Leon Thomas just lately dyed the guidelines of his signature locs darkish inexperienced. His new hair shade — a stark distinction from the colourful purple he’d been rocking for the final 4 years — is the very first thing that stands out about him when he strolls into the Los Angeles Instances constructing on an unusually wet day in October.
When requested about his hair, which peeks out from beneath a black beret-style hat, a large grin stretches throughout his face.
“I had a imaginative and prescient,” the 32-year-old singer says, leaning in. “In [this] imaginative and prescient, I had extra tats, a six pack and I had inexperienced dreads. And I used to be like, ‘You understand what, let’s work on it.’” He’s been figuring out extra constantly and he has his eyes set on a few tattoo artists in L.A. and Europe, however the brand new hair kicked every thing off.
“That’s how the remainder of my life has labored: I’ve seen one thing in my head, I’ve seen a model of myself that’s not there but and you then work onerous to get there.”
This intuition has carried Thomas all through his 20-plus-year profession within the leisure trade, and has cleared a path for him to emerge as a number one drive in fashionable R&B music. After years of dedicating his talent to appearing, writing and producing chart-topping bangers for artists like Drake, Ariana Grande and SZA (he received his first Grammy for her document “Snooze”), for the primary time Thomas is up for six Grammy nominations together with album of the 12 months and finest new artist for his personal work.
“I really feel like this can be a byproduct of me lastly having a machine that works,” Thomas says about his staff. He signed to EZMNY, a document label co-founded by Grammy-nominated artist Ty Dolla $ign and A&R govt Shawn Barron, in 2021. He takes an audible breath earlier than persevering with, “To not sound cocky or something, however I simply all the time felt in my coronary heart of hearts that after individuals may lastly hear what I needed to provide, it will be a unique story. I’m glad that God gave me the foresight to see that.”
He has good cause to be feeling himself nowadays. “Mutt,” his breakout 2024 single, quietly simmered for months earlier than it was pushed into ubiquity. The observe’s metaphorical that means — evaluating his personal flawed habits in relationships to a “mutt” or a canine with good intentions — together with a sensual bassline and knocking drums finally grew to become a sleeper hit. It additionally grew to become a favourite for Tems, SZA, Keke Palmer and Issa Rae, who shouted out the track in interviews.
“That’s how the remainder of my life has labored: I’ve seen one thing in my head, I’ve seen a model of myself that’s not there but and you then work onerous to get there,” stated Leon Thomas.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Instances)
By early this 12 months, the track, which is the title observe from his sophomore album, had cracked the Sizzling 100 Billboard charts, just lately climbing to No. 1 on Billboard’s radio songs chart, incomes double platinum standing.
The success of the album and the deluxe version that adopted launched Thomas right into a whirlwind of promo: radio and podcast stops, interviews galore and after-party appearances. In the meantime, he’s nonetheless made time to make information with different artists like Wale, Disclosure, Odeal and Sasha Keable. He kicked off his “Mutts Don’t Heel” tour in October, and this 12 months alone, he’s had greater than 70 performances, together with the Hollywood Bowl with Inglewood-born singer SiR, “Jimmy Kimmel Reside” and the BET Awards (the place he received finest new artist). Earlier this 12 months, Thomas stopped by NPR’s Tiny Desk, a stay set that has greater than 4 million views and has since been become an EP. (His Tiny Desk efficiency additionally acquired a Grammy nod for finest R&B efficiency.)
“It’s been nonstop like one thing nice taking place each single week,” says Barron, co-founder of EZMNY.
Lengthy earlier than followers have been belting out the lyrics “I’m a doggggg / I’m a mutt,” Thomas was getting his first style of what it takes to be a musician from his household. Thomas’ late grandfather, John Anthony, was an opera singer who starred within the 1976 Broadway manufacturing of “Porgy & Bess.” His mom — a singer — and his stepfather — who performed guitar for B.B. King — have been a part of New York’s Black Rock Coalition and “didn’t imagine in babysitters,” says the Brooklyn native who now resides in L.A. He has fond recollections of doing his homework whereas his mother and father have been performing and hopping on stage at instances to hit a dance transfer for a packed crowd.
At simply 10 years previous, Thomas booked the function of Younger Simba on Broadway after a household good friend inspired him to audition. He went on to star in additional productions, together with “Caroline, or Change” and “The Shade Purple,” earlier than reserving his first movie, “August Rush” (starring late actor Robin Williams), which required him to study to play the guitar. In consequence, he started writing his personal songs, considered one of which inspired his mother and father a lot that they booked studio time and a session bass participant to assist him to put down the observe. “It positively influenced my perspective on if I may really make skilled music or not,” remembers Thomas, who performs 5 devices, together with drums (his old flame), guitar, bass, piano and saxophone.
“To not sound cocky or something, however I simply all the time felt in my coronary heart of hearts that after individuals may lastly hear what I needed to provide, it will be a unique story. I’m glad that God gave me the foresight to see that,” stated Leon Thomas.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Instances)
By age 13, Thomas had signed a growth take care of Nickelodeon that got here with a Columbia Data recording contract. After showing in varied exhibits like “The Backyardigans” and “iCarly,” he snagged the function of André Harris, a high-school-age singer and multi-instrumentalist, on the tween sitcom “Victorious” alongside star-in-the-making Grande.
