Ryan Leslie is finally getting some traction on his musical endeavors with the release of his single “Diamond Girl” which has been in growing rotation on the radio. The video is a tribute to a James Brown performance on Ed Sullivan, where he has the stage built to look exactly like the original.

Do I like the video? Eh. Do I like the song? Yeah. But here’s my problem with Ryan. He’s like Ne-Yo 2.0. I have an issue with some behind the scene dudes that want to become artists. I am just not feeling his swag at all. It seems all a bit contrived and arrogant.

You have to give it to him for the magical act he did with Cassie. He’s definitely a great producer, talented musician, and very intelligent (i.e. 1600 on SATs, Harvard grad at 19!) And maybe that’s it, the Poindexter turned R&B player, just doesn’t resonate. His inner nerd seems to peek through, upping his lame factor. I like him as a producer and his ear for music, I just can’t get with him as an artist. Like No-No, he has the talent to make hit songs, just songs that I’d prefer someone else to sing. He has had a lot of success overseas though, we’ll see how he does here.

With that said, his self-titled album will be out June 17th.