Sensual Seduction.
7/Ryan Leslie/Ryan Leslie
Sex sells. Boy you know, and girl you know it’s true. Girl YOU know I! I! I! wanna sex you up and put it on ya, cause I, yes I, invented sex. Yes, sex sells. But, we’re quick to forget that there’s a beauty that lies in this thing they call subtlety, a sex appeal that comes from just being straight up genuine and spouting words from the heart, letting that person on the other end know how you feel without resorting to relying solely on your sexual prowess in the bedroom. Yes sex sells, because the stance and the subject matter are easy. On his debut LP, Ryan Leslie takes the road less traveled, leaving the all sex all the time talk to his contemporaries, speaking on and offering up words on and to the women that rock his world, jilt him, and often confuse him by writing from his heart, not beneath his waist. On I-R-I-N-A, Ryan utters, “I wanna get to know you/To see what makes you laugh/I wanna be your future/Forget about your past/I wanna make you happy/By just being myself/Cause I can’t be nobody else”. This is who he is, this is the only way in which he operates, by talking to you person to person, adult to adult, on an unabashedly honest and human level. “I’m emotional, I admit/Cause these feelings that I feel for you, just won’t quit”; “Can’t explain just how much you shine/Give me your heart, I’ll give you mine/I’m putting my future on the line/Baby it’s just you and I”; Even thru all the ups and downs, you can't stop the way I feel now/ Even thru the storm, joy & pain, I won't change, still feel the same/Anytime you call I don't care, no matter the reason I’ll be there/Constantly on my mind, and that's why I’m hoping you will be my Valentine...” Real, genuine, relatable on all levels, this is grown folks music, grounded in beats and soundscapes of a smoother, early neo-soul sound in which the grooves are light and on point, and smooth vamping runs rampant. Yes sex sells, but sometimes, just sometimes, it’s the little things, the courting, the romance, the talk about us, where we stand, what we want, how we feel, that leaves out the sex, that truly gets the job done, as it does here.
KEY TRACKS: Valentine/Out of the Blue/Gibberish
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