Doin’ what you love to do
is the way that you’re going to give the best to the world!
And for me my brand is about the live performance.
It’s about touring.
It’s about, you know, comin’ out here
and hostin’ these parties and havin’ fun
touchin’ the people.
Once you make this stuff, put yourself out there
so people can hear it!
– He’s an American recording artist and record producer
from Washington D.C.
He’s produced hit singles for a number of prominent artists
in a variety of genres.
He’s also the founder and CEO of SuperPhone,
and NextSelection Lifestyle Group.
He’s Ryan Leslie, and here is my take on his
Top 10 Rules For Success.
Rule number 10 is my personal favorite!
Also as Ryan is talking if he’s says something that’s
really meaningful to you, please leave it in
the comments below, and put quotes around it so
other people can be inspired as well.
Enjoy!
(dramatic music)
– At 15 years old, you went to Harvard,
scored 1600 on the SAT, graduated–
– Did your research!
– Graduated at 19, and at 19 when you
gave the commencement speech at Harvard, you said that
you wanted to be a performer, and some people laughed.
Tell me about that.
– Well I mean you just have to think, you know,
after four years and $120,000
worth of, you know….
arguably one of the greatest educations that the world
has to offer, at Harvard.
There’s so many other opportunities
and pathways that you could take as a young,
bright, and even an African American,
you know, there’s like, you know, there’s already so many
African Americans that want to rap, or that, you know,
they want to make music.
Why can’t we have an incredible outlier?
Why can’t we have someone who’s, you know, an incredible
spokesperson like other–
– But we can!
– Another Barrack Obama so to speak, you know?
And for me, it always once again comes back to
what we touched on before which is,
doing what you love to do.
Doing what you love to do is the way
that you’re going to give the best to the world!
And I knew that anything else that I did, whether it was
takin’ a job or boss of consulting group or, you know
even the community service and philanthropy initiatives
in which I was involved.
You know I have a passion for those things,
but none of them even remotely touches
the passion that I have for live performance and music.
Number two, hard work.
‘Cause guess what?
The life that I live, goin’ from country to country,
stage to stage, shootin’ music videos in the studio,
it seemed like everywhere I go people ask me,
“Ryan, how can I get that life?”
The only way I was able to get it was by working harder
than everyone else who said they wanted it, but didn’t
work hard enough to get it.
My words of advice are really the same words that I spoke on
when I was a teenager, and I needed money for college.
And so I head to the speech competition
for Rotary International and…
the topic that they asked me
to speak on, was…
“Do what you believe in and believe in what you do”.
And even now 12 years later, when I look around,
that’s what I strive to do everyday, do what I believe in
and believe in what I do.
For everyone out there that has an aspiration, do something!
Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do!
If you got a dream and a goal and a passion to do it,
you know, I can’t tell you the amount of people
that told me,
“Look Ryan, stick to stand behind the synthesizer or,
if you go and sing, don’t try to rap, or if you rap,
don’t try to sing, or if you produce,
don’t try to be an artist, if you’re an R&B dude,
don’t try to go into the rock or alternative side,
or if you don’t dance, don’t try to dance,
or if you dance, don’t, you know, don’t decide it
you just going to stay behind the keyboard.”
Really for me, I think artistry, the beauty and the joy
of artistry and the beauty and the joy of just havin’
the freedoms that we enjoy in life, is that we can pursue
anything that we want to pursue and with the right mix of
drive, desire, discipline, and dedication
we can achieve anything that we want to achieve and so for
all you all out there that have a dream, I encourage you to
keep striving, pushing forward toward that dream,
and make it happen, man!
There’s a lot of rap artists, or hip hop artist, you know,
or urban music artists that go overseas and they just assume
that, you know, it’s a privilege for that market to
have them there and they don’t really deliver on the,
in terms of a live experience, you know, they come over,
they might give a half an hour show, 40 minute show,
they do it to track, they go out there,
they collect the money ’cause it’s good money out there,
and they come home and because their touring base
is in the States, they leave a lot of fans,
really disappointed, you know?
And it’s been my strategy to go out there and really just
shatter anyone else’s live performance, at least
at the level that I’m doin’ it right now,
we doin’ 1,200 to 2,000 seaters, you know,
maybe 3,000 in some markets, and really just shatter
everyone’s expectations about what egotism, you know,
an American artist might have by comin’ out there,
and we’ve built an incredible tourin’ base, you know.
