Ty Dolla $ign Crowns Leon Thomas The New “King Of R&B” After Wireless Fest Performance
Ty Dolla $ign is all in for his artist, Leon Thomas, recently declaring that the “Mutt” singer is the new King of R&B.
According to Billboard, Ty made the proclamation onstage during Thomas’ stellar Wireless Festival set, further elaborating to the pub, “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. He’s the new example of what an artist should be, in my eyes.”
The Cheers to the Best Memories artist, 43, also revealed how impressive Thomas, 31, was in their initial label meeting with Motown and Capitol, where the songwriter used a PowerPoint presentation to detail his rollout.
“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 said with a chuckle. “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.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 11: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Leon Thomas performs onstage during Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park on July 11, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage)
Ty continued, “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 how it was all on me.”
Thomas is still riding high on the success of his top 15 Hot 100 hit “Mutt” — as well as its remix featuring Chris Brown — and the album of the same name. He is also the pen behind beloved songs from artists like Ariana Grande, GIVĒON, and Drake.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 04: Ty Dolla $ign and Leon Thomas III attend Affinity Nightlife presents “Music Is Love | Love is Music” Grammys after party at Academy LA on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Affinity Nightlife)
The conversation surrounding the true “king of R&B” is constant within the genre, with everyone from Jaquees to PartyNextDoor declaring themselves the “king” at some point. There are a few names, however, who are often discussed among true R&B fans as legit contenders, including Usher, Chris Brown, and R.Kelly.
