Ryan Leslie Talks 50 Cent Remix, It Was A Blessing & A Curse

With his debut album slated for a fall release, SOHH sat down with R&B sensation Ryan Leslie to find out whats in store for fans and learned why it was a gift and a curse to have a co-sign from 50 Cent.

On the heels of his hit single Diamond Girl, 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew remixed the track for themselves. SOHH asked Leslie how he felt about the song.

The 50 Cent [remix] joint that was actually a blessing and a curse in a lot of ways, he said. For the triple threat, singer/song writer and producer, an endorsement from 50 led some fans to associate the hot track with the G-Unit front man rather than the actual mastermind himself.

I was walking through an airport like maybe three or four weeks ago and somebody says, Hey man, you look familiar, Leslie recalled. And I was like, Oh maybe you know me, I got a song on the radio. I got a single called Diamond Girl. And my man literally just shut me down and was like, You frontin, thats a G-Unit record.

The 50 Cent remix apparently affected Leslies iTunes sales since the track was available as a free download on the G-Unit mixtape and because 50 beat him to a video.

Despite all of the controversy surrounding the lead single, Leslie still admits for 50 to jump on it was like a dope co-sign.
As for his next single, Addicted, fans can expect an appearance from Brooklyn rapper Fabolous and Leslie protégé, Cassie.

I really just wanted to still let everybody who had seen us come up together and were fans of us as a team, I wanted to introduce a record that still had that sort of conotation to it, he said.
Ryan Leslies self-titled debut hits stores on stores August 26.