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Nathaniel James Speas, known as Nate James, (born 15 September 1979 in
Lakenheath Lakenheath is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. It has a population of 4,691 according to the 2011 Census, and is situated close to the county boundaries of both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, ...
, Suffolk, England) is an English singer-songwriter. James released his debut
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
album '' Set the Tone'' in 2005 which won him two
MOBO The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...
Nominations for Best Newcomer and Best R&B Artist, featuring his revered first release "Set The Tone" He released on his Frofunk imprint via
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
Labels around the world and became one of the most successful independent
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
recording artists globally. James has sold over 1,000,000 albums and he has had
airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
hits in both Europe and Japan. He won the
Festivalbar The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. ...
in 2006, which was an Italian summertime singing contest that took place in the most important Italian city squares such as the Piazza del Duomo in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. In 2007, James won the
Urban Music Awards The Urban Music Awards (UMA) is a hip-hop, R&B, dance, and soul music awards ceremony which was launched by Jordan Kensington in 2003 and is now held in several countries. The US version of the award ceremony, the Urban Music Awards USA, was ...
' Best Album (''Kingdom Falls'') and Best Neo-Soul Artist. In February 2008, James and his band performed on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
show '' Later... with Jools Holland''. Nate was a contestant on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's prime time television show ''
The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original '' The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...
'' in April 2013.


Biography


Early life and music career

James has joint UK/US
citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
as he was born in 1979 on a U. S. Air Force base in England to an American father and English mother. As a recognised songwriter, he was signed by Universal Publishing in 2004, prior to him releasing any material as a performer. Unlike many young artists he did not sign away the
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
in his recordings in the fast pursuit of fame. He owns his own
music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
and does his own A&R, James released on his own Frofunk imprint via various deals with Independent Labels around the world. In so doing James has become one of the most successful independent soul recording artists globally. James sold over 1,000,000 albums and enjoyed sizable airplay hits across mainland Europe and Japan. He made an appearance on
The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original '' The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...
on 27 April 2013 with 2 of the judges turning their chairs.


''Set the Tone'' (2005–2007)

James released his debut album, ''Set The Tone'' in 2005 which is heavily influenced by soul artists such as Marvin Gaye,
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
and Stevie Wonder. It subsequently won James widespread critical acclaim and two
MOBO The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...
nominations for Best Newcomer and Best R&B Artist. His album, written mostly by James, covers a range of music influences; from the bassy R&B of ''Set The Tone'', the upbeat pop of ''Universal'', the retro soul of ''The Message'', the classic ballad sound of ''Justify Me'' to the rocky vibe in ''I'll Decline.'' There is also a duet with
Dawn Robinson Dawn Sherrese Robinson (born November 24, 1966 or 1968) is an American singer best known as a founding member of the R&B/pop group En Vogue, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. Following her departure from En Vogue, Robinson ...
of
En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the single ...
. James has also worked with several noted co-writers that included David Brant (
Mis-Teeq Mis-Teeq were a British girl group, consisting of Alesha Dixon, Su-Elise Nash and Sabrina Washington. They had two top-ten albums and seven consecutive top-ten singles, with chart-topping success on the UK Singles Chart as well as across Eur ...
,
Liberty X Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British-Irish group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show '' Popstar ...
,
Jamie Scott Jamie Scott (born James Christopher Needle; 12 February 1984) is an Ivor Novello Award winning English singer, songwriter and producer. Career Songwriting As a writer and producer Scott has sold over 100 million albums, 50 million singles, has ...
), Eg White (
Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...
's
Chasing Pavements "Chasing Pavements" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her debut studio album, '' 19'' (2008). Written by Adele with its producer Eg White, the song was released as the second single from the album on 14 January 2008. I ...
) on ''Universal'',
David Sneddon David Sneddon (born 15 September 1978) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer of contemporary pop music. He began his career performing on stage and television, singing lead roles in stage musicals in Glasgow. In 2002, h ...
(
Hurts Hurts are an English musical duo formed in Manchester in 2009, consisting of singer Theo Hutchcraft and multi-instrumentalist Adam Anderson. They have released five studio albums: ''Happiness'' (2010), ''Exile'' (2013), ''Surrender'' (2015), ' ...
,
Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent r ...
) and
Jake Gosling Jake Gosling is an English music producer, songwriter, remixer, manager, and publisher best known for his work with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, The Libertines, James Bay, Shawn Mendes, All Time Low, One Direction, Major Lazer, Christ ...
(
Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...
,
Wiley (rapper) Richard Kylea Cowie Jr. MBE (born 19 January 1979), better known by his stage name Wiley (formerly Wiley Kat), is a British grime MC, rapper, songwriter, DJ and record producer from Bow, London. Wiley is considered a key figure in the creati ...
) on ''The Message'', Andreas S. Jensen (Writer of Armand Van Heldens: MyMyMy),
Peter-John Vettese Peter-John Vettese (born 15 August 1956 in Scotland), also known as Peter Vettese, is a Scottish keyboardist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. Vettese is perhaps best known for being the keyboardist for progressive rock band Jethro Tul ...
( Annie Lennox: Walking On Broken Glass), Jamie Hartman (
Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Idol ...
's All Time Love) on ''Justify Me'' and Emily Friendship ( Sarah Connor's: You're the Kinda Man). James has sold out numerous live shows at the
Jazz Café The Jazz Cafe is a music venue in Camden Town, London. It opened in 1990 on the former premises of a branch of Barclays Bank and has had several owners throughout its history as a music venue. In 2020 the Jazz Cafe celebrates its 30th year, h ...
in London and at other venues across the UK. His headline gig at
Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...
had to be rescheduled due to the
7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...
but went ahead in October 2005. Nate and his band also performed at Fruitstock 2005. He has had success in both Europe and Japan. He won the
Festivalbar The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. ...
in Italy in 2006. The Festivalbar is an Italian singing competition that takes place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the
Piazza del Duomo, Milan Piazza del Duomo ("Cathedral Square") is the main ''piazza'' (city square) of Milan, Italy. It is named after, and dominated by, Milan Cathedral (the ''Duomo''). The piazza marks the center of the city, both in a geographic sense and because o ...
.


