Addiction (Ryan Leslie song)

Last updated
Cassie Ventura.jpg
Fabolous by Frank DeMaria.jpg
Cassie is featured singing the hook on "Addiction," and Fabolous contributed with a rap verse for the single release.

In April 2008, Leslie posted a new song on his MySpace page titled "Addiction," featuring his protégé Cassie singing the hook, "I'm addicted to you/ You're my addiction," [10] [11] [12] as well as an in-studio video while he was making it. [13] A new verse and additional ad-libs by Leslie's frequent collaborator, rapper Fabolous, were added to the track; the feature was announced the following month and included for the official single release. [14] [15] An alternate version of the song featuring Keri Hilson instead of Cassie also surfaced online. The single was serviced to rhythmic and urban contemporary radio stations in the United States on July 7, 2008, before being digitally released the following day. [16] [17] [18] A promotional CD single and 12-inch vinyl were also released on August 19, 2008. [19] [20]

Composition

"Addiction" is an R&B song, with a length of four minutes. A writer for The Fader described it as "over eccentric and breezy future-soul," [15] while Billboard characterized it as a track where "Leslie isn't too macho to admit he's sprung over a girl." [21] It contains elements of "I Can't Help It" written by Stevie Wonder and Susaye Greene, as performed by Michael Jackson. [22] Leslie explained how its creation was related to the lyrical content saying that the song "came about one night after I'd gone to several different spots in New York City. One night after doing that, that energy and excitement was in me, and instead of going home, I went straight to the studio," continuing, "I don't drink or smoke, so the way that I creatively express myself is to get right in the studio. I wanted to create a track that captured that frenetic energy and electricity that I had experienced that night." He said that "Addiction" is about anything that makes you feel that type of way, concluding, "And it could be a relationship, but for me it's music." [23]

Commercial performance

"Addiction" charted at number fifteen on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles for the week of August 23, 2008. [24] The single debuted on the Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles at number fifteen, reaching number thirty-five on the main Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. [25] [26] Additionally, it peaked at number thirty-five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay [27] and thirty-nine on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop charts. [28] It also appeared on the Deutsche Black Charts peaking at number thirteen, having spent ten weeks on the chart. [29]

Remixes and other use

The song received a number of reinterpretations by various artists such as Kid Cudi, who freestyled over the song in "London Girls." [30] Hip hop duo Clipse released a remix of the track in December 2008, included on their mixtape Road to Till the Casket Drops . [31] Wiz Khalifa also recorded a remix called "Addicted." [32] Baas B and Brace covered the song on "Stalker." [33] It was sampled by Olivia on her 2011 single "December," [34] and by rapper Jay Wise on "Sneaker Head." Producer Lucas Patrick Smith, otherwise known by his moniker Robots With Rayguns, also sampled it on a song called "That Sound." Trey Songz shared his version of the track called "Addicted to Songz." [32]

Lunice and Altered Natives released their reworked versions in December 2010, as a part of Skydiver, a Cassie tribute remix compilation album by independent British label Local Action. [35] Producer Phazz uploaded his remix online in 2013 [36] and Iman Omari posted his adaptation in 2014, with Noisey writing that "he flips Ryan Leslie and Cassie's classic into a red-eyed slumber party where the snacks and conversation never run dry." [37]

Music videos

Two music videos were shot for the song; the first was filmed on July 23, 2008, in a Chelsea studio, [38] and directed by Diane Martel. It premiered on Yahoo! Music on September 8, 2008. [39] [40] The entirely-grayscale video shows Leslie performing the track after a small Sony television is turned on by a feminine hand covered by a bed sheet. Jamaican models Jeneil Williams and Gaye McDonald dance and lip sync to Cassie's parts throughout the clip. [41] Leslie then appears on a bigger projection screen as the models move in front of it. George Michael's "Freedom! '90" music video served as inspiration. [42] Leslie talked about the video stating: "one look and you'll notice I'm not wearing a tuxedo or even a suit in the clip. Director Diane Martel assured me that this one should be all about the beauty of simplicity." [43] He considered it to be a statement "about the need for more diversity in the fashion business." [44]

Model Jaslene Gonzalez plays Leslie's love interest in the second music video. Jaslene gonzalez by kevin sinclair.jpg
Model Jaslene Gonzalez plays Leslie's love interest in the second music video.

An alternate video directed by Aaron Platt, John Monopoly and Leslie was released later that month. It shows Leslie spending a day with his love interest, played by America's Next Top Model Cycle 8 winner Jaslene Gonzalez, as they're followed by another woman, played by Jeannena Flores from his previous "Diamond Girl" movie. The video ends after the woman poisons Leslie's date at a nightclub (who passes out in his arms) after sending him a text message that reads: "we will be together." American record producer Swizz Beatz makes a cameo appearance with Fabolous during his verse. Shots of Leslie Leslie singing in a recording studio and playing piano are shown throughout the clip. Leslie said the video represented a different "imaginative, creative" side of him and expressed the concept was based on a "tale of a stalker super-fan come to life. [...] This video finds me in studio, shopping with my girl, and catching her as she falls – swooning unconsciously from my stalker's poisoned libation." He explained Cassie's absence was due to her "hectic schedule" recording her new album, pointing out he initially had a vision for the song to be a duet between the two and have a video that showed their chemistry together. Despite Cassie not making an appearance in neither of the visuals, Fabolous has guest spots in both videos performing his rap verse. [44] [45]

Track listing

  1. "Addiction" (featuring Cassie and Fabolous) – 4:00
  1. "Addiction" (featuring Cassie and Fabolous) (Main) – 3:59
  2. "Addiction" (featuring Cassie) (Main) – 4:02
  3. "Addiction" (Instrumental) – 3:59
  4. "Addiction" (Acapella) – 3:55
  1. "Addiction" (featuring Cassie and Fabolous) (Main) – 3:59
  2. "Addiction" (featuring Cassie) (Main) – 4:02
  3. "Addiction" (Instrumental) – 3:59
  4. "Addiction" (Call Out Hook) – 0:19

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Addiction [22] and Ryan Leslie . [47]

Locations
Personnel

Charts

"Addiction"
Ryan Leslie Addiction.jpeg
Single by Ryan Leslie featuring Cassie and Fabolous
from the album Ryan Leslie
ReleasedJuly 7, 2008 (2008-07-07)
Recorded
Genre
Length4:00
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Ryan Leslie
Ryan Leslie singles chronology
"Diamond Girl"
(2007)		"Addiction"
(2008)		"How It Was Supposed to Be"
(2008)
Cassie singles chronology
"Is It You"
(2007)		"Addiction"
(2008)		"Official Girl"
(2008)
Chart (2008)Peak
position
Germany (Deutsche Black Charts) [29] 13
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles ( Billboard ) [26] 15
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [25] 35
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay ( Billboard ) [27] 35
US Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop ( Billboard ) [28] 39

Release history

CountryDateFormatLabel
United StatesJuly 7, 2008 [16] [17] Rhythmic contemporary
  • NextSelection
  • Universal Motown
Urban contemporary
July 8, 2008 [18] Digital download
August 19, 2008 [19] [48] Vinyl
CD single

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