Allow Leon Thomas to reintroduce himself

3 hours ago 1

Leon Thomas precocious dyed the tips of his signature locs acheronian green. His caller hairsbreadth colour — a stark opposition from the vibrant reddish he’d been rocking for the past 4 years — is the archetypal happening that stands retired astir him erstwhile helium strolls into the Los Angeles Times gathering connected an unusually rainy time successful October.

When asked astir his hair, which peeks retired from underneath a achromatic beret-style hat, a wide grin stretches crossed his face.

“I had a vision,” the 32-year-old vocalist says, leaning in. “In [this] vision, I had much tats, a six battalion and I had greenish dreads. And I was like, ‘You cognize what, let’s enactment connected it.’” He’s been moving retired much consistently and helium has his eyes acceptable connected a mates of tattoo artists successful L.A. and Europe, but the caller hairsbreadth kicked everything off.

“That’s however the remainder of my beingness has worked: I’ve seen thing successful my head, I’ve seen a mentation of myself that’s not determination yet and past you enactment hard to get there.”

This instinct has carried Thomas passim his 20-plus-year vocation successful the amusement industry, and has cleared a way for him to look arsenic a starring unit successful modern R&B music. After years of dedicating his accomplishment to acting, penning and producing chart-topping bangers for artists similar Drake, Ariana Grande and SZA (he won his archetypal Grammy for her grounds “Snooze”), for the archetypal clip Thomas is up for six Grammy nominations including medium of the twelvemonth and champion caller creator for his ain work.

“I consciousness similar this is simply a byproduct of maine yet having a instrumentality that works,” Thomas says astir his team. He signed to EZMNY, a grounds statement co-founded by Grammy-nominated creator Ty Dolla $ign and A&R enforcement Shawn Barron, successful 2021. He takes an audible enactment earlier continuing, “Not to dependable cocky oregon anything, but I conscionable ever felt successful my bosom of hearts that erstwhile radical could yet perceive what I had to offer, it would beryllium a antithetic story. I’m gladsome that God gave maine the foresight to spot that.”

He has bully crushed to beryllium feeling himself these days. “Mutt,” his breakout 2024 single, softly simmered for months earlier it was pushed into ubiquity. The track’s metaphorical meaning — comparing his ain flawed behaviour successful relationships to a “mutt” oregon a canine with bully intentions — on with a sensual bassline and knocking drums yet became a sleeper hit. It besides became a favourite for Tems, SZA, Keke Palmer and Issa Rae, who shouted retired the opus successful interviews.

By aboriginal this year, the song, which is the rubric way from his sophomore album, had cracked the Hot 100 Billboard charts, precocious climbing to No. 1 connected Billboard’s vigor songs chart, earning treble platinum status.

The occurrence of the medium and the deluxe variation that followed launched Thomas into a whirlwind of promo: vigor and podcast stops, interviews galore and after-party appearances. Meanwhile, he’s inactive made clip to marque records with different artists similar Wale, Disclosure, Odeal and Sasha Keable. He kicked disconnected his “Mutts Don’t Heel” circuit successful October, and this twelvemonth alone, he’s had much than 70 performances, including the Hollywood Bowl with Inglewood-born vocalist SiR, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and the BET Awards (where helium won champion caller artist). Earlier this year, Thomas stopped by NPR’s Tiny Desk, a unrecorded acceptable that has much than 4 cardinal views and has since been turned into an EP. (His Tiny Desk show besides received a Grammy motion for champion R&B performance.)

“It’s been nonstop similar thing large happening each azygous week,” says Barron, co-founder of EZMNY.

Long earlier fans were belting retired the lyrics “I’m a doggggg / I’m a mutt,” Thomas was getting his archetypal sensation of what it takes to beryllium a instrumentalist from his family. Thomas’ precocious grandfather, John Anthony, was an opera vocalist who starred successful the 1976 Broadway accumulation of “Porgy & Bess.” His parent — a vocalist — and his stepfather — who played guitar for B.B. King — were portion of New York’s Black Rock Coalition and “didn’t judge successful babysitters,” says the Brooklyn autochthonal who present resides successful L.A. He has fond memories of doing his homework portion his parents were performing and hopping connected signifier astatine times to deed a creation determination for a packed crowd.

At conscionable 10 years old, Thomas booked the relation of Young Simba connected Broadway aft a household person encouraged him to audition. He went connected to prima successful much productions, including “Caroline, oregon Change” and “The Color Purple,” earlier booking his archetypal film, “August Rush” (starring precocious histrion Robin Williams), which required him to larn to play the guitar. As a result, helium began penning his ain songs, 1 of which impressed his parents truthful overmuch that they booked workplace clip and a league bass subordinate to assistance him to laic down the track. “It decidedly influenced my position connected if I could really marque nonrecreational euphony oregon not,” recalls Thomas, who plays 5 instruments, including drums (his archetypal love), guitar, bass, soft and saxophone.

By property 13, Thomas had signed a improvement woody with Nickelodeon that came with a Columbia Records signaling contract. After appearing successful assorted shows similar “The Backyardigans” and “iCarly,” helium snagged the relation of André Harris, a high-school-age vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, connected the tween sitcom “Victorious” alongside star-in-the-making Grande.

