|
|
Joe Lewis Thomas, c.1972,
Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. Raised to sing gospel by his
minister father, Joe is another at the cutting edge of
the commercial hip-hop/R&B crossover. As a youth he
decided to move away from vocal, guitar and piano chores
at his father's church and relocated to New Jersey,
picking up a whole slew of new jazz, soul, R&B and
hip hop influences in the process. He was eventually
discovered singing in a Newark church by R&B producer
Vincent Henry. He was employed regularly in local studios
to add his various musical abilities to records cut in
New York studios for swingbeat acts like SWV and
Hi-Five. Others who used his services included Toni
Braxton, TLC and Vanessa Bell Armstrong. The
success of his debut album, and the Top 30 UK single 'I'm
In Love', encouraged his new label Mercury to
employ him in a dual role as staff producer for their
black acts. |
