Key Takeaways:

• “MUTT” marks Leon Thomas’ first Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 as an artist.
• The observe gained momentum after remixes that includes Chris Brown and Freddie Gibbs.
• His latest collaborations and solo initiatives present a shift from behind-the-scenes work to front-stage artistry.

Leon Thomas has lastly scored his first Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 as an artist. On Monday (Oct. 27), Billboard confirmed that “MUTT,” the title observe from his sophomore album, climbed eight spots to No. 10.

The publication famous that Thomas now holds “the third-longest trip to the Hot 100’s Top 10” within the chart’s 67-year historical past, taking 38 weeks to get there. The track first arrived in August 2024, but it surely wasn’t till after Chris Brown appeared on a remix — following an earlier one that includes Freddie Gibbs — that the file music/chart-beat/leon-thomas-mutt-top-10-rb-hip-hop-songs-chart-1235939051/#:~:text=leaps%2077%2D28%20on%20the%20all%2Dgenre%20Billboard%20Hot%20100″>made its greatest soar.

Of course, Thomas isn’t any stranger to the Top 10 as a songwriter and producer. He beforehand helped SZA’s “Snooze” attain No. 2 in 2023 and co-produced Drake’s “In The Bible” and “Love All,” which peaked at No. 7 and No. 10, respectively, in 2021.

For a considerably newer artist like Leon Thomas, it’s undoubtedly higher late than by no means. This yr has been nothing in need of meteoric for him, particularly following the discharge of MUTT Deluxe: HEEL, in May. The expanded model added 9 new songs, together with collaborations with Halle, Kehlani — who’s additionally having an unbelievable yr — and Big Sean.

Then, simply final Friday (Oct. 24), Thomas dropped PHOLKS, his funk-inspired EP and first mission unbiased from MUTT. “It taps into a lot of the roots of why I make music,” Thomas instructed Spotify of the discharge. “I just wanted to make something that was fun to sing for anybody.”

He continued, “It’s about the things that inspire me and the fact that Black music, as you mentioned earlier, isn’t just attributed to R&B — it’s also attributed to rock and roll.” Having carried out a few of that new materials at ONE Musicfest over the weekend, Thomas is now gearing up for his “Mutts Don’t Heel Tour,” which is about to kick off this Thursday (Oct. 30).