James Poyser facts for kids

Quick facts for kids James Poyser
Poyser at the Black Lily Film & Music Festival 2007
Background information
Birth name	James Jason Poyser
Also known as	Soul Glo I Don't Want Any Trouble, I Just Want to Get Paid I Gotta Eat Make Sure I Get Credit For This Y'all Goin to Pay Me, Right? Downtown Jimmy Brown Jimmy Baseball
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Neo soul progressive soul soul hip hop jazz pop rock film gospel
Occupation(s)	Songwriter Record Producer Musician
Instruments	Piano organ keyboards synthesizer bass guitar drums percussion guitar vocals
Years active	1993–present

James Jason Poyser is an American songwriter, record producer, musician and current member of the hip hop band The Roots.

Career

Poyser has written and produced songs for various legendary and award-winning artists including the likes of Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Rihanna, Lauryn Hill, Common, Anthony Hamilton, D'Angelo, the Roots, Jill Scott, Al Green, Emeli Sandé, Talib Kweli, Big Sean, Andra Day and many others.

During his career, Poyser has toured and played live with such distinctive artists as:The Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Cece Peniston, Jay-Z, Usher, Queen Latifah, D'Angelo, Elvis Costello, Hezekiah Walker, Aretha Franklin and more.

An active session musician, he has contributed to the works of music stars such as Adele, Norah Jones, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne, Nas, Ziggy Marley, Citizen Cope, Yebba, Snoh Aalegra, and Femi Kuti among others.

His work in film include scoring the movies, (Oscar winning, Best Live Action Short Film) Two Distant Strangers, Boxing Day, Totally Awesome, Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story, contributing music and arrangements to the score of Fame, Dave Chappelle's Block Party, Netflix's The Harder They Fall and the upcoming The Book Of Clarence. He also scored the Hulu docu-series, The 1619 Project and the WNBA documentary, Unfinished Business, in addition to being a co-composer on the CBS hit show,The Equalizer. James also contributed music to the TV shows The Chappelle Show, Black-ish and also composed the theme songs for Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas, Hawthorne, and The Break with Michelle Wolf.

Poyser received a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 2003 for co-writing/producing Erykah Badu and Common's hit "Love of My Life." He was also the executive producer on Badu's highly celebrated albums, Mama's Gun and Worldwide Underground. He also received 2 Grammys, including Best R&B album, for producing John Legend's Wake Up! album in 2010. And along with his production partner, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, he produced the Al Green album Lay it Down, which won 2 Grammys in 2008.

A collaborator with the band dating back to Things Fall Apart, Poyser officially joined The Roots in 2009, composing and performing live as the house band for NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and subsequently The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He is sometimes used as comic foil, especially for his use of deadpan facial expressions, in the popular recurring sketch, "Thank-You Notes". Poyser also tours with the band and regularly performs at the band's live shows.

Discography

Production and songwriting

• Erykah Badu – "On & On", "Other Side of the Game", "Afro", "Sometimes", "Penitentiary Philosophy", "My Life", "Cleva", "Kiss Me on My Neck", "Green Eyes", "Bump It", "Back in the Day (Puff)", "I Want You", "Danger", "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)", "Master Teacher", "Window Seat", "Out My Mind, Just in Time"
• Mariah Carey – "I Wish You Well", "Mine Again", "When Christmas Comes"
• John Legend – Wake Up!
• Rihanna – "No Love Allowed"
• The Roots – "The Lesson Part III"
• Common – "*69", "Aquarius", "Between Me, You & Liberation", "Common Free Style", "Electric Wire Hustle Flower", "Ghetto Heaven Part 2", "Heaven Somewhere", "Jimi Was a Rock Star", "New Wave", "Soul Power", "The Questions", "Time Travelin"
• Anthony Hamilton – "Amen", "Corn Bread, Fish and Collard Greens", "I Tried", "Don't Get Me to Lying"
• Corinne Bailey Rae – "The Blackest Lilly"
• Bilal – "Sometimes", "Bring 2"
• D'Angelo – "Chicken Grease"
• Eric Benet – "Love of My Own", "When You Think of Me", "Spanish Fly"
• Lauryn Hill – "Superstar"
• Musiq Soulchild – "Someone", "Mother Father", "Real Love"
• Jill Scott – "Cant Explain", "Talk to Me", "Exclusively", "Try"
• Sy Smith – "Deep Sleep", "Do Things", "Bruise", "Drop That"
• Esthero – "Melancholy Melody"
• Angélique Kidjo - "Free & Equal", "Take It Or Leave It"
• Keyshia Cole – "No Other"
• Estelle – "Maybe","Wonderful Life"
• Al Green – Lay It Down
• Jaheim – "In My Hands"
• Ruben Studdard – "Our Story"
• Nao Yoshioka - "Make the Change (James Poyser Remix)”
• Stacy Barthe - "Angel"
• Hezekiah Walker - "Sweeter As The Days Go By", "To Be Like Jesus"
• The Rebel Yell - Love & War (Rapster, 2009)
• Sessions...Vol 1 (Spotify, 2018)

As session musician

• Erykah Badu Mama's Gun (Motown, 2000) Worldwide Underground (Motown, 2003)
• Roy Hargrove Hard Groove (Verve, 2003) Strength EP (Verve, 2004)
• The Roots Things Fall Apart (MCA, 1999) The Roots Come Alive (MCA, 1999) – 2 tracks Phrenology (MCA, 2002)
• Adele, 21 (XL, 2011)
• Aretha Franklin, A Rose is Still a Rose (Arista 1998)
• Eric Clapton, Clapton (Reprise, 2010)
• Common, Like Water for Chocolate (MCA, 2000)
• Citizen Cope, The Rainwater LP (Rainwater Recordings, 2010)
• Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Ruffhouse, 1998)
• Norah Jones, The Fall (Blue Note, 2009)
• Ziggy Marley, Family Time (Tuff Gong, 2009)
• Elton John, The Lockdown Sessions (Interscope, 2021)
• Ozzy Osbourne, Patient Number 9 (Epic, 2022)

Film and television

• 2 Distant Strangers score composer
• Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story score composer
• Boxing Day score composer
• The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon house band, performer, theme and sketch music composer
• The Equalizer score co-composer (CBS)
• The 1619 Project score composer (Hulu)
• Unfinished Business score co-composer
• The Harder They Fall additional music/arrangements
• Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas theme and sketch music composer (HBO)
• The Break with Michelle Wolf theme music composer
• Hawthorne theme music composer (TV)
• Chappelle's Show original sketch music (TV)
• Fame writer and producer of songs on soundtrack (movie)
• The Wash writer and producer of a song on soundtrack (movie)
• The Fighting Temptations writer and producer of a song on soundtrack (movie)
• Baby Boy writer and producer of song on soundtrack (movie)
• The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard writer and/or performer of songs on soundtrack (movie)
• Totally Awesome score composer
• Planters: The Roast of Mr. Peanut ad composer
• Cherish The Day season 2 score composer
• Password score composer
• Gatorade "Don't Go Missing" ad composer