This 29-year-old writer/producer has proven himself worthy of independence. He wrote and produced every song on his album with only a few features. “I’ve always heard that an overnight success takes 10 years, so this whole thing that’s happening right now is like a whirlwind for me,” he told MTV News after becoming a great hit in no more than three years. After dropping his first single, “Used to Be” in 2007, only few acknowledged Ryan Leslie as a singer they’d want to keep track of. However, many looked at him as another wannabe artist with a broken heart. For the next year and a half, critics believed their assumptions to be correct thinking Leslie to be another one hit wonder. That was until dropping his next single, “Diamond Girl” during the spring of 2008. This single became the highlight of summer 2008. Fans had both a new ‘hip’ rhythm to dance to, and a simple chorus which granted listeners the opportunity to sing along with Leslie as they drive with their windows down begging for attention. On the track “You’re fly,” Leslie sounds a lot like John Legend; however, on songs like “Valentine” he gives ladies his romantic side. And on “Just Right” featuring Snoop Dogg, he convinces listeners that if he were to be thrown in a pot of R&B soup, he’d be the first sip on your spoon labeled most versatile. This is no question. The album is a must buy, and a must not download. Ryan Leslie has the ability to be compared to the likes of Luther Vandross, Prince, Marvin Gay, and Otis Redding; a pool of names to be remembered that no one will ever be able to replace.