Honestly if you average it out, we doin’ probably
$1.2 million a month in Europe, you know,
if we go out there for a month.
So, that’s 40,000 tickets at 35 Euros a ticket
top-line, you know, you do the math.
– [Interviewer] I also read that this new project you
plan to release each song with a video?
– Absolutely.
– [Interviewer] For free?
– Absolutely.
– [Interviewer] So why do take this major bet like you
giving music?
– Well I mean, really, if you look at the economics
of the music business right now, you’re really making money
when you’re on the road, and when you’re touring.
And so, it’s like…
Have you ever paid to download a Coca-Cola commercial?
No.
Have you ever paid to download a commercial for a car?
No.
So, all the money that they spend
in creating an advertisement for just a can of Coke
or Pepsi, I mean, the Superbowl
just happened in the United States.
All of the big advertisements,
the amount of money that they spend to create
those advertisements, you’re watchin’ them for free.
And what it really is is a call to action for you to
buy into the brand, and for me, my brand is about the
live performance, it’s about touring, it’s about,
you know, comin’ out here and hostin’ these parties
and havin’ fun touchin’ the people.
And so, when people are paying that, you just really
have to think, when someone pays $20 to come to the club,
that’s double the price of an album, you know, and they
might do that three of four times a year, as opposed to
buying your album one time for 10 dollars.
So I’m lookin’ at this as an advertisement for,
Ryan Leslie the brand, Ryan Leslie just the personality
’cause I like to come out, you know,
(speaks French)
I want to be able to touch the people, and I want people to
have a reason to want to come and interact with me.
Yeah, so I look at it that way.
– [Interviewer] Okay, so you plan the future to no more
rely on the album or CDs or…
– I would say there’s very few artists that actually
even make money from record sales, right?
Because the record labels have given them an advance
and they only make money when they do shows,
or they do appearances, or they sell t-shirts, you know?
We go the “NS For Life” hoodies, man, you look at my man
right there you get the “NS For Life” hoodie, you know?
It’s something that you can’t download, that experience
you can’t download, and I’m not stupid, man.
I know what’s goin’ on, I mean, you know, when you
look at the streaming services, when you look at the
file sharing services, people are going to share your stuff
anyways digital, you know, whether it’s a photograph,
or a song so the concert experience…
that’s something that you can’t download, you know?
Either you have a ticket to the Jay-Z concert,
or you just at home, you know what I mean?
You can’t download that experience.
So, my interest in making an album with all the visuals
and all the music, is to create a demand
for that concert experience that you can’t download.
– So you’re not strictly an artist?
You’re a businessman!
– Yeah!
– What could you really say in terms of
handling your business in an economy like this that people
really have to focus on these days?
Cause I think very few people who are watching
this right now could really say, you know,
I’m good for 10 years, financially.
Most people are living paycheck to paycheck,
month to month, they may have a little bit
of savings but they’re not sitting on
a decade’s worth of living expenses.
– You know it also depends on what you’re
living expenses are, you know, I live within my means.
You know what I mean? So–
– So that’s the first thing.
The first thing is that you got to live within your means.
– Yeah, you know, so, if you decide that, you know,
and I have friends that decide they want to be
in the penthouse before they can afford to really be
in the penthouse but they can afford to be in the penthouse
for a year maybe, so they go and do that for a year.
And, I mean, to each their own, everybody has the
prerogative to live however they want to live.
So, we’re not promised tomorrow, so there are a lot of people
who just have the idea, “Hey, let me live for today!”
You know what I’m sayin’?
– Fault to a fault.
– Yeah, you know what I’m sayin’?
So, it’s all good!
I mean, for me it’s just about just bein’ responsible and
cognizant of what you need to be happy, yeah?
And so, for me, all I need is,
the ability to keep creating,
and uh, I’m good.
– The first time I met you, you told me that,
this is when you were a producer for Bad Boy, and
you told me that Tommy Mottola and Puff used to always
tell you, “Why do you want to be an artist?
You’re hustling backwards!”
What did they mean by that, and why did you persist to
continue to become an artist?
– Well I think they really, being the luminaries
that they are, and the moguls that they are, you know
they were talking much more in terms of just
the generation of income,
and for me, generating income
in a way that, you know, is just left of center
of what you love to do
is not the way I want to live, you know?
