Ty Dolla $ign Says Leon Thomas Is The New ‘King Of R&B’

Ty Dolla $ign has proclaimed Leon Thomas the new “King of R&B.”

After Thomas’ set at the  Wireless Festival in London, Ty spoke glowingly about his artist and mentee.

“We started our record company EZMNY — me and Shawn Barron — and signed Leon Thomas, who is now the new king of this sh*t. He’s the easiest artist I’ve worked with — ever in life,” Ty told Billboard.“He’s the new example of what an artist should be, in my eyes.”

Ty went on to recall a meeting where Thomas used a PowerPoint presentation in front of the executives at Capitol and Motown Records.

“We were in a label meeting. EZMNY, Motown and Capitol. When we go into this meeting, this man pulls out his laptop and asks for it to be hooked up to the TV so we can talk about what’s going to happen with this new album. He pulls up a f**king PowerPoint display,” Ty Dolla $ign said. “These are the colors I want to use. This is the stage. These are videos, and the people I want to work with for the videos. And these are the people who I want to style me. And this is the work.”

While his talent is obvious, Ty is most impressed with Thomas’ creative process and work ethic.

“A lot of people need to give them ideas. You have to make it for them, and he showed me there are people who know the whole thing,” Ty explained. “You go years and years of f**king with different artists and them blaming you for the way their success went when it’s really on you, just like how it was all on me.”

In September 2024, Thomas released MUTT, his critically acclaimed sophomore album. The project was named the #1 R&B Album of 2024 by Billboard and VIBE, and has been recognized on several other “Best of 2024” lists.