"You can't fake or buy soul. It's either inside of you or it isn't."
Hails from Los Angeles and grew up listening to gospel, blues and funk. Studied Business at college. Debut album, A Change is Gonna Come, was named after Sam Cooke's 1964 hit of the same name. Kanye West, Raphael Saadiq, James Poyser, Chucky Thompson and Wyclef Jean all contributed to her debut album. James calls her music "back porch soul" because "it's a style of music that's homegrown, reminiscent of a time when folks sat around on those hot, sticky days on their porches singing and playing the blues". Has opened for Macy Gray, Robert Randolph and the Black Eyed Peas.Leela James links: BBC Music: Listen to her album Official website The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites
Hails from Los Angeles and grew up listening to gospel, blues and funk.
