LIVE: Ryan Leslie, J. Holiday & Reesa Renee at The Howard Theatre (DC)

Have you ever gone to a show not anticipating anything great? Well, I kinda did that when I decided to check out Ryan Leslie’s show at the Howard Theatre.  Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s hella talented, always have. Upon arriving to the venue, I noticed that it looked like an international model call.  There were tall, gorgeous women all around. Definitely a very sexy scene.

Starting off the evening was singer/songwriter Reesa Renee, her stage presence is such a breath of fresh air.  Her stage presence is vibrant and her voice is a nice blend of jazz and R&B.  Having just launched her solo career in 2011, she has the presence of an old pro.  Keep an eye and ear out for this lovely woman.

After a brief intermission, a braidless J. Holiday took the stage with a dj and two bodyguards flanked to each side of the stage—umm, okay?!?  Holiday went through some new material from his upcoming album, shouted out a few friends from the stage, sang to a few women in the front of the stage –you know the regular male R&B singer routine.  All of his songs were about sex –I mean EVERY SINGLE one.  By the time he performed “Bed”, I felt that I just had the worst night of meaningless sex.

By this time I was more than ready for the man of the hour.  Even though Ryan Leslie has been around for quite some time, yet there's still an air of mystery around him—which isn’t a bad thing.  Gone was the dapper suited and booted “Diamond Girl” Leslie,  but what was in his place was the all black everything, leather wearing  rap rock star.  Yeah, I said rap.  It seems that he’s doing more rapping than singing on this tour.  Personally, I prefer him singing than rapping,but  that’s just my opinion.  Leslie performed a good chunk of songs from the upcoming Les Is More album, including “Glory”, “Beautiful Lie” and a few songs from the Transition album.  It’s safe to say that I did find two great things from this show, hey two outta three ain’t bad at all.

You can still catch Ryan Leslie on his Les Is More tour. Check here for the remaining tourdates.