“We always try our best to sprinkle some Caribbean culture and vibes on these records we’re writing for artists,” says Timothy Thomas, one half of the St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands duo R City. After years of crafting hits behind the scenes for artists from Jennifer Hudson to Justin Bieber, Timothy and brother Theron Thomas are having a moment of their own now with “Locked Away” (featuring Adam Levine), which has spent the past month inside the Billboard Top 10. Their major-label debut, What Dreams Are Made Of dropped last week, and it’s full of island pop anthems and Caribbean hip-hop bangers, with the brothers’ Virgin Islands upbringing coming through on every track.
As part of our recent sitdown with Theron and Timothy, we had the brothers break down for us how they’ve slipped Caribbean flavor into songs by Ciara and Miley Cyrus, to name a few
“We’re so proud to be from the Caribbean and, as writers, to push these artists we’re working with creatively, that’s one thing that we bring to the game,” Theron says. “There ain’t too many writers or producers from the Caribbean who are doing it on a big level.”