Rupert "Sevn" Thomas Jr. (born July 7, 1991) is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and singer. He has produced and written numerous hit songs including Rihanna's "Work", Drake's "Pop Style" and "Chicago Freestyle," Travis Scott's "Wake Up", Nicki Minaj's "Run & Hide", Giveon's "Heartbreak Anniversary", and numerous others. He also released a 2014 instrumental EP entitled Hidden Hand. As a youth, he performed as a singer under the stage name Suga Prince.

Sevn Thomas
Birth nameRupert Thomas Jr.
Also known asSuga Prince
Born (1991-07-07) July 7, 1991 (age 33)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
  • singer
Instruments
Years active2002–present
LabelsNot So Fast

Early life

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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]

Career

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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]

Discography

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List of EPs with selected album details
Title Details
Hidden Hand[10]

Singles

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List of singles showing year released and album name
Title Year Album
"Can't Sleep Alone" (feat. Nyne)[14] 2016 Non-album single

Remixes

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List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists
Title Artist Year Album
"After You Left" (feat. Nyne)[14] GoldLink 2016 And After That, We Didn't Talk - The Remixes

Songwriting and production

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Selected songs with production and songwriting credits
Song name
[16]
Year Primary artist(s) Album Role Notes
"Love Me Til I Die"[7] 2013 Kelly Rowland Talk a Good Game Co-writer Bonus track
"No Time"[8] Skeme Ingleworld Co-producer
"Opposites Attract"[9] Ben Stevenson Non-album single Co-producer
"Low"[7] 2014 Mobb Deep (feat. Mack Wilds) The Infamous Mobb Deep Co-producer
"Love for the 6"[7] Tre Capital Gundam Pt. 1 Producer
"10 Bands"[5] 2015 Drake If You're Reading This It's Too Late Co-producer, co-writer US No. 58[12]
"In The Bag"[17] Mac Miller GO:OD AM Producer
"Work"[11] 2016 Rihanna (feat. Drake) Anti Co-producer US No. 1[12]
"Pop Style"[5] Drake (feat. Jay-Z and Kanye West) Views Co-producer US No. 16[12]
"Don't Run"[5] PartyNextDoor PartyNextDoor 3 Co-producer, co-writer US R&B No. 22[13]
"Green & Purple"[5] 2017 Travis Scott (feat. Playboi Carti) Non-album single Co-producer
"Get Like"[5] Kehlani SweetSexySavage Co-producer, co-writer
"Pray Everyday"[5] GoldLink At What Cost Co-producer, co-writer
"We Will Never Die"[18] GoldLink (feat. Lil Dude) Co-producer, co-writer
"Keep Me"[19] Khalid American Teen Co-producer, co-writer
"Wake Up"[2] 2018 Travis Scott (feat. The Weeknd) Astroworld Co-producer, co-writer US No. 30[20]
"Houstonfornication"[2] Travis Scott Co-producer, co-writer US No. 53[20]
"Run & Hide"[21] Nicki Minaj Queen Co-producer, co-writer
"Friends"[22] The Carters Everything Is Love Co-producer
"Let It Fly"[23] Lil Wayne (feat. Travis Scott) Tha Carter V Producer US No. 10[20]
"Chicago Freestyle" 2020 Drake (featuring Giveon) Dark Lane Demo Tapea Co-producer, co-writer
"Heartbreak Anniversary" Giveon Take Time

References

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  1. ^ a b c Serwer, Jesse (December 13, 2016). "Meet the Producers Who Brought Dancehall Back to the Charts in 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e Elibert, Mark (October 5, 2018). "From Travis Scott to Lil Wayne, Producer Sevn Thomas Breaks Down His Biggest Records of 2018". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (October 28, 2016). "Meet Sevn Thomas, The Toronto producer on Astroworld and Queen". The FADER. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Bliss, Karen (January 21, 2016). "Toronto: Beat-making capital of the world?". SOCAN Magazine. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k James, Andy (July 26, 2017). "Beat Break: Sevn Thomas Shares the Story Behind His 5 Biggest Songs". DJ Booth. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  6. ^ Ender, Elena (July 21, 2017). "What You Need to Know About Ayesha Curry". Entity Magazine. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d Jenkins, Craig (August 26, 2014). "15 New Producers to Watch for in 2014". Complex. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Kramer, Kyle (December 4, 2013). "Listen to Skeme's New Single "Different," Off His Upcoming Album "Ingleworld"". Complex. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Spadine, Richard (August 13, 2013). "Ben Stevenson – Opposites Attract". DJ Booth. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  10. ^ a b X, Dharmic (April 18, 2014). "Listen to Sevn Thomas' "Hidden Hand" Instrumental EP". Complex. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  11. ^ a b "People don't understand the lyrics of Rihanna's new single, called Work". BBC. January 27, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  12. ^ a b c d "Drake – Chart History – Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  13. ^ a b "PartyNextDoor – Chart History – Hot R&B Songs". Billboard. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  14. ^ a b c Mistry, Anupa (April 28, 2016). "Sevn Thomas And NYNE Contemplate Solitude On "Can't Sleep Alone"". The FADER. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  15. ^ Chesman, Donna-Claire (August 16, 2018). "Producer Sevn Thomas Breaks Down Working on 'ASTROWORLD' and 'Queen'". DJ Booth. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  16. ^ "Sevn Thomas – Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  17. ^ Phillips, Yoh (September 14, 2015). "Mac Miller "GO:OD AM" | 1 Listen Album Review". DJ Booth. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  18. ^ Berry, Peter A. (March 24, 2017). "Stream GoldLink's New Project 'At What Cost'". XXL. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  19. ^ "Khalid liberates debut album 'American Teen'". Hamada Mania. March 4, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  20. ^ a b c "Travis Scott – Chart History – Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  21. ^ Cowen, Trace William (August 10, 2018). "Here Are the Credits for Nicki Minaj's 'Queen' Album". Complex. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  22. ^ Barner, Katherine (June 16, 2018). "Who's Who on Beyoncé and JAY-Z's 'Everything Is Love'". Complex. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  23. ^ Renshaw, David (September 28, 2018). "Here are the full album credits for Lil Wayne's Tha Carter V". The FADER. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
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