Joelle James
American singer-songwriter
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Joelle James is an American songwriter and singer. She is best known for writing the lyric melody for Ella Mai's 2018 single "Boo'd Up", which was nominated for Song of the Year and won Best R&B Song at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, and is the longest charting number one R&B/Hip-Hop record for a female artist on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts since its inception in 1992.[6][7][8]
Joelle James | |
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| Born | |
| Other names | Vanilla |
| Alma mater | Berklee College of Music (BFA)[3] |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Occupation |
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| Labels |
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James was discovered by American singer Chris Brown in 2011,[4] who signed her to his eponymous record label in a joint venture with Interscope Records.[9] James has also written songs for Muni Long, Tamar Braxton, Saweetie, Coi Leray, Justine Skye and Coco Jones among others.[4]
Songwriting and Production credits
Credits are courtesy of Discogs, Tidal, Apple Music, and AllMusic.
| Title | Year | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "All the Way Home" | 2013 | Tamar Braxton | Love and War |
| "Bandit" | 2015 | Justine Skye | Emotionally Unavailable |
| "Don't Worry" | |||
| "I'm Yours" (Featuring Vic Mensa) | |||
| "Love O’Clock" (Featuring Phaedra) | 2016 | Chocolate Droppa | Kevin Hart: What Now? (The Mixtape Presents Chocolate Droppa) |
| "Boo'd Up"[3] | 2017 | Ella Mai | Ready (EP) & Ella Mai |
| "Cliché" (Featuring Ari Lennox & Westside Boogie) | 2019 | Wale | Wow... That's Crazy |
| "Gold" | 2020 | JoJo | Good to Know |
| "Next Episode" | Angelica Vila | Deception SZN 1 | |
| "Don't Say Nothin" | 2022 | Saweetie | The Single Life |
| "Handle My Truth" | |||
| "The Baddest" | 2024 | Muni Long | Revenge |
| "On Sight" | 2025 | Coco Jones | Why Not More |
Guest appearances
| Title | Year | Other performer(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Leave The Club" | 2011 | Chris Brown | Boy In Detention (Mixtape) |
| "4 Seconds" | 2015 | Chris Brown | Before the Party |
| "Scream" | 2016 | Chris Brown | Kevin Hart: What Now? (The Mixtape Presents Chocolate Droppa) |
| "Good Person" | 2017 | Bone Thugs-n-Harmony | New Waves |
| "Messy" | 2020 | Coi Leray | Now Or Never EP |
| "Handle My Truth" | 2022 | Saweetie | The Single Life |
Film/TV Sync Placements
| Title | Year | Performer(s) | Album/Film |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Love O'Clock" (Written by Joelle James) | 2016 | Phaedra | The Perfect Match |
| "Scream" (Written by Joelle James) | Joelle James & Chris Brown | Kevin Hart: What Now? (The Mixtape Presents Chocolate Droppa) | |
| "No Place I'd Rather Be" | 2017 | Joelle James | Heartbeats |
| 'Beside You" (Written by Joelle James) | 2018 | Joelle James | Traffik |
| "Ready But Not Ready" (Written by Joelle James) | |||
| "Dare You To Love Me" (Written by Joelle James) | |||
| "Bad For Me" (Written by Joelle James) | |||
| "Bleeding Machines" | |||
| "One Day At A Time" (Written by Joelle James) | |||
| "Love O'Clock" (Written by Joelle James) | |||
| "Heart Of A Woman" (Written by Joelle James) | |||
| "Make A Little Room" (Written by Joelle James) | 2020 | Joelle James | 2 Minutes of Fame |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Award | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Soul Train Awards | The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter's Award (Boo'd Up) | Won | [10] |
| 2019 | 61st Annual Grammy Awards | Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (Boo'd Up) | Won | [11] |
| Grammy Award for Song of the Year (Boo'd Up) | Nominated | [11] | ||
| ASCAP Pop Music Awards | Most Performed Pop Songs (Boo'd Up) | Won | [12] | |
| 2020 | ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards | Winning R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Boo'd Up) | Won | [13] |
| 2022 | ASCAP | Women Behind The Music Award | Won | [14] |
