FREDERICK O'NEIL THOMAS

about

As a well respected vocalist,songwriter,multi-instrumentalist,producer,and live performer Frederick Thomas has been to the top and bottom of the music industry and not only survived to tell the tale,but has remained active with the release of several singles,EPs,and albums on his own.After hitting the top 10 on billboard charts with "DO ANYTHING" and "HEARTS DON'T THINK (THEY FEEL!) with his group Natural Selection,recording his own debut solo album "MAINTAIN RADIO SILENCE" and recording and performing with some of the best bands and vocalists in the country, Frederick Thomas has returned with the re-release of the digitally remastered "MAINTAIN RADIO SILENCE" debut album. This love letter to the soul and hip hop that influenced and molded Thomas in his youth is equally paid homage and taken into the present. Adding 3 unreleased sides to the album as well gives it a new look and feel.Later this year he will release an EP of previously recorded songs called "NEW RAYS/OLD SUNS". The songs where recorded over a 15 year span all over the US with both solo material and Natural Selection tracks that have never seen the light of day until now.Even after all of this Frederick is at work on an as yet untitled new album,live shows,as well as doing some co-production on a few acts. 2023 is shaping up to be quite a year of music from the man behind the 90's chart topper.

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Frederick talks Natural Selection on DOPE NOSTALGIA PODCAST

Frederick O’Neil Thomas’s album “Maintain Radio Silence”: An original that shouldn’t be overlooked
By Dwight HobbesI was performing at The Fine Line a little awhile back and crossed paths with vocalist/prose-poet/composer/guitarist Frederick O’Neil Thomas, who handed me a review copy of Maintain Radio Silence and invited me to stick around for his set. Having deadlines to meet, I deferred. Bad move. Later, once I had a chance to listen to the disc, realized I probably missed one hell of a show.
Artfully produced with savvy and finesse by O’Neil and Greg Schutte the album is sharp and with smart marketing, Frederick O’Neil Thomas’ Maintain Radio Silence would make some serious noise. Think a cross between The Last Poets and Curtis Mayfield. This album isn’t just off the chain. It starts there and keeps getting better. In an exquisite outing, Frederick O’Neil Thomas, in wizened fashion, steps and struts, articulately signifies. “Sure Shot” is an insistent, party groove that, from jump, just won’t go away. It constantly returns to a simple enough refrain, “Let’s scream, let’s shout, let’s turn this function out/ Keep keepin’ on and you don’t stop/ Let’s make this party a sure shot” and that’s exactly what the jam does, laid back in the cut, tough as hard times. While you’re busy nodding along, just having fun, Thomas slips a message or two in. Without preaching in the least, he pulls fools’s coats with a wake up word or two about “Nowadays young guns wanna take this foolishness/ to the full extent they might get/ Blast off, put your mask on, gas on/ Live your life too fast and quickly pass on/ to never realize your true fullness.” Sidestepping any kind of soapbox, the lyrics are simply part of lifestyle and culture, segueing, the next verse, into more casual concerns. Like scoping out hotties on the dance floor sporting “hip-huggers [that] fit ya like a glove.”The beauty of it is that never latches onto one hook, wearing it to death, which is the mark of so many pedestrian posers. He welcomes the opportunity to come up with an entirely fresh backdrop each time out. And has an eclectic music vocabulary. Heads-up: the instrumental “Fight Dance” is smart, so funk-nasty somebody need to open a window. “Moor Bounce” qualifies Thomas as a strong contender to the throne Gil Scott-Heron had abdicated, even before his death. An eerie sort of slave-chant (introed by a Flamenco guitar, sustained with a chorus of richly blended vocals), just part of the stark commentary chord it hits touches on the controversy of African American reparation. Not that you can make all of the words out. Which is why there should be a lyric sheet. This number alone would be worth the ink. Thomas also has a quiet, romantic side that comes across splendidly with the Reggae cut, “Do Watcha Do.” He sings with fluid grace, hitting raw-edged sensuality that’ll have guys who want to impress that certain gal sitting down taking notes. “New World Disorder” is innovative, a down-in-the-alley Chicago-blues fueled missive warning folk to get their act together and be ready for social change, echoing in passing Malcolm X’s famous remark regarding “the chickens coming to roost.” This guy, take it to the bank, is an original.Frederick O’Neil Thomas’s Maintain Radio Silence is, bottom line, one of those recordings with which you can’t go wrong.

Natural Selection Biographyby Andy Kellman
(allmusic.com)
Natural Selection was a duo that blended R&B and hip-hop for a couple successful singles and a self-titled album released in 1991. Elliot Erickson and Frederick Thomas formed the group in 1989. After their first recording, "Do Anything," caught on at the radio station where Erickson was employed, EastWest picked them up and gave the song a national release in 1991. That October, it reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, topped only by Mariah Carey's "Emotions." An album and two additional singles followed, but a planned follow-up never reached fruition. Erickson and Thomas parted in 1992. Thomas kept the Natural Selection name alive informally, with John Swan and Shaun Ware brought into the group. A deal was sealed with SBK, but the label and, subsequently, the group, fell apart. Several years later, the three came back together and recorded again. They independently released an eight-song recording titled Infinity, which didn't stray far from the sound of the group's initial recordings.