Sevn Thomas

Rupert Thomas Jr.^[1] was born and raised in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario.^[2][3] His parents were born in Jamaica. They both had their own sound systems (Lover's Choice and Love Choice International) and would often hold parties in their basement.^[1][2][4] Dancehall artist, Rappa Robert, is Thomas' uncle^[5] who would take him to studio sessions in Jamaica, including at UB40's studio. In grade 5, Thomas began making beats on a Korg Triton and in 2002, at ten years old, he released a single called "Too Young for Love" featuring Master T under the stage name, Suga Prince.^[3][4] The music video for that song featured a 12-year-old Ayesha Curry.^[6]

Thomas signed to Sony BMG around that time but eventually put his music career on hold after the label folded. He first met producer Boi-1da while working with Sony. During high school, Thomas continued making beats often at Sunny Diamonds' studio in Toronto. It was there that he reconnected with Boi-1da, who would become his mentor and frequent collaborator. In 2012, Thomas faced off against WondaGurl (another Boi-1da protege) at the Battle of the Beat Makers. The judges were unable to choose a winner.^[3][4][5]

In 2013, Thomas began accruing production and songwriting credits including on Kelly Rowland's "Love Me Til I Die",^[7] Skeme's "No Time",^[8] and Ben Stevenson's "Opposites Attract".^[9] In 2014, Thomas produced Mobb Deep's "Low" before releasing his own instrumental EP, Hidden Hand, in April of that year. The EP featured co-production from Jordan Evans and Prezident Jeff.^[10]

In 2015 and 2016, Thomas co-produced (with Boi-1da and others) a series of songs that appeared on the Billboard Hot 100, including Drake's "10 Bands" (number 58) and "Pop Style" (number 16), and Rihanna's "Work" (number 1).^[5][11][12] Billboard credited him as one of seven producers "who brought dancehall back to the charts in 2016".^[1] That year, he also co-produced PartyNextDoor's "Don't Run",^[5] which reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart.^[13] In April 2016, he released the single "Can't Sleep Alone" featuring Australian singer, NYNE.^[14] He continued producing records in 2017 including Travis Scott's "Green & Purple", Kehlani's "Get Like", and GoldLink's "Pray Everyday".^[5]

In 2018, he produced tracks on numerous notable albums including Travis Scott's Astroworld ("Wake Up" and "Houstonfornication"), Nicki Minaj's Queen ("Run & Hide"), Lil Wayne's Tha Carter V ("Let It Fly"), and The Carters' Everything Is Love ("Friends").^[2][15]