Leon Thomas : The Makings Of A Legacy At the Intersection of Rock And R&B

GUAP Magazine GUAP Magazine Cover Stories

BY Kemi Iruwa

March 28, 2025

Leon Thomas : The Makings Of A Legacy At the Intersection of Rock And R&B

Starting with the experimental edge of Genesis, and following up with the daring and profound Electric Dusk, Leon Thomas has always charged towards the idea of defying artistic convention. His latest album, MUTT, presents his arrival at the intersection of Rock and R&B. Having always been an architect of his own sound with music in his DNA, he is no doubt shifting the industry’s narratives, the question is: how far will he go in reshaping it?

Thanks to what’s starting to feel like a vicious cycle of developing attachments to talented artists – dare I say becoming a fan – only to later be disappointed by threads of previously buried problematic commentary or distasteful career moves, we are in an era when internet scepticism is rife among general consumers and music-lovers alike.

Entering the mainstream music sphere, at a time like this, as a highly respected individual with a multi-disciplinary background to back your chat is something we’ve become unaccustomed to. Singer, songwriter, producer, actor and all-round student of the creative game Leon Thomas has not only won thousands of hearts internationally, but his unmatched love for his craft is sure to propel him to unfathomable heights.

Our set for the day is a stylish underground vinyl bar a short walk from St. Paul’s. As I take my seat avoiding the crew’s commotion around me, I find myself drifting back to a couple of nights before at KOKO Camden. From the venue’s top balcony, I watched eagerly as the lights dimmed and somehow, a sold-out show’s worth of people all held their breaths in anticipation. A familiar chord cuts through the silence, followed by another and before being able to form a coherent thought, the space is transformed into the grand sonic landscape created by HOW FAST, the title track of the Brooklyn-born visionary’s album, MUTT.

So much of that night is now a blur and having avoided whipping out my phone to record segments of the show, I am left mostly with abstract memories of the artistic and emotional journey Leon Thomas had guided us through. As the man himself sits across from me now however, I am reminded of some of the exceptional highlights of that evening.

“I come from a tribe of musicians”

Growing up in New York in the 90s, our well-rounded subject was exposed to the plethora of genres and music subcultures that the East Coast city nurtures, from hiphop to the blues. But there is no denying that his music inclination started from a very young age in his family’s home. “My grandfather is a big fan of jazz. He was very close to Art Blakely which was a big deal in our household, and it definitely plays a part in my eclectic taste,” he shares. “My stepfather is a big fan of classic rock and having access to a lot of these classic sounds has really helped me not be afraid to emulate that vintage tape feeling in a lot of my music – it plays a part in who I am and how I produce and put everything together.”

While your first interaction with Leon Thomas’ artistry might have been through his viral hit single MUTT which served as his first entry to the Billboard Hot 100, his journey has seen him acting on Broadway and TV shows, writing and producing music for some of the biggest names in the industry. But showmanship is not new to this polymath. “My grandfather was an opera singer. My mom was a singer and my stepfather played guitar for people like BB King and Salt-n-Pepa, so I grew up backstage. I grew up around musicians and Black rock stars.” Having parents in the Black Rock Coalition has left an indelible mark on Thomas that has morphed into motifs that present themselves in his radical sound – a far but welcomed cry from his past as a young actor.

“When I was on Nickelodeon, they said I couldn’t be a producer… And 6 years later I was winning a Grammy”

“I generally don’t like being told what I can’t do. It’s the fuel that keeps me going,” he tells me with a coy smile. “When I was on Nickelodeon, they said I couldn’t be a producer. I remember a manager telling me ‘you don’t want to be a producer, it’s too hard’. And 6 years later I was winning a Grammy. From there they were telling me it was really hard to crossover from production to being an artist. Here we are now. I’m showing people that you can’t put me in a box and I’ll continue to evolve as I grow”.

That evolution is evident in Thomas’ discography. 2018’s Genesis is light and experimental while playfully calling on nostalgia. His first studio album Electric Dusk which he cites took between 5 and 6 years to be created and released, acts as a sincere and honest re-introduction to Leon Thomas the artist. His vulnerability on tracks like Breaking Point and Crash & Burn invokes impassioned responses in listeners as they develop a better understanding of his offering. “It’s cool closing my concert with a song like Treasure in the Hills. I could tell people really resonated with that… Or Breaking Point, that’s more of the sensitive side. The love seeking side.”

In contrast, MUTT is where Thomas presents a more braggadocious version of himself, “what I brought to MUTT was much needed bravado and confidence. These are affirmations I’m talking about, things I don’t even have yet, like buying cars I can’t afford because I’m speaking into existence a future where shit’s that lit and I’m watching my reality change in real time.”

“A lot of it comes from a very rock’n’roll rebellious and angry place sometimes and I’m glad people can really feel my energy”

As he candidly shares how his different frames of mind dictate his creations, I’m once again transported to his sold out show just a few nights ago. An important part of his performance clearly hinged on live instrumentals, courtesy of a small band that joined Leon on stage. But aside from his consistently impressive vocals, he also elected to “do all the extra Jimi Hendrix shit”, he tells me. “Playing instruments brings that broad rockstar appeal to my setlists. I’ve been working hard to practice my scales and open up a little bit more with the electric guitar. I have a drum solo in my setlist too that really shows people my chops”, he says. “I’m definitely running into this rockstar energy a lot more and it’s cool to see the response from different kinds of crowds.”

MUTT’s infectiousness comes from Thomas’ willingness to break rules and take risks with genres that listeners would not necessarily expect. “I’m definitely a student of Prince and D’Angelo. I think those two artists blend [R&B and Rock] very well.” His approach to the album’s creation involved treating it like two halves which intertwine. One more lo-fi sounding while the other is more aggressive and borrows from rock and hiphop, resulting in a project that is very broadly appealing yet intentionally cohesive.

“I always felt like my music had legs. It wasn’t just something that would be regional. I felt like it’s the kind of thing that could be enjoyed in Copenhagen, Tokyo or London”

Leon Thomas is doing more than just creating records, his craftsmanship as a Black musician transcending genres is setting an industry standard. Taking up a space that positions him in a musical lineage of genre-defying Black musicians like Prince and Lenny Kravitz, each performance, each chord, each defiant lyric is a blueprint for what’s to come. One thing is for certain: his legacy will be about so much more than the music he makes today, it will be about how he seized his narrative to traverse artistic disciplines and expand the boundaries of sound for the next generation.

CREDITS

Words by Kemi Iruwa

Talent: Leon Thomas