When the present led to 2013, Thomas started working with considered one of fashionable music’s most adorned architects, Babyface, who launched him to producer and songwriter Khris Riddick-Tynes. Collectively, Thomas and Riddick-Tynes shaped the Rascals and started producing information like Rick Ross’ “Gold Roses” that includes Drake (which acquired a Grammy nomination), “I’d Somewhat Be Broke” by Toni Braxton and SZA’s “Snooze,” which received finest R&B track on the Grammys in 2024.
Nonetheless, pivoting from healthful Nickelodeon star to a grown R&B artist didn’t occur in a single day. “The most important factor for me was simply taking time away from the artistry in an effort to actually enable individuals to have fun the model that I had constructed, however give me room to construct one thing else,” he says. “House and time generally is a powerful factor since you’re gonna should reintroduce your self despite the fact that you probably did loads of work to start with to construct what you had earlier than, however I feel it’s lovely to form of construct a model from scratch.”
That’s one of many the reason why the quilt of his reintroduction undertaking, “Genesis,” contains a distorted forest as an alternative of his face. “I didn’t need them to attach with what I used to be saying, what I used to be speaking about, the emotions [and] the sounds,” he says. With each launch, he’s slowly revealed extra of himself.
Onstage, Thomas channels the depth of a few of his musical heroes — James Brown, Prince, Jimi Hendrix and D’Angelo. His music might sit comfortably below the R&B umbrella, however he bends and flips genres with ease, particularly rock and funk. In TikTok recaps from his present tour, he might be seen ripping on the bass and guitar, whipping his physique into turns and effortlessly hitting vocal runs, which followers have tried to mimic. With him, you by no means should query if the mic is on.
“Typically I am going see R&B artists stay and it’s very chill,” he says, however “the college I come from is aggressive.” He remembers tales that his stepfather has informed him about performing on the Village Underground in New York when he was arising. “They used to do one thing referred to as slicing heads, so the primary man would go do his solo, then the man who got here out on the second set needed to go even additional. He’s taking part in along with his enamel, he’s spinning, he’s on the ground, he’s wildin’,” Thomas says excitedly.
“So I’m in that faculty of considering once I hit a stage and for this tour the place I get to curate issues and actually put it collectively like I wish to, there’s gotta be that vitality of slicing heads,” he provides.
Simply days earlier than launching his 27-city tour, Thomas launched a cinematic trailer that includes Rae — who performed his neighbor and hookup buddy on “Insecure” — to introduce his newest undertaking, “Pholks.” The seven-track launch, created in collaboration with musicians Rob “Freaky Rob” Gueringer and David Phelps, a.okay.a. “D. Phelps” (who additionally labored on “Mutt”), is an homage to the funk, rock and soul artists who’ve impressed him. Led by the singles “Simply How You Are” and “My Muse,” which may set off a “Soul Prepare” line at any second, the undertaking feels heat and nostalgic, but anchored in forward-thinking manufacturing and playful storytelling that helps push it into the long run.
In April, Ty Dolla $ign introduced Thomas out to carry out throughout his headlining set at Coachella, a second that was a no brainer for Ty, who just lately referred to as Thomas “the brand new king” of R&B.
“I simply can’t even imagine that I used to be the one to have the ability to do that,” Ty says about working with the singer.
“Typically I am going see R&B artists stay and it’s very chill,” Leon Thomas stated, however “the college I come from is aggressive.”
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Instances)
Within the midst of this busy season, Thomas has been extra intentional about sustaining his psychological well being. “I’m doing loads of grounding meditations,” he says, noting that household and his tight circle of associates have been an important assist system. “I’ve been choosing up the Bible a bit of bit extra.”
He additionally finds steadiness in revisiting knowledge handed down from his late grandfather, who handed away final 12 months, and reflecting on his “why:” bringing a basic, musician-centered vitality again to R&B and inspiring younger artists to choose up an instrument.
“When a bit of child sees me taking part in guitar on the Grammy stage or in the event that they see me acting on Instagram taking part in drums, I would like them to ask their mother for a guitar or some drum classes,” he says. With the rise of AI, he says that stay musicianship might turn into much less widespread. “I hope that we are able to encourage a revolution of intelligence, people who find themselves intelligently making music and coming from a standpoint of historical past.”
Thomas will shut out his whirlwind 12 months with two exhibits on the Wiltern on Dec. 22 and 23 earlier than embarking on the European leg of his tour in March and heading to Australia in June. Within the meantime, he’s attempting to keep away from interested by the Grammys in February — although everybody, together with myself, is making it not possible for him to not.
Whether or not he walks away with a golden gramophone or not, Thomas has already created a physique of labor that has reinvigorated not solely R&B but in addition music on the whole, and he plans to proceed pushing himself creatively. He’s recognized all alongside what he’s able to and the profession he’s destined to have as a result of he’s envisioned it. It’s the world that’s needed to catch up.
