Ty Dolla $ign Declares Leon Thomas the King of R&B & Previews the Next Chapter in His Own Legacy

As Leon Thomas entranced the crowd with his spellbinding performance at Wireless Festival 2025, his mentor and EZMNY labelhead, Ty Dolla $ign, came onstage and made a bold proclamation: Leon Thomas is the new King of R&B.

“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,” Dolla $ign told Billboard after Thomas’ Wireless performance. “He’s the new example of what an artist should be, in my eyes.”

For Ty to bestow such an honor on Thomas — who is enjoying a breakout year with the success of his top 15 Hot 100 hit “Mutt” — is a gratifying experience, after watching the singer/songwriter build his acclaimed album from the ground up. According to Dolla $ign, Thomas’ calculated approach and insatiable appetite for greatness shone during a label meeting with Motown and Capitol, where the singer presented his album rollout via a PowerPoint presentation.

“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,” chuckled Dolla $ign. “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.”

He added, “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.” 

Since Mutt’s September 2024 release, the album has garnered excellent reviews and ultimately topped Billboard’s staff year-end list for best R&B albums. As Thomas continues to accelerate towards musical excellence, Dolla $ign isn’t done forging a legacy of his own. After netting a No. 1 single and album last year alongside Ye, the Beach House singer-songwriter is back riding solo, prepping the release of his forthcoming project, Tycoon. According to Dolla $ign, Thomas and Chloe Bailey will feature on the set.

“Tycoon, I put my all into this,” expressed Dolla $ign. “It’s a crazy body of work. I’m at the top of my game. I’m going to that next level. You’ll see the growth, the musicality, and it’s going to be better than anything that’s coming out.”

Last month, Dolla $ign previewed his upcoming documentary, Still Free TC, at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival. The doc, which commemorates the 10th anniversary of his 2015 album, Free TC, highlighted Dolla $ign’s creative process and evolution as a premier singer/songwriter.

“My documentary is about to drop. I’ve been working on that for the last two years,” explained Dolla $ign. “You’re going to see what’s been going on over the last two years and get a glimpse of my whole life. It’s called Still Free TC. You’ll get some appearances from [my brother] TC, of course, if you’re a fan of Free TC.”