A self-taught piano player who began producing his own music at the age of 12, Grand Rapids, Michigan native Thomas James Profitt emerged with versions of "Carol of the Bells" and a movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in the mid-2010s. His song "Hurts Like Hell" featuring vocalist/songwriter Fleurie appeared on a 2015 episode of Scream: The TV Series. Soon, his recordings were heard on shows such as Bones (Fox) and Reign (CW). In January 2017, Profitt released the collection Cinematic Songs, Vol. 1. Fleurie was among several other singers to appear on the album, which also included a handful of instrumental tracks. She turned up again on Vol. 2, issued just three months later, and went on become a frequent collaborator of Profitt's. That year, Profitt also produced Christian rapper NF's Top 20 single "Let You Down."
Working from his studio in Franklin, Tennessee, outside of Nashville, the year 2018 brought three more editions of Profitt's Cinematic Songs series, with Vol. 3 arriving in February. That March, he released the song "In the End" featuring Fleurie and rapper Jung Youth. Issued in July 2018, Cinematic Songs, Vol. 4's guests included artists like Colton Dixon, Sarah Reeves, and Whissell as well as Fleurie. Vol. 5 followed that November. Boosted by an inclusion on the CW series Legacies at the end of the year, a popular remix by Mellen Gi in early 2019, and viral status on social media, "In the End" soon crossed the hundred-million-stream threshold.
Featuring Fleurie on over half the tracks, Profitt's album Gloria Regali saw release in April 2019, with Cinematic Songs, Vol. 6 following in August. The collection Covers, Vol. 1 appeared the next May, and in October 2020, he released the Christmas album The Birth of a King. It reached the Top 30 of Billboard's Top Holiday Albums and Top Christian Albums charts. That year, Profitt's songs also appeared in the films The Binge (Hulu) and Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (Disney+). Another collaboration with SVRCINA, "There for You," was included on her 2020 album Elysian Fields and released as a single in September 2021. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi