Ryan Leslie gets a lift from Lexus

Ryan Leslie got his chance to play a James Bond-like character in the recent Lexus ad campaign. But the R&B singer is now looking to get his inner Mick Jagger on.

"I wanted to do something in an historic venue that was going to set me up for the next phase of my career," Leslie said after a panel at Billboard's Music and Advertising conference last week, spotlighting his partnership with Lexus. "I want to play festivals. I know people see me as this upscale R&B singer, but there's really a lot of rocker in me."

Leslie will show his rocker side at Bowery Ballroom Tuesday and Wednesday, unveiling music from "Les Is More" (including the single "The Glory), the album he plans to release on his own label this fall.

Launching his own label seemed like a natural for Leslie - who graduated from Harvard at 19 with a degree in government and minors in political science and macroeconomics - especially considering how well his work with Lexus was received.

"This wasn't about signing the biggest artist," Aaron Walton, co-founder of marketing agency Walton | Isaacson, says of the campaign. "This was about signing the best artist for what we wanted to accomplish. . . . The choice was obvious."

Leslie studied his opportunity carefully. "It's an interesting new space," he says of musician-advertiser sponsorships. "You just have to be sure your message is consistent with the brand you're partnering with."