Joe

Joe possesses a refined vocal style suited to sleek, seductive R&B tracks that occasionally incorporate hip-hop rhythms, and his deep roots in gospel have equipped him to handle both songwriting and album production duties. Born in Georgia, he relocated as a youth to Opelika, Alabama, where his upbringing as the child of two ministers kept him immersed in church activities that included singing, guitar playing, and choir direction. Early exposure to gospel acts such as the Winans, Commissioned, and Vanessa Bell Armstrong paved the way for his appreciation of soul icons Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye as well as later figures including Bobby Brown and Keith Sweat.

Following high school graduation, Joe sustained his interest in singing and songwriting through a series of temporary positions before heading to New Jersey in pursuit of industry contacts. Employment at a gospel record store, combined with further musical training at a local church, led to an introduction to producer Vincent Herbert and the creation of a three-song demo. Polygram offered him a recording contract, resulting in the 1993 release of his first album, Everything. He also contributed to the soundtrack for Don't Be a Menace to South Central While You're Drinking Your Juice in the Hood before switching to Jive/RCA for his 1997 follow-up, All That I Am. The track "Don't Wanna Be a Player" entered the Top 40 after inclusion on the Booty Call soundtrack. All That I Am earned platinum certification, and Joe went on to remix the Tina Turner and Barry White duet "Never in Your Dreams" while producing and writing material for the debut albums of Ideal and Deja Groove.

In 1999 he joined Mariah Carey on the single "Thank God I Found You," taken from Rainbow, and gained further traction via the soundtrack contribution "I Wanna Know" for The Wood. Issued as a single in the autumn, the song lingered in the lower chart positions before surging in early 2000, climbing into the R&B Top Five by March and paving the way for the multi-platinum success of My Name Is Joe. Although subsequent releases never matched that commercial peak, the five albums spanning Better Days to Signature maintained consistent strength and each reached the Top Ten of Billboard's R&B chart.

Throughout the early 2010s Joe sustained his output of relatable, mature R&B projects. The Good, the Bad, the Sexy (2011) included four productions by Brandon "B.A.M." Alexander. Fantasia and Too Short appeared as guests on Doubleback: Evolution of R&B (2013), an album whose production duties were divided largely between Joe and Derek "DOA" Allen, with Stargate handling "Compromise." Bridges (2014) featured Kelly Rowland on the track "Love and Sex, Pt. 2." His twelfth studio album, #MyNameIsJoeThomas (2016), arrived after the release of four varied singles that encompassed "Happy Hour," featuring Gucci Mane, and "Our Anthem," a retro-soul number built around an Otis Redding interpolation.