Hailing from Biloxi, MS, James is an accomplished keyboardist and graduate of Berklee College of Music. He has been playing piano since early childhood and was a top-ranking pianist in Mississippi. Also a longtime musical director, James has led R&B, Funk, Hip-Hop, and Rock bands since the mid1990’s. He has played at very high profile enues across the eastern seaboard and opened for artists like Amel Larrieux, Missing Joe, Vertical Horizon, Devin the Dude, Royce da5’9, Joe Budden, and Dre Robinson. His current band, Velvet Stylus backs some of Boston’s best MCs on a regular basis as well. James is also a noted Hip-Hop Historian who has lectured at Berklee, Suffolk University, Fisher College, and at youth events across Boston. He has advised students from Emerson, Boston University, Boston College, Harvard, and others about Hip-Hop history and culture He recently served as a songwriting competition judge alongside Hip-Hop luminary DJ Premier and executives from XM Satellite Radio and VH1. As a journalist he’s written for The Mississippi Sun Herald, Okayplayer.com, The Noise, and MusicBizAdvice.com. James is an avid record collector and appraises vinyl in Hip-Hop, Soul, R&B, and Funk. He teaches Music Theory and arranging at Boston University’s Center for Design and Imaging Arts in the Recording Arts Program and serves as Co-Founder and Resident Hip-Hop Historian for The Boston Hip-Hop Alliance.