#next selection

"Imma be about it before they even think about it."

Ryan Leslie - Black Mozart (short film/extended music video)

Released on his YouTube channel last week, Ryan Leslie gives us a flavour of the content of his most recent album, Black Mozart.

I’ve watched this video about 4-5 times now and I’m still struggling to properly enjoy it.

I’m not hating, I actually really rate R-Les for his musicianship and producing ability and love that he enlisted probably one of the hottest beat makers in the game right now to co-produce the project (Cardiak Flatline); but in the back of my mind I keep thinking, please stop rapping… go ahead and sing, you’re good at that, but please stop the rapping, we don’t believe you.

That may seem a little harsh, but for me I think he lacks two things that could potentially have made him a 'hot MC'. He’s not lyrical - yes he can rhyme words together on beat in time and can make songs, but what is the content really about, there always seems to be something missing. That something missing I feel is, Swag - now, I’m not an keen advocate of this word but its undeniable that your favourite rappers out there tend to have it. Leslie, despite how well he dresses and how presidential-like he moves, sadly does not.

At the end of the day I am an R-Les fan, he’s very talented and I love all his staged studio videos to this day; him making a beat from scratch, recording on the spot, in a well-shot and well-edited fashion; it’s a great marketing and promotional tool which I feel he uses effectively to his advantage to keep him relevant.