Showing Out

It’s been less than a year since Ryan Leslie dropped his eponymous official debut, but that’s not going to stop him from keeping the ball rolling on his solo career. Recently dubbed a “Rising Icon” by BET, the singer-songwriter is back on the scene with the forthcoming Transition, an album that, again, focuses almost entirely on Leslie (with the exception of a cameo from Clipse’s Pusha T on “Something That I Like”). Inspired by a tale of courtship, Leslie put his pen to the pad and crafted an electro-brushed R&B record that takes the listener on his journey of wooing this mysterious gal.

In anticipation of the album’s November 3rd release date, Ryan Leslie held an advance listening session earlier this evening for Transition at Chung King Studios in New York City, taking a moment before each song to explain the process and intention behind it. Unlike most album listening sessions where the artist simply shows his face and says his hellos while the album plays, Leslie ran through cuts off the album with introductions that varied between clips from his childhood showing his 14-year-old self rapping at a rotary speech competition and portions from the album’s bonus DVD that showed Leslie in the studio with Drake and Fabolous, rocking it on stage overseas and even a few unreleased videos for tracks off the album. Hit the jump to read our exclusive album preview of Ryan Leslie’s Transition.

“Never Gonna Break Up”

Leslie explained that he was at a rehearsal for a show at S.O.B.’s in downtown NYC, showing a clip with him and a string quartet practicing a few cuts off of Ryan Leslie. But when a friend walked in and told him he brought a girl that he simply had to meet, Leslie knew that he was about to go through a transition in his life because of this mystery woman. The event inspired Leslie to head into the studio and lay down “Never Gonna Break Up,” which, after he recorded, he called a video director to come to the studio to get busy working on a treatment. Leslie then played the crowd the video, which sees Leslie bumping into a dude on a staircase and asking for a light, only for the other guy to inform Leslie that his girl gave him the same collector’s edition lighter. Dismayed and hurt, Leslie took to his girl’s apartment with the lighter, dropping it on a pile of her clothes as he sang, “Hoping that your loneliness burn for me.” The clip ended with Leslie playing a piano that had been set on fire on the top of a building overlooking Manhattan. Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it?

“Nothing”

Though this song doesn’t come next on the tracklisting, Leslie explained that this one was next in the courtship of his girl, showing the room a video of him in the studio playing with a classic ’70s electric guitar distorter. Leslie explained that the song had come from the girl introducing him to music by Tom Vek, Feist and a cut by Charles Manson, going on play the reggae-tinged jam that rocked with a funky bounce and a nice guitar solo.

“You’re Not My Girl”

Leslie then turned to his keyboard setup and played a stripped-down snippet of the single, explaining that after having played the song overseas with the backing of a live band, he got session musicians to come in and lay down some instrumentation for the track. He went on to state that Transition isn’t just an album filled with songs that he pared down from a handful of tracks, and that every joint on the album was intended to end up on the final cut.

“Zodiac”

This one was introduced with a story about Leslie going on a date with a young actress and having a fascinating discussion about if they’d be compatible based on whether “mercury was in retrograde” or not. The resulting cut is one of the few songs on Transition to be mostly stooped in rap, and Leslie played it for the room by rolling the black-and-white video for the song that shows him in a black vest, chain and v-neck white tee, rapping to the camera. He then explained that “the reason that I get my messages across is my raps,” which he stated after he showed a segment that aired on television of him rapping as a young kid.

“Something That I Like” (Feat. Pusha T)

This joint knocked hard, with a clicking, thwacking beat that enticed Leslie to hop on the keys as it played in the studio. Leslie stated that he’d always been the one singing on other rappers’ songs, and that he felt it was time to have a rapper spit a verse on one of his tracks. Since he was working with Pusha T, he sent off this one to him and the rest was history.

“Is It Real Love”

After trying to court this female for a little bit (he staged a few “Oh, you’re going to be in L.A.? So will I! What a small world” type of situations), Leslie kept pressing the girl to explain why she was being hesitant. She sassed that she’d met him before, and that he gave her the cold shoulder because he was with some other chick. This song was inspired by that situation, with lyrics like, “Where did you come from / Where have you been all my life?” over a sweaty rhythm guitar.

“Makin’ Love”

The chanteur took to the keyboard again to introduce this joint, which boasts the coaxing lyrics, “Wanna give you all my love / Even if I don’t have all your trust.” To truly win her over, Leslie said that he recorded a lot of handclaps to give her some “encouragement” to give up the goods. But he ended the performance by admitting that “she still didn’t believe me.” Yikes.

“To The Top”

Leslie introduced this one by saying that the girl told him she’d be heading to Amsterdam, to which he replied that he’d be coincidentally going, too! Slick move. He described this one as “thick and syrupy,” which pretty much nailed the feel of this gushy jam. And if this one didn’t make it clear to you, he really wanted to bed this girl - badly.

“Sunday Night”

Courting her was finally starting to play in his favor, and he said that he’d take her out for a nice dinner to celebrate the consummation of their relationship. While in the studio with Drake, he got a text from the girl asking when they’d be heading to the Mandarin Oriental restaurant, which overlooks Central Park (he showed a clip of him reading the text with Drizzy in the background). Of course, he had no reservation, so they showed up to the restaurant and were forced to sit at the bar. After she asked Leslie to fetch a piece of bread and he couldn’t deliver, she figured out his game and suggested that they head back to her place to watch a DVD and order in some food. The next day, he surprised her by filling her living room with hundreds of flowers, a romantic move that finally got him the girl. The resulting song boasted billowing synths and chalky rim shots - a true groove.

“Guardian Angel”

Following his summer courtship, the gal still wouldn’t take the bait and didn’t want to “take the relationship public,” leaving Leslie dejected and broken. But he still felt positive about their friendship, penning a song that described how “she’s in my life to watch over me during this transitional stage.” “Guardian Angel” is a little darker than the rest of the tracks on the album, but its gloomy verses give way to a bright chorus that lifts the mood on this situation.

“I Choose U”

Transition comes to a close with this joint, which has Leslie showing that he’s still got a feeling for this girl, singing, “Because you’re the best thing in my life, I choose you.” The song features a dramatic Euro-style kick drum hitting on every other beat, with no snare or hi-hat to pick up the pace on this fluid jam. He told the room that the inscription on the back of Transition’s packaging reads “This collection of songs was inspired by a summer of secret love.” And what an inspiring summer it was.