James Poyser

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James Poyser
Poyser at the Black Lily Film & Music Festival in 2007
Background information
Birth name	James Jason Poyser[1]
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[2]
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Neo soul progressive soul[3] soul hip hop jazz pop rock film gospel[4]
Occupation(s)	Record producer songwriter multi-instrumentalist
Instrument(s)	Piano organ keyboards synthesizer bass guitar drums percussion guitar vocals
Years active	1993–present
Member of	The Roots
Formerly of	Soulquarians The Soultronics The Randy Watson Experience

James Jason Poyser is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter from

Poyser has written and produced songs for numerous artists including 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, and Andra Day, among others.

Throughout his career, Poyser has toured and played for with high-profile artists including

A collaborator with the band dating back to their fourth album, Things Fall Apart in 1999, Poyser officially joined The Roots in 2009. He's composed and live performed for the in-house band on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and subsequently The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He is often 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 their 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"
• 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)
• 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

References