“If I can come up with the melody and words at the same time, that’s when I know it’s going to be a really good song,” says Joelle James about the intuitive writing practice that led to her first Grammy win in 2019 for Ella Mai’s mind-blowing hit “Boo’d Up”. An accomplished songwriter, artist and label owner, Joelle James first began writing songs on her own in 2014, but her journey to Recording Academy prestige began when James was a child. From major sporting events to Showtime at the Apollo to performing for Ray Charles at the age of 10, the Murrietta, California native’s striking voice led her to perform on stages that would train her, and ultimately poise her, for success in the music industry. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, James was discovered by Chris Brown on YouTube in 2010, and offered a label deal. To this day, James credits what she learned in sessions with Brown as the core of her songwriting practice. Alongside “Boo’d Up”, James has written songs for Tamar Braxton, Justine Skye, and JoJo, as well as new unreleased discoveries. She roots the differentiation and brilliance of her new music in the challenges of not being able to tell her own story for so long. With her new album, iScream, set for a summer 2021 release, James is ready to finally tell a story that’s hers. Her debut offering as a solo artist is a sweet note during sour times, and a testament to the premonitory power of her intuitive practice. “I know I wrote this really big love song that many have said helped bring real R&B back and whatnot, but I think my real purpose is bringing healing, unity and love to a hurting and divided world through my music.”