With his face all over the news last week, Ryan Leslie became very inspired from the verdict that found him responsible to fork over the $1MM reward he offered for the recovery of his laptop and hard-drive back in 2010. Although he claims the hard-drive was broken and he could not access the precious music sessions, somehow the jury still ruled in favor of a German man who claimed to have found the devices in a park. Taking the outcome very much to heart, the musician immediately began writing songs, and he has announced plans to release a new EP, entitled “Black Mozart.”
Speaking to VIBE, Ryan explained:
“Black Mozart starts at the moment that I walk out of the courthouse. I wrote the entire album in the two days following the verdict, so the album is written and will be recorded in layers with the strings, horns and potentially a choir in the royal conservatory in Vienna, Austria, one of the homes of some of the most classical music ever written.”
The EP, which is intended to be accompanied by a documentary follows his new album Les Is More which is in stores now. “I’m doing this as an alternative to rereleasing my album with two new songs,” he says. “The seven new compositions will be great.”
He plans to continuing touring as well, including a special show for the lovers in NYC. “There are a lot of cities domestically and internationally that we didn’t hit on this first run due to complications with the trial procedure,” he says. “I will be going back to the UK in February and I have a concert at Irving Plaza in New York City called “Lovers and Mountains” on Valentine’s Day, so I feel very confident that either a song called “Coke Can” or “Green” will be favored and requested [there].”
As far as collaborations, the renowned hitmaker will be teaming up with two up-and-coming producers. “I’m actually working with somebody. I’ve been watching his career for a minute and I’m very excited about what he’s been bringing to the table musically, so I’ll be bringing Cardiak with me to Vienna,” he says of the “Diced Pineapples” producer. “Then I’ll also be collaborating with another producer from the United Kingdom named Cadenza.”
