Though his American debut album is facing another push back Ryan Leslie is in good spirits.  In this exclusive interview, we talk to the producer/singer about his upcoming projects and the similarities between Diddy’s new ad campaign and his own promotional photos for his single “Diamond Girl.”

While his long-awaited album is scheduled to hit stores on October 21st, Leslie isn’t so sure that the release date will stick.

“They’re talking at the label about pushing it back yet again,” Leslie explained.

“It’s a good thing because Sylvia [Rhone], the president of Motown, really believes that this album is really incredible in her opinion and she just wants to make sure that there’s enough time to set up the proper awareness of me, my project, my music, my creativity [and] my artistry.”

While Ryan waits for his eponymous debut album to finally hit stores, he’s keeping busy producing records for other artists, including Cassie, the break out artist from his Next Selection production company. 

“I wouldn’t feel complete as a creative human being unless I was producing and helping other folks to make their own creative statements,” he said.  “I stopped by and saw Sha Money [XL] the other day to talk about 50 [Cent]’s new album.” 

Leslie also cited upcoming projects with Trey Songz, Omarion, Fabolous, Yung Berg, Casha and LL Cool J.  “It’s really just about making good music,” he said.

Ryan’s non-stop work ethic has always drawn comparisons to his musical mentor Diddy, but recently released photos from the Bad Boy mogul’s “I Am King” cologne campaign made the comparisons more concrete.

Ryan acknowledges that Diddy’s new images do look very similar to his own, “Diamond Girl” stills. 

“I did see them and I love those,” he said. “Actually I had an idea that they were going to look like that. I had already seen pictures, behind the scenes previews of the black James Bond idea.”,/p>

“I really regard it as being on the right pathway because he does some incredible things with his career and continues to set trends,” he continued.

“We’ve been having some striking similarities in our careers over the past few years so. I could definitely see the comparisons being drawn and I can definitely see them continuing to be drawn as I continue my crusade and campaign for Ryan Leslie and Next Selection.”