Can Ryan Leslie Bring The Storm To America?

By Ayomide Tayo

It seems international alliances are in vogue now, first it was Mo’ Hits and Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music imprint. Last weekend Akon tantalized us by posting a picture of him with 2Face chilling which led many to believe that a HyperTek/Konvict partnership is in the works. On Friday, June 17, 2011, news filtered via the 21st century telegram- Twitter– that Storm Records had just signed a partnership deal with US producer Ryan Leslie’s label Next Selection. We thank the Lord that Nigerian music is getting international recognition.

Who is Ryan Leslie you may ask? Ryan Leslie is the guy who brought us Bad Boy Records’ Cassie in all her pop princess glory (Me and You, Long way to go) in 2005 before she became Diddy’s arm candy. She was under his label Next Selection. Diddy felt Cassie’s vibe and signed her under a joint venture with Leslie’s label. Her singles were burning hot and Leslie who was managed by Diddy was seen as the next music mogul. Things however went sour after Cassie’s album didn’t fare well in the market. Ryan wanted to pull a fast one by taking Cassie from Bad Boy. Diddy countered this move by giving Cassie a solo contract with Bad Boy. The singer/model/actress accepted and the rest they say is history.

It is safe to say that Ryan Leslie has not reached Cassie-like buzz since then. He has had a few hits for other artistes along the way most notably Fabolous but in the scheme of things Ryan Leslie is not a power mover in the American urban music industry.

Storm Records aligning themselves to Next Selection has both positives and negatives. Ryan Leslie is a fantastic producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is a regarded as a one-man army. He sings, raps, writes, arranges, produces and mixes his songs. I can imagine a Naeto C or Sasha P on his beats. The result would be breath-taking. So in the aspect of giving Storm Records’ artistes hot beats then this deal is superb. However if Obi Asika joined forces with Ryan Leslie because he wants to penetrate mainstream America then this deal is not it. All of Ryan’s albums have failed to be a commercial success. He is currently signed to Universal Motown (which houses Lil Wayne, Drake and Nicki Minaj) and with his poor numbers he is one of the label’s dispensable artistes. Translation; a pawn cannot make King-like moves when he is still a pawn. My fear is that he won’t be able to do what Kanye will do to a Mo’ Hits or Akon to Tu Face’s career. His influence in the game is highly limited. Ryan Leslie is just a producer and not a mogul whose hottest streak was 5 years ago.

Diddy would have been the best fit for Storm Records with his experience and connections. He has worked with a huge roster successfully before and his Bad Boy empire which monopolized the industry from 94-99 remains a sparkling highlight in Hip-Hop’s incursion into mainstream America. The CEO of Sean John has also pulled off the task of making Rick Ross into a respected rapper but with Puff focused on his Vodka drink Ciroc and other business ventures who knows how it will play out.

Maybe Obi Asika with his wealth of experience is seeing something that is not obvious to all. Ryan Leslie is no slouch. He had a perfect score in his SATs and was offered admission into Stanford, Yale and Harvard. At 19 he graduated with a degree in Government from Harvard and delivered the prestigious Harvard Oration. Surely a man with this brilliant mind must have a master plan to dominate the vast music empire in America. If he has, now is the time to put it in motion. If he does not I think it’s best for him to call his former boss Puff and play him Ki Ni Big Deal.