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James Poyser
Poyser at the Black Lily Film & Music Festival in 2007
Background information
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[1]
Born	James Jason Poyser[2]
Origin	Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Neo soul progressive soul[3] soul hip hop jazz pop rock film gospel[4]
Occupations	Record producer songwriter multi-instrumentalist
Instruments	Keyboards bass drums percussion guitar vocals
Years active	1993–present
Member of	The Roots,The Tonight Show Band
Formerly of	Soulquarians The Soultronics The Randy Watson Experience

James Jason Poyser (b. January 30, 1967) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter fromPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the hip hop bandThe Roots since 2009, and plays with The Roots in the house band forThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and formerly,Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.^[5][6][7]

Poyser was born inSheffield, England to Jamaican parents, and raised inWest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[8] He has written and produced songs for numerous artists includingErykah 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, andAndra Day, among others.

Throughout his career, Poyser has toured and played for with high-profile artists includingDJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince,Cece Peniston,Jay-Z,Usher,Queen Latifah,D'Angelo,Elvis Costello,Hezekiah Walker, andAretha Franklin, among others. An active session musician, he has contributed to the works of prominent musical acts such asAdele,Norah Jones,Eric Clapton,Elton John,Ozzy Osbourne,Nas,Ziggy Marley,Citizen Cope,Yebba,Snoh Aalegra, andFemi Kuti among others.

In film, he composed thescore for theAcademy Award-winningTwo Distant Strangers,Boxing Day, andTotally Awesome, while contributing music and arrangements ofFame,Dave Chappelle's Block Party, andJeymes Samuel'sThe Harder They Fall andThe Book of Clarence (both forNetflix). He also scored the Hulu docu-series,The 1619 Project and the WNBA documentary,Unfinished Business byAlison Klayman, in addition to serving as a composer for the CBS television series,The Equalizer. Poyser also contributed music to the television showsThe Chappelle Show,Black-ish and also composed the theme songs forWyatt Cenac's Problem Areas,Hawthorne, andThe Break with Michelle Wolf.

Poyser received aGrammy Award for Best R&B Song in 2003 for his work onErykah Badu andCommon's hit single "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)."^[9] He was also the executive producer on Badu's highly celebrated albums,Mama's Gun andWorldwide Underground. Poyser received two Grammy Awards, including Best R&B album, for producing John Legend'sWake Up! album in 2010. Along with his production partnerAhmir "Questlove" Thompson, he producedAl Green's albumLay it Down, which also won two Grammy Awards in 2008.

A collaborator withThe Roots dating back to their fourth album,Things Fall Apart in 1999, Poyser officially joined the band in 2009. He metJimmy Fallon in 2013 and performs in The Roots as part of the in-house band onNBC'sLate Night with Jimmy Fallon, and subsequentlyThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He sometimes acts on the show, as comic foil, usingdeadpan facial expressions, such as in the popular recurring sketch, "Thank-You Notes". Poyser also tours with the band and regularly performs at their live shows.

• 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"
• John Legend –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)

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)

Others

• Adele,21 (XL, 2011)
• Eric Clapton,Clapton (Reprise, 2010)
• Common,Like Water for Chocolate (MCA, 2000)
• Citizen Cope,The Rainwater LP (Rainwater Recordings, 2010)
• Aretha Franklin,A Rose is Still a Rose (Arista, 1998)
• Lauryn Hill,The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Ruffhouse, 1998)
• Elton John,The Lockdown Sessions (Interscope, 2021)
• Norah Jones,The Fall (Blue Note, 2009)
• Ziggy Marley,Family Time (Tuff Gong, 2009)
• Ozzy Osbourne,Patient Number 9 (Epic, 2022)

• 2 Distant Strangers score composer
• Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story score composer
• Boxing Day score composer
• The Tonight Show Starring 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

• Record producers from Pennsylvania
• African-American musicians
• The Tonight Show Band members
• Musicians from Philadelphia
• Living people
• Musicians from Sheffield
• The Roots members
• 21st-century American keyboardists
• Progressive soul musicians
• Soulquarians members
• The Soultronics members
• 1967 births
• American musicians of Jamaican descent

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