After releasing records in the ’80s under his birth name of Marc Anthony Thompson, the New York-based songwriter rechristened himself (and his collective of musicians) as Chocolate Genius Inc. Drawing from influences that span the soulful and psychedelic, Thompson evolved Genius as a pop melting pot, with contributions from such diverse friends as Van Dyke Parks and Me’Shell NdegeOcello. Between 1998 and 2005, Chocolate Genius released three LPs, while Thompson also utilized his alter ego to dabble in film scoring for I AM SAM and EVERYDAY PEOPLE, as well as writing music for fellow cross-genre artists like Lizz Wright.