Carl Thomas Biography
15 June 1972, Aurora, Chicago, Illinois, USA. One of the few soul singers to gain release on Sean "Puffy" Combs' hip-hop dominated Bad Boy label, Thomas earned critical praise for his adherence to traditional songwriting values. After several years playing low-key bar gigs around Chicago, Thomas joined Bad Boy in 1997 as their in-house backing vocalist, appearing on releases by rap artists such as the Notorious B.I.G., Black Rob, and Combs himself. He also contributed to albums by other rappers including Noreaga and Raekwon. Emotional, Thomas' debut, was released in 2000. This largely self-written album, recorded with a stellar cast of producers including Mario Winans and Heavy D, eschewed samples and beguiled the listener instead with its reliance on melody and classic song structure, a bold move in an era dominated by urban R&B vocalists singing over mechanical beats. The obvious reference points were the classic 70s soul albums of artists such as Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway and Teddy Pendergrass, while stand-out tracks included the duet with Kelly Price on "Giving You All My Love" and the organ-driven "Cold, Cold World". Emotional climbed into the US Top 10, buoyed by the radio success of the single "I Wish". Thomas spent a long time fashioning a follow-up album, with Let's Talk About It finally released in March 2004. This noticeably mellower collection of material lacked any track as memorable as the first album's "I Wish", but was nevertheless another classy slice of modern soul.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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