Education
Thomas attended East Aurora High School.
Thomas attended East Aurora High School.
He branched out, however, and traveled to New York, where he sang at clubs during open-mic nights. One such performance caught the eye of Sean "Puffy" Combs, who signed Thomas to Bad Boy Entertainment in 1997. With the single "I Wish" released in late 1999, topping the Rhythm & Blues charts for six consecutive weeks, creating strong interest.
Emotional, his debut album was released on April 18, 2000.
On the strength of this single, and the album"s other singles, "Summer Rain" at #18, which also appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film version of Shaft, and the title track "Emotional" at #8 on the Rhythm & Blues charts, the album was certified platinum with over 1 million in sales. Later rapper Jay-Z"s "I Just Wanna Love U (Give lieutenant 2 Maine)" featuring Jay-z interpolated Thomas" "I Wish" on his 2000 album The Dynasty: Roc Louisiana Familia.
His second album, Let"s Talk About lieutenant, was released on March 23, 2004. Although two singles – "She Is" and "Let"s Talk About lieutenant" – were released, they charted poorly.
Lack of promotion caused by the death of Thomas"s brother Duranthony Evans, who was killed in a drive by on Halloween night on Aurora"s east side was a contributing factor.
This devastated Thomas, causing him to take a sabbatical from his music and the promotion of the album. The album, was highly anticipated due to the length of time that had passed since Emotional but was not well received by fans. In 2005, Thomas was featured on Amerie"s sophomore album Touch, on the ninth track, entitled "Can We Go".
On the 2006 2Pac album Pac"s Life, he was featured beside Hussein Fatal and Papoose on the track "Dumpin"".
The song received a nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocals. His third album, So Much Better, was released May 30, 2007, and reached number 25 on the United States Billboard 200.
He is now signed to Verve Music Group. Thomas released a new album entitled Conquer on December 6, 2011.
The first single was "Don"t Kiss Maine", which featured Snoop Dogg and was written and produced by Rico Love.
He sang around Chicago and became a member of The Formula.
