Leon Thomas III, a Brooklyn-born actor, producer and singer, performed at Baby’s All Right on Nov. 29.
Photo by Paul Frangipane
Gen-Z’s childhood television crush and the penman behind popular modern R&B hits is moving out from behind the scenes and taking his rightful place at center stage. Leon Thomas III, a musical multi-hyphenate, serenaded a crowd of R&B lovers during his first Brooklyn show on Nov. 29 at Baby’s All Right, just a few neighborhoods over from where he grew up.
The self-proclaimed lover-boy who started his career acting on Broadway and playing the goofy, musically-inclined Andre Harris on Nickelodeon’s Victorious, now spends his days writing romantic tunes drawn from real-life highs and lows.
“Hearing people sing these lyrics back to me that I wrote coming from a therapeutic place. Things I wasn’t sure if the world would resonate with, resonated with 400 people packed in there and it means a lot to me,” he said. “It’s a really interesting art form that gives me an opportunity to document my life in a way that can be time stamped through sound and that’s special.”
Osa Edo, a fan who attended the Brooklyn show, said he found Thomas from the song Snooze, a Grammy nominated track Thomas worked on with singer-songwriter SZA.
“He’s somebody that we need. He’s definitely going to be one of those people that brings R&B back to the fullest,” Edo said. “I think he’s still working on his music and people are just discovering like this is his tipping point. He’s just in the right place at the right time.”
Born in Park Slope to musician parents, Thomas grew up attending Prospect Park’s free summer concerts that he said shaped his vision of what a live show should be.
“For Prospect Park to do that for the community. It really helped shape my viewpoint of what’s possible. It’s a big part of my journey,” he said.
Shortly after his run on Nickelodeon, he transitioned from…
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