Leon Thomas Is Building His Own Universe — One Heartbreak and Guitar Riff at a Time

With his new EP, ‘PHOLKS,’ the GRAMMY-winning multi-hyphenate proves R&B can be punk, spiritual, and gloriously unhinged.

Leon Thomas has never been interested in fitting neatly into any genre box. He’s too busy bending them.

Fresh off the acclaim of his daring sophomore album MUTT — and its deluxe counterpart HEEL — the Grammy Award–winning artist returns with PHOLKS, a feverish new EP dropping October 24 via EZMNY/Motown Records. Billed as a love letter to “beautiful chaos and the need to feel,” PHOLKS doubles down on the raw, rule-breaking creativity that’s become Thomas’s signature. The sound is an intoxicating mix of smoky R&B grooves, raw funk basslines, analog rock distortion, and gospel undertones — a wild blend that somehow makes total sense coming from the same man who grew up on both Prince and Hendrix.

If MUTT cracked open the door to Thomas’s psyche, PHOLKS kicks it wide. Its world lives in that space between control and collapse — all smoke, sweat, and emotion — a reflection of the creative instinct that’s propelled him from behind-the-scenes hitmaker to generational voice.

To mark the announcement, Thomas unveiled the explosive new single and video “Just How You Are”, a genre-bending confessional that pulses with live instrumentation and raw feeling. With D Phelps on drums and Freaky Rob on guitar, the track fuses funk, rock, and R&B into a molten, electric rush. His voice sounds both unrestrained and deliberate — like he’s chasing the edge of every note.

The accompanying video, co-directed by Thomas and shot like a fever dream, stars The Craft: Legacy’s Lovie Simone as his elusive counterpart. Set in the underbelly of a hazy city night — half motel glow, half cigarette smoke — the video feels more like a lost scene from an A24 romance than a music promo.

For Thomas, the visuals are as important as the music; his creative universe has always been multidisciplinary — shaped by his background as a child actor on Broadway and one of the most in-demand producers in the industry. (He’s penned hits for SZA, Ariana Grande, and Drake, among others.) But PHOLKS is personal. It’s Leon Thomas as auteur, not collaborator.

This fall, Thomas brings that energy to the stage for his MUTTS DON’T HEEL World Tour, produced by Live Nation in support of HEEL. After headlining Billboard’s Hip-Hop & R&B LIVE concert at Webster Hall on September 5, Thomas launches the completely sold-out North American leg on October 30 in Dallas, with stops in Austin, Nashville, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Toronto, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Rising R&B standout Ambré joins as special guest. In 2026, the tour expands overseas, hitting London’s Eventim Apollo, Paris’ Élysée Montmartre, Berlin’s Huxleys Neue Welt, Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre, and a full Australian run through Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.

It’s been a meteoric run. Following MUTT’s critical success — and the viral MUTT (LIVE FROM NPR’S TINY DESK) EP, which has surpassed 3.7 million views and hit #2 Trending on YouTube — Thomas has solidified himself as a defining voice in contemporary R&B. The HEEL deluxe release pushed his sound even further, with collaborations from Kehlani, Big Sean, Halle, and more.

Now the current cover star of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players issue, Thomas has been named Billboard’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year, honored with the Creative Visionary Award, and crowned by Ty Dolla $ign as “the new king of R&B.” His MUTT era has generated over 1.2 billion streams, a platinum-certified title track, and multiple #1 placements across Billboard’s R&B charts in both the U.S. and U.K.

He’s won Best New Artist at the 2025 BET Awards, earned two MTV VMA nominations, and delivered show-stopping performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Jennifer Hudson Show. Named Billboard’s Chartbreaker and MTV PUSH Artist of the Month, Thomas continues to expand the boundaries of R&B with the confidence of someone building a whole new language of sound.

At its heart, PHOLKS isn’t about perfection — it’s about connection. And in a music landscape obsessed with algorithms and aesthetics, Leon Thomas’s voice— feels like something real.

Watch the official music video for Just How You Are here.