And I feel like the American dream, which is, you know,
what I really consider myself the embodiment of,
I feel like the American dream is bein’ able to
make a living doin’ what you love to do.
And so for me, production was
always just a stepping stone to amass enough money
so that eventually as the music industry shifted,
I could buy my contract out, and reinvest all the money that
I had earned into doing what I really love to do which is
bein’ on stage playin’, and you know just
goin’ runnin’ around the world
and playin’ shows for screamin’ audiences
all over the world.
When you want to get your music out…
people usually think it two ways, radio and television.
In 2010, there’s a new way, it’s called the Internet.
(assembly laughs)
Right?
Youtube!
Right?
So once you make your stuff, once you make your stuff,
put yourself out there so people can hear it!
And if enough people respond, I’ll give you three examples,
Soulja Boy.
– [Audience Member] Justin Bieber!
– Justin Bieber.
(assembly laughs)
And also,
And also, the guy who you see standing right here.
Right?
If someone’s a true fan they will actually, you know,
they’ll let you know what their opinion is but,
at the end of the day, it’s entertainment.
So, if they don’t want to listen to what I’m talkin’ about,
there’s plenty of other people out, I mean,
just go search Youtube, R&B singers, and you can go find
a whole bunch of R&B singers, but if you like what I do,
which is, just being as honest as I can be,
and you know, makin’ the records from scratch,
I mean, that’s really,
that’s really where I have biggest fan base, right?
It’s from the Youtube videos of me in the studio.
So nothin’ about that has changed at all, I mean,
I’m still in the studio makin’ the songs from scratch and,
you know, I have a different perspective, I have a different
life experience that I’m writing from.
I’m going to say an affirmation,
and at the end of the affirmation I will ask, “Who am I?”
And you will respond, “I’m a Harlem Jet!” Who am I?
– [Audience] Harlem Jet!
– [Ryan] That’s right!
Now I understand that obstacles are really opportunities,
to learn, and to grow stronger! So when I am met with
the challenge, I will rise to the occasion, and I will
do my best to set an example of perseverance,
of persistence, and of discipline, for my community.
Who am I?
– [Audience] A Harlem Jet!
– [Ryan] That’s right!
Now I might not have all the money in the world,
but I do understand I have the same 24 hours in a day
as anyone else.
And so in the interest of becoming great,
I have no problem making the commitment to invest
more of my time,
in becoming the best representation
of myself that I can be.
Who am I?
– [Audience] Harlem Jet!
– Now I understand that whether I’m on the field,
or off the field, the same principles of love, teamwork,
fairness, and collaboration.
I understand that those principles apply
in my everyday life, and I will do the best that I can to
treat other with the same respect with which I
want to be treated, and do the same
for our environment as well.
Who am I?
– [Audience] A Harlem Jet!
– Now I understand that no matter where I am today,
no matter the struggles that I’m going through,
or that my family is going through,
no matter what my world looks like today,
the world that I will live in tomorrow,
will be the world that I create,
and I will never allow anyone to keep me
from pursuing my dreams.
I love life, I love my family,
I love my community,
and I love my country.
Who am I?
– [Audience] A Harlem Jet!
– [Ryan] Who am I?
– [Audience] A Harlem Jet!
– Who am I?
– [Audience] A Harlem Jet!
– Who am I?!
– [Audience] A Harlem Jet!!!
– God bless you all, God bless Harlem,
and God bless the USA, I’m Ryan Leslie.
(audience cheers) (inspirational music)
– Thank you guys so much for watching!
I made this video because Perle Pons asked me to.
So if there’s a famous entrepreneur that you want me
to profile next, leave it down in the comments below
and I’ll see what I can do.
I’d also love to know what did Ryan say that left
the biggest mark on you, what change are you going to make now
after watching this video?
Leave it down in the comments.
By writin’ it, you’ll solidify your intent to actually
follow through on it, and hopefully inspire
other people as well so leave it in the comments,
I will join in the discussion.
I also want to give a quick shout-out to
Paulette from totallyinspiredmind.com.
Paulette bought 10 copies of my book,
thank you so much it really, really, really
means a lot to me!
Thanks again for watching, I believe in you!
I hope you continue to believe in yourself
and whatever your one word is, much love, I’ll see you soon!
”
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