Ty Dolla $ign Names Leon Thomas ‘King of R&B’ After Wireless Festival Performance in London

At Wireless Festival 2025, Thomas lit up the stage with such an entrancing performance that Ty Dolla $ign couldn't hold back his praise and proclaimed him the new King of R&B. The crowd went wild as Thomas showed why he's turning heads in the music world.

"We started our record company EZMNY — me and Shawn Barron — and signed Leon Thomas, who is now the new king of this s--t. He's the easiest artist I've worked with — ever in life," said Ty Dolla $ign to Billboard after the show. "He's the new example of what an artist should be, in my eyes."

Thomas struck gold with his album Mutt. The record shot to number 15 on Billboard's Hot 100 last fall. Music critics took notice, too — it made it to the top of several best 2024 R&B albums, including Billboard's staff year-end list.

When Thomas met with big shots at Motown and Capitol Records, he didn't just talk - he showed up ready. As Ty recalled, "He pulls up a f--king PowerPoint display. These are the colours 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." The suits were stunned.

Ty Dolla $ign couldn't stop talking about Thomas's sharp mind. "A lot of people need to give them ideas. You have to make it for them, and he showed me there's people who know the whole thing. 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 it was all on me."

You can expect big things from both artists this year. Ty's next album, Tycoon, dropping on September 12, will mix his sound with Thomas and Chloe Bailey. This collab follows his smash hit team-up with Kanye West that topped charts in 2024.

Last month in New York, Ty Dolla $ign also shared his story on screen. His upcoming documentary, Still Free TC, was previewed at New York's Tribeca Film Festival, marking ten years since Free TC was released. The movie tracks two years of his music career, showing just how far he has come.