Leela James

Leela James Biography

Leela James is one of the most exciting and acclaimed R&B singers to have emerged during the past five years. Her debut album sold over 200,000 copies and she was a VH-1 "breaking artist" whose videos were in heavy rotation on VH-1 Soul for long periods of time. Her passionate vocals have been compared to such soul legends as Tina Turner and Chaka Khan.

Let's Do It Again, Leela's long-awaited follow-up to her powerful debut, delivers a powerful set of soul music, recorded with her own band in the studio. Highlights include Leela's interpretation of such well-known songs as Etta James' "All The Way Down" and John Legend's "We Don't Have To Change" as well as previously unexposed gems.

Leela James All Music Guide Biography

Like almost all other musicians hit with the neo-soul tag, the primary inspirations of Leela James -- a gritty-voiced singer and songwriter born in Los Angeles, CA -- dated no later than the late '70s; Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and Tina Turner were regularly cited. Her debut album, very much a throwback affair, involved assistance from a range of noted studio rats from the fields of rap and R&B, including Kanye West, Raphael Saadiq, James Poyser, Chucky Thompson, and Wyclef Jean. The album, titled A Change Is Gonna Come (a definite reference to Sam Cooke), was released in late June of 2005 and peaked just outside the Top 40 of Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart. Despite poor sales, the album fared well enough to earn James nominations for the 2006 Soul Train Music Awards and the same year's NAACP Image Awards. After splitting from Warner Bros., the singer landed on Shanachie and recorded one of the label's more inspired all-cover sets, Let's Do It Again, released in March 2009. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide


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