In the Beginning a young Carl Thomas sang around the Chicago-land area,
joining various groups, singing in the church choir, and doing some recordings in
relatively comfortable surroundings.
Over 4 million records sold 2 Grammy Award Nominations, 3 Soul Train Music
Awards nominations (2002 Best R&B/Soul Album Male, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New
Artist, Best R&B/Soul Single – Male), Winner of the 2001 NAACP Image Award for
Outstanding New Artist
So Over 20years Thousands of appearances, performances & live concerts
later..this is Carl’s story.
Feeling the need to test himself in unfamiliar waters, Thomas trekked to New
York and began singing during open-mic nights at various clubs. Songbook CEO
Troy Taylor (best known for discovering Trey Songz) befriended Carl allowing him
to move into his 1 bedroom apartment with his wife and newborn son in Brooklyn.
Troy quickly taught Carl the difference between recording gospel music and
recording R&B music. “Troy is and will always be my brother, I owe him and Ron
Grant [host of open mic night at Chaz & Wilson’s, Nell’s) so much, They took a
chance on a very “green” Carl Thomas and for that I’m eternally grateful. “I was
born and raised in Chicago…But I became a Man in Brooklyn.”says Thomas. One
day Bad Boy records CEO Sean“Diddy”Combs and Christopher “Biggie” Wallace
caught one of Carl’s open-mic performances and signed him in 1997 as the
labels First Male R&B Artist. Immediately Thomas fit in with the Bad Boy family,
first recording only as a featured artist Carl appeared on “The World is filled” feat
Biggie, Puff Daddy, and Too Short), “Chicken Heads” feat Lil Cease, and the
“Been around remix” feat Puff Daddy and MASE.
As a Recording Artist-Carl Thomas’ major label debut was certainly Emotional.
The buzz caused by the airplay of the (not-available-to-retail) single I Wish was
so high, that the release date of the Emotional album set to be late August of
2000 was moved up to April 18, 2000. Thomas wrote or CO-wrote 11 of the
album’s 15 tracks. “I Wish” is the title of the number-one R&B single. The hit song
spent six long weeks at number-one on the US R&B chart and peaked at number
twenty on the pop charts, and set the stage for his debut album Emotional,
On the success of “I Wish”, the album’s other singles, “Summer Rain,” which was
featured on the movie Shaft soundtrack and the title track “Emotional” (which
featured actress Stacie Dash in the music video) reached #18 and #8 on the
R&B charts respectively the album did very well in fact Thomas’ debut album
“Emotional” went platinum with 1.7 million units sold. In Jan 2002 to close out
that debut year a Grammy nomination for (Best R&B Performance by a Duo or
Group with Vocal) for “Can’t Believe,” Faith Evans featuring Carl Thomas.
Although Carl Thomas’ masterwork “Emotional” was a critical and sales success,
life has not always been a simple path for the young and talented singer. In
March 2004 Carl Thomas came back with his second album, Let’s talk About It.
The album went gold and had moderate success. The album’s singles were “She
Is”(featuring L.L.Cool J) and “Make It Alright” which reached #56 and #33 on the
R&B charts respectively. This Project would prove to be Thomas’ last on BadBoy
records. Following the senseless murder of his only brother in the streets of
Chicago, (Halloween night) Thomas felt it was time to move on.”Music lost its
taste, I went to Europe for 6 months and visited friends, recall Thomas. “I
experienced life, I learned to land a helicopter, then I went to South Africa to
Mandela’s original home & prison cell it was very inspiring, I learned how to face
my fears, I and found where my strength lies..It was in the LORD Thomas
explains.
Emerging from his solitude over a year and a half later, in the late fall of 2005
Carl received a covenant S.C.L.C image award in New Orleans presented by the
late Coretta Scott King (spouse of civil rights leader Dr.Martin Luther King) “an
honor I will always cherish” recall Thomas. In DEC 2006 Thomas earned a
Grammy Award nomination along with Chaka Khan, Yolanda Adams, and the late
Gerald Levert for “Everyday),” a song from the soundtrack of Tyler Perry’s Movie
“Madea’s Family Reunion” The song received a nomination for Best R&B
Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocals. Thomas’ second Grammy
nomination was as sweet as the first, There is grand heritage that already exists.
Carl has no problem spreading charm like butter. “Before I give the audience
something different, I needed to remind them why they loved me first,” Carl says
about his third album, So Much Better. Thomas teamed up with Music Industry
Icon The late Jheryl Busby, (former President of RCA & Motown records) and
Super Producer Mike City (who CO-wrote I Wish) and formed a label named
Umbrella Records. In May 2007 “So Much Better” was released and reached
number 25 on the U.S. Billboard. With great records like “I just thought you
should know” feat Lalah Hathaway & “something bout you” feat Brandy, and
“Can’t get over you” feat Dave Hollister “My only real responsibility is to the
music,” Carl confesses. “I’m aware that I have to uphold a certain tradition and
integrity in the music, but I also have to stay sincere to myself. Thomas found
that working with super producers on this project made him feel secure, “Working
with composers who I’m a fan of was a dream come true” songs like “Home”
produced by Jam & Lewis, and “if you ever” produced by Brian Michael Cox.” I
believe people who love music can feel when you’re not being real.” In the wrong
hands, “Realness” can become cliché of booty songs and artificial toughness, but
after listening to Carl Thomas’ singing, one realizes he isn’t having any of that.
Thomas released his latest album entitled “Conquer” In December 2011. The first
single was Don’t Kiss Me, which featured Snoop Dogg and was written and
produced by Rico Love on the debut of the music video it reached over 1 million
viewers.“What comes from the heart reaches the heart,” Carl says poetically. “In
other words, when I’m writing songs I try to capture scenarios that are true. There
is a complexity to relationships that many songwriters miss that I try to relate; we
all have drama in our lives and that is what I was attempting to express on
Conquer.