Leon Thomas' "MUTT" Marks His First Appearance In The Billboard Hot 100's Top 10 As An Artist

Leon Thomas has finally achieved a Top 10 position on the Hot 100 as a recording artist. Billboard confirmed on Monday, October 27, that “MUTT,” the title track from his second album, moved up eight positions to number 10.

The publication observed that Thomas has achieved “the third-longest trip to the Hot 100’s Top 10”, as seen in the chart’s 67-year history, which took 38 weeks to accomplish. The song initially emerged in August 2024, but a significant increase in its popularity didn’t occur until Chris Brown featured on a remix, after a prior version had included Freddie Gibbs.

Thomas is no stranger to the top 10 as a songwriter and producer. He had previously assisted in SZA’s “Snooze” achieving a position of No. Drake’s songs “In The Bible” and “Love All” reached number one in 2023 and were co-produced. 7 and No. 10, respectively, in 2021.

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It’s undoubtedly better late than never for a relatively newer artist like Leon Thomas. For him, this year has been meteoric, particularly after the release of MUTT Deluxe: HEEL in May. The expanded version contained nine additional songs, these being collaborations with Halle, Kehlani – who is also having an incredible year – and Big Sean.

Last Friday (Oct. 24), Thomas released his funk-inspired EP, PHOLKS, which marks his first independent project from MUTT. “The release connects with a lot of the origins of why I create music,” Thomas said to Spotify. My intention was to create something enjoyable to sing for everyone.

He went on to say, “It’s about the things that motivate me and the fact that Black music, as you pointed out previously, isn’t solely associated with R&B — it’s also associated with rock and roll.” Thomas is now preparing for his “Mutts Don’t Heel Tour,” which is scheduled to begin this Thursday, October 30, following his performances at ONE Musicfest over the weekend.