''Kingdom Falls'' (2007–2008)

The recording of James' second album ''Kingdom Falls'' was entirely self-funded out of the profits from his debut album. The album features a live orchestra on many tracks and more studio-based production than that featured on his first album ''Set The Tone''. The album title track ''Kingdom Falls'' was influenced by James's experiences on a charity mission to Rwanda in 2006, where he witnessed a mix of joy and sadness, seeing the country and its many
orphans An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...
recovering from the atrocities committed during the
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
of 1994. The album was mixed in Los Angeles by grammy winning Outkast collaborator Neal H Pogue and was released first in Japan and subsequently in the UK & Italy. In 2007 James won
Urban Music Awards The Urban Music Awards (UMA) is a hip-hop, R&B, dance, and soul music awards ceremony which was launched by Jordan Kensington in 2003 and is now held in several countries. The US version of the award ceremony, the Urban Music Awards USA, was ...
Best Album (Kingdom Falls) and Best Neo-Soul Artist. In February 2008 James and his band performed two tracks from the album on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
show Later... with Jools Holland – ''Choke'' and ''Back To You''. In Spring 2008, James embarked on his first tour of North America and played live shows in New York City, Toronto,
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
, & Los Angeles. On 4 July 2008 James headlined the outdoor stage of the Montreal Jazz Fest, performing to an audience of over 120,000 in the
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
city.


''Revival'' (2009)

In between writing sessions for his next album, James recorded a selection of
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s. These were released as ''Revival'' on 30 March 2009. The album was produced solely by the producer of James's ''Set The Tone'' album David Brant.


SugaSmak! (2010)

In 2010 James formed the group SugaSmak! which consisted of Nate as the lead vocalist (now dubbed 'SugaJack') and Matt Gooderson of indie outfit Infadels ('Clyma'). Boasting a new ElectroSoul sound, the duo's debut single ''We Are'' was released through the small London independent "Better Get Records" on 22 November 2010.


"Back Foot" (2012)

In 2012 Nate teamed up with Manchester duo HeavyFeet to record the hit single "Back Foot". The track was released through Champion Records on 25 March 2012.


''The Voice UK'' (2013)

In 2013 Nate James appeared on UK hit TV show ''
The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original '' The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...
''. Performing " Crazy", James turned Jessie J and
Danny O'Donoghue Daniel John Mark Luke O'Donoghue (born 3 October 1980) is an Irish singer-songwriter best known for being the frontman of the Irish rock band The Script and as a coach on the first two series of the television singing talent show ''The Voice ...
's chairs. He chose Jessie J as his coach, although he did consider being on Team
will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...
. He was eliminated during The Battle Rounds.


''The Voice of Holland'' (2018)

In 2018, James appeared on the Netherlands hit TV show ''
The Voice of Holland ''The Voice of Holland'', also known as ''TVOH'', is a Dutch reality TV singing competition, that became a near global TV format franchise, created by media tycoon John de Mol and musician Roel van Velzen, in the Netherlands airing on RTL 4. ...
'', where he performed " Issues" and turned all four chairs. He chose Waylon to be his coach.


Discography


Albums


EPs

*2007: ''Funkdefining EP''


Singles


As solo artist


With SugaSmack!

*"We Are" (2010)


With Heavyfeet

*"Back Foot" (2012)


Collaborations

*2005: Poker Pets featuring Nate James - "Lovin' You" No. 43 (UK) *2005: Natalie Williams featuring Nate James - "Conversation" *2006: Sway feat. Nate James "Still on My Own" *2006: Pe'z v Nate James – "Live for the Groove EP" Top 40 (JAP sales chart) *2007: Paolo Meneguzzi & Nate James 'Music' / 'Musica' Top 30 (Italia Airplay) *2012: HeavyFeet & Nate James – "Back Foot"


Also features on

*2004: Shapeshifters "Lola's Theme" No. 1 (UK single) *"Funkdefining" is featured in the Hollywood movies '' Run, Fat Boy, Run'' and '' How to Lose Friends & Alienate People''


Accolades

*2005: MOBO AWARD Best Newcomer nominee *2005: MOBO AWARD Best R&B Artist nominee *2005: CHANNEL U Best of British nominee *2005: SCREEN NATION AWARDS Best Video nominee *2006: MOBO AWARD Best UK Male nominee *2006: BT DIGITAL MUSIC AWARDS Best Urban Artist *2006: FESTIVALBAR Best International Artist winner *2007: URBAN MUSIC AWARDS Best Album (Kingdom Falls) *2007: URBAN MUSIC AWARDS Best Neo-Soul Artist winner


References


External links


Official websiteOfficial MyspaceNate James Interview By Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' October 2009Full-length video of Paradiso concert
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Nate 1979 births Living people English people of African-American descent 21st-century Black British male singers English soul singers English male singer-songwriters British contemporary R&B singers The Voice UK contestants People from Lakenheath