The talents of Leon Thomas were on display early: he made his Broadway debut at 10 as Young Simba in The Lion King, and starred in Disney Channel productions in his teens. But as his reputation as an actor grew, Thomas' love for music persisted.
His first mixtape, Metro Hearts, arrived in 2012 and featured an early appearance from Ariana Grande. Production and writing bylines began to stack up over the next few years, including a co-producer credit on Post Malone's Stoney. In 2018, however, Leon Thomas will once again step to the front of the stage.
The Buddy collab "Favorite" is the first single off his next solo project (he also snagged a feature from Post, among others). We're excited to premiere the video today, and not just because it's a great song. The Chris Berkenkamp-directed piece finds Thomas deep in virtual reality, looking like T'Challa as he finds love in the desert.
"I was really excited to try something different in this video," Leon says. "I wanted to showcase my ability to make a sort of short film. I'm a big fan of Black Mirror, and I think we're getting very close to that space."
It's a beautiful, cinematic effort that ends on a surprisingy, poignant note—it's immediately apparent that Thomas has an incredible voice, and combined with his acting talents, Thomas could be a serious name in this music thing. It was a song he wrote post-breakup, but "rather than write a sad song, I wanted to focus on the happy aspect on when I first met her," he says. "'Favorite' is really about being addicted to a human being the same way we get addicted to drugs." Watch the "Favorite" video above.