When the amusement ended successful 2013, Thomas began moving with 1 of modern music’s astir decorated architects, Babyface, who introduced him to shaper and songwriter Khris Riddick-Tynes. Together, Thomas and Riddick-Tynes formed the Rascals and began producing records similar Rick Ross’ “Gold Roses” featuring Drake (which received a Grammy nomination), “I’d Rather Be Broke” by Toni Braxton and SZA’s “Snooze,” which won champion R&B opus astatine the Grammys successful 2024.

Still, pivoting from wholesome Nickelodeon prima to a grown R&B creator didn’t hap overnight. “The biggest happening for maine was conscionable taking clip distant from the artistry successful bid to truly let radical to observe the marque that I had built, but springiness maine country to physique thing else,” helium says. “Space and clip tin beryllium a pugnacious happening due to the fact that you’re gonna person to reintroduce yourself adjacent though you did a batch of enactment successful the opening to physique what you had before, but I deliberation it’s beauteous to benignant of physique a marque from scratch.”

That’s 1 of the reasons wherefore the screen of his reintroduction project, “Genesis,” features a distorted wood alternatively of his face. “I didn’t privation them to link with what I was saying, what I was talking about, the feelings [and] the sounds,” helium says. With each release, he’s dilatory revealed much of himself.

Onstage, Thomas channels the strength of immoderate of his philharmonic heroes — James Brown, Prince, Jimi Hendrix and D’Angelo. His euphony whitethorn beryllium comfortably nether the R&B umbrella, but helium bends and flips genres with ease, particularly stone and funk. In TikTok recaps from his existent tour, helium tin beryllium seen ripping connected the bass and guitar, whipping his assemblage into turns and effortlessly hitting vocal runs, which fans person attempted to imitate. With him, you ne'er person to question if the mic is on.

“Sometimes I spell spot R&B artists unrecorded and it’s precise chill,” helium says, but “the schoolhouse I travel from is competitive.” He recalls stories that his stepfather has told him astir performing astatine the Village Underground successful New York erstwhile helium was coming up. “They utilized to bash thing called cutting heads, truthful the archetypal feline would spell bash his solo, past the feline who came retired connected the 2nd acceptable had to spell adjacent further. He’s playing with his teeth, he’s spinning, he’s connected the floor, he’s wildin’,” Thomas says excitedly.

“So I’m successful that schoolhouse of reasoning erstwhile I deed a signifier and for this circuit wherever I get to curate things and truly enactment it unneurotic similar I privation to, there’s gotta beryllium that vigor of cutting heads,” helium adds.

Just days earlier launching his 27-city tour, Thomas released a cinematic trailer featuring Rae — who played his neighbour and hookup buddy connected “Insecure” — to present his latest project, “Pholks.” The seven-track release, created successful collaboration with musicians Rob “Freaky Rob” Gueringer and David Phelps, a.k.a. “D. Phelps” (who besides worked connected “Mutt”), is an homage to the funk, stone and psyche artists who’ve inspired him. Led by the singles “Just How You Are” and “My Muse,” which could trigger a “Soul Train” enactment astatine immoderate moment, the task feels lukewarm and nostalgic, yet anchored successful forward-thinking accumulation and playful storytelling that helps propulsion it into the future.

In April, Ty Dolla $ign brought Thomas retired to execute during his headlining acceptable astatine Coachella, a infinitesimal that was a no-brainer for Ty, who precocious called Thomas “the caller king” of R&B.

“I conscionable can’t adjacent judge that I was the 1 to beryllium capable to bash this,” Ty says astir moving with the singer.

In the midst of this engaged season, Thomas has been much intentional astir maintaining his intelligence health. “I’m doing a batch of grounding meditations,” helium says, noting that household and his choky ellipse of friends person been an indispensable enactment system. “I’ve been picking up the Bible a small spot more.”

He besides finds steadiness successful revisiting contented passed down from his precocious grandfather, who passed distant past year, and reflecting connected his “why:” bringing a classic, musician-centered vigor backmost to R&B and encouraging young artists to prime up an instrument.

“When a small kid sees maine playing guitar connected the Grammy signifier oregon if they spot maine performing connected Instagram playing drums, I privation them to inquire their ma for a guitar oregon immoderate drum lessons,” helium says. With the emergence of AI, helium says that unrecorded musicianship whitethorn go little common. “I anticipation that we tin animate a gyration of intelligence, radical who are intelligently making euphony and coming from a standpoint of history.”

Thomas volition adjacent retired his whirlwind twelvemonth with 2 shows astatine the Wiltern connected Dec. 22 and 23 earlier embarking connected the European limb of his circuit successful March and heading to Australia successful June. In the meantime, he’s trying to debar reasoning astir the Grammys successful February — though everyone, including myself, is making it intolerable for him not to.

Whether helium walks distant with a aureate gramophone oregon not, Thomas has already created a assemblage of enactment that has reinvigorated not lone R&B but besides euphony successful general, and helium plans to proceed pushing himself creatively. He’s known each on what he’s susceptible of and the vocation he’s destined to person due to the fact that he’s envisioned it. It’s the satellite that’s had to drawback up.

Read Entire Article