close, you are my weakness
Overdose, I can't get enough I overdose
[Adlibs:]
Overdose, Overdose, Overdose, Overdose, Overdose, Yeah, Uh
[Verse 2:]
Uh, girl it's like a medicine for my healin'
Lovin' you can take me straight through the ceilin'
Just to hit the view can have my head reelin', I get dizzy
And when I am away from you my head's achin'
Feenin' for the good love that we be makin'
Tell them other fellas girl that you're taken 'cause I need to
[Chorus:]
Overdose, (off of), of your sweetness, (yeah)
I can't talk, (uh), you got me speechless, (yeah)
When you're close, (oh), you are my weakness, (yeah)
Overdose, (oh), I can't get enough I
Overdose of your sweetness, ('Cause you're sweet)
I can't talk, you got me speechless, (I can't speak)
When you're close, you are my weakness, (Got me weak)
Overdose, (over you), I can't get enough I overdose
[Bridge:]
Feel like I'm gonna
(Overdose)
Strange as I wanna
(Overdose)
Feel like I'm gonna
[Ha, ha, ha, ha]
Overdose on your love baby
Feel like I'm gonna
(Overdose)
Strange as I wanna
(Overdose)
Feel like I'm gonna
Overdose on you
[Chorus:]
Overdose, (oh), of your sweetness, (uh)
I can't talk, (no), you got me speechless, (uh)
When you're close, (baby), you are my weakness
('Cause you...)
Overdose, I can't get enough I, (Are my weakness)
Overdose, (yeah), of your sweetness, (oh)
I can't talk, (yeah), you got me speechless, (Got me speechless)
When you're close, you are my weakness, (Overdose)
Overdose, (I can't get enough I over), I can't get enough I overdose
[Chorus:]
(I overdose, I overdose yeah), Overdose of your sweetness
I can't talk, (Overdose, I overdose) you got me speechless
When you're close, you are my weakness, (You are my weakness)
Overdose, (I can't get enough I overdose), I can't get enough I
Overdose of your sweetness, (Of your sweetness)
I can't talk, you got me speechless, (Can't even speak yeah)
When you're close, (you're), you are my weakness, (My weakness)
Overdose, (I), I, can't get enough I overdose
(I overdose oh, ho, oh whoo oh I)
[Outro:]
(Overdose)
(Overdose)
I just can't get enough
Ryan Leslie's song "Overdose" is about being addicted to someone's love and affection. The song describes the feeling of being unable to get enough of the person's sweetness and being speechless when around them. The lyrics use metaphors such as "Girl your like a stereo can I crank ya?" and "Oh you're like a stack of dimes can I bank ya?" to express the singer's desire to consume the object of their affection. The chorus repeats the phrase "Overdose of your sweetness" and acknowledges that the singer is so addicted to the person that they can't get enough.
The lyrics also describe the physical sensations that come with being away from the person, such as headaches and feelings of longing. The singer asks the person to tell other men that she is taken and hints at an exclusive relationship. The bridge repeats the phrase "Feel like I'm gonna overdose on your love baby" and the chorus repeats the line "I can't get enough I overdose" to close out the song.
Overall, "Overdose" is a catchy R&B track that uses playful metaphors to describe a serious feeling of addiction to love and affection.
Line by Line Meaning
Girl your like a stereo can I crank ya?
Can I turn you up and listen to you all the time?
Oh you're like a stack of dimes can I bank ya?
Can I invest in you?
On a scale of one to ten I can't rank ya, you're a thirty-five, uh
You're way beyond perfect, can't even describe how much I'm into you
Meanin' that the average man just can't take it
You're too much for ordinary men
Knowin' you could steal his heart and just break it
You have the power to break men's hearts
Aw, I got an addict shirt, I can't shake it girl you know that I
I'm addicted to you and can't get enough of you
Overdose of your sweetness, (yeah)
I have too much of your love that I can't handle
I can't talk, you got me speechless, (uh)
I'm so overwhelmed by my feelings for you that I can’t find the words to express myself
When you're close, you are my weakness, (I)
You have power over me and I can't help myself
Overdose, I can't get enough I
I crave you more than anything
Uh, girl it's like a medicine for my healing
You heal me and make me feel whole
Lovin' you can take me straight through the ceilin'
Being with you takes me to new heights
Just to hit the view can have my head reelin', I get dizzy
Just looking at you makes me feel like I'm on top of the world
And when I am away from you my head's achin'
I miss you so much that it even hurts my head
Feenin' for the good love that we be makin'
I'm craving the amazing love we have together
Tell them other fellas girl that you're taken 'cause I need to
I don't want anyone else to have you, you're mine
Feel like I'm gonna (Overdose)
My emotions for you are so intense that it's overwhelming
(I can't get enough I overdose)
I need more of you, I can't get enough of you
(You are my weakness)
You have control over me and weaken me
(Of your sweetness)
I'm in love with your sweet personality and love
(Can't even speak yeah)
I'm so in love with you that I'm speechless
(My weakness)
I'm vulnerable to your love
(I overdose oh, ho, oh whoo oh I)
My love for you is beyond my control
I just can't get enough
I will always crave for more of you
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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RnBReworked
The very first R-Les song that I heard. I included it as the first track for every TDK mixtape I made for my friends. Music&Memories.
Detra Ed
He is so talented. I love his work!
Anna SCHA
Ryan,deine Musik bringt mich immer zum Tanzen.Egal wo.Ich liebe das Lied 👏👌👌
Alexa C.
This was my song, I still love it!
ROBERTO CARLOS SMITH ARANEDA
R.LES Rompiendo las reglas del ritmo,exelente trabajo.
Stephan Burnett
This man is the Music God.
Marcus Babczynski
2018 and still best song in my life love it
THIUS
the beat is amazing!!
Her Beauty Faces
This song is a hidden 💎
black rose
the beat is dangerous