Leon Thomas is no stranger to the industry. The New York City native got his start singing on Broadway and quickly began making a name for himself on the Nickelodeon network on shows like The Backyardigans and Victorious. That was back in 2013. Since then, he has worked on pivotal albums for Ariana Grande, Drake, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, Post Malone, Rick Ross, Toni Braxton and Babyface, eventually earning a Grammy for Best R&B Song for his contributions to SZA’s “Snooze.”
Sunday night, he brought The Leon Thomas Mutt Tour to Houston’s House of Blues Peacock Room. His new album Mutt — the title is based on a pet given to him by an ex — has been making waves through the industry. A debut of sorts for Thomas, it features Masego, Freddie Gibbs, Wale, Ty Dolla $ign and Baby Rose and is inspired by Thomas’ recent breakup.
“I always call the industry a high school,” he said of things changing after the release of Mutt. “A lot of people are noticing me in the hallways now, you know? [People] know I went to the school for years but now it’s just a lot of love. I’m just seeing how it is. Success is an important thing to lock in and my team worked really hard to have a successful release,” Thomas said on a recent episode of the Joe Budden Podcast.
Beginning with “Yes It Is,” Thomas played guitar backed by a piano. The sold-out crowd sang along with him.
Thomas initially released music via SoundCloud, dropping a mixtape, Before the Beginning, in 2016 and his first studio album, Electric Dusk, in 2023 under Ty Dolla $ign’s EZMNY Records. Thomas was the first signee to that label and continues to build up his and the company’s name with his second release, Mutt.
The Mutt Tour, Thomas’ first solo tour, launched October 27 at ONE Musicfest in Atlanta and took the singer to other locales including Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia and Dallas. Houston is the last stop before the singer heads to the West Coast to end the tour in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The album’s title is based on a pet given to him by the ex from the failed relationship.
“The album Mutt was created shortly after a significant break-up. During the relationship, my ex had given me a dog, and as I started working on the album in my new home, I began to notice similarities between my dog’s behavior and my own,” Thomas explained. “My puppy had never received formal training, and his behavior inspired the song I was writing.”
Th songs resonated with the audience Sunday night as the audience sang back and forth with Thomas. Thomas is a showman, displaying his skills on the guitar by breaking out in renditions of the Isley Brother’s “Atlantis” while working through his own catalog. While songs like “Dancing With Demons” and “Lucid Dreams” from Mutt were crowd favorites, Thomas also went through other singles like “Love Jones,” his 2022 single with Ty Dolla $ign.
Leon Thomas isn’t a newcomer to the industry, but he’s had a rebirth. As he starts to cement his place in the new R&B class, his show on Sunday night lets fans know there’s more to come.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
