"Being in front of an audience just gives me arush," he says.

Leslie adds that music touches people in waysthat mere words never could.

"Music is an experience," he says. "There's noway that you can describe a performance and makesomeone feel the same way as if they wereexperiencing it."

Leslie, who has written between 60 and 100songs, describes his music as a mix of hip-hop andrhythm and blues, but admits to having severalinfluences on his music--namely the music he sangin church when he was growing up and performerslike Stevie Wonder.

"[W]hat I really want to do with my music [is]to be able to touch people, to be able to impactthem, to maybe soothe their souls the way mine wassoothed when I wrote [my first real] song," hesays.

Listen to the Rhythm

As he stands next to his keyboard, Leslieexplains how he creates arrangements for hissongs. He says the arrangements often come fromthe music he hears in his head, or byincorporating the music he hears in other songs.

Choosing the first song he finds on a nearbyCD, Leslie's fingers deftly move across thekeyboard to demonstrate how to replicate thesound.

"You start with the bass line," he explains,fiddling with the keyboard until he finds theexact match.

Within a matter of minutes, Leslie hasreplicated the every note of the song's music andbegins to sing along to the newly createdarrangement.

Leslie's ear for music developed at a young ageand has grown over the years.

Clement A. Leslie says his son has been amusician and performer who sought out rhythm inanything and everything from childhood.

"[When he was about four], I noticed my son goto a Coke machine," he says. "He put his earagainst the box and he listened very intently, andthen he started to snap his fingers and bop hishead to the rhythm of the Coke box."

Ryan Leslie says his musical talent iscompletely self-acquired. He taught himself toplay the piano when he was in the eighth grade andsays he composes his songs by "trial and error."

His father says he and is wife were constantlyamazed at their son's ability to teach himself newthings.