Jeff James (musician)

Jeff James (born Jeffrey Howard James in November 18, 1988 ) is a Hawaiian singer and record producer. Jeff James started his popularity in Philippines by doing viral Tagalog songs that captured the hearts of many Filipinos and soon become one of the most followed "Foreigner" that can sing Tagalog songs.^[1]

He gained more popularity when he join Eat Bulaga!'s "You're My Foreignoy" and won the Dabarkad's Choice Award in the GrandFinals^[2]

Early life

Jeff James was born in Mililani, Hawaii. Youngest of the four sons of Charles James, owner of Chuck James Music Studio, one of the most popular music school in Hawaii with three (3) branches all over the state.^[3]

Jeff James' father is an African Canadian and His mother is a Mexican American.^[4]

He attended the Mililani High School where he graduated and then received a bachelor of communication and media studies from the Hawaii Pacific University. He is a good friend of Jasmine Trias and Bruno Mars.

Career

In 2009, Jeff James formed his band called "Talk to You Music" (TTYM) with whom he released the single "Hawaiian Girls", beginning from the local radio to achieving the top rankings. He is tagged as Hawaii's Hitmaker by making the popular songs that reached #1 spot in Hawaii and Japan charts.^[5]

Jeff James released a new album with TTYM called "Just Be Yourself" last July 13, 2013.

He also decided to expand his career in Philippines .

In 2014, He captured the hearts of many Filipinos by making his own version of Tagalog songs in YouTube that became viral and trending in social media and featured in many different TV shows.

December 25, 2014 He released his album "GoGoGo" under GMA records in Philippines.^[6]

In 2015 he joined Eat Bulaga's "You're My Foreignoy". It is a contest for foreigners, who are currently living in the Philippines, who claim to have a heart of a true Filipino.

He joined the contest in its last week where he won the Daily round and Semi Finals. In the Semi Finals he won All the awards "Dabarkads Choice Awards", "Best in Talent" and the Title of "Youre My Foreignoy Mindanao".^[7]

During the "You're My Foreignoy" grand finals, Jeff James was once again awarded the Dabarkad's Choice Award for having a total of over 56,025 likes on Eat Bulaga!‍ 's Facebook poll. This poll clearly showed that he was the most popular among the "foreignoys" that competed in the grand finals.

Awards

After releasing their first single, TTYM won the biggest battle of bands in Hawaii called the "MaiTai rumble" which started the band’s popularity in Hawaii.^[8][9] In 2011, Bryan Sanchez and Jeffrey James, earned a Engineering Na Hoku Hanohano Awards for "Hawaiian Girls," TTYM-Talk To You Music.^[10]

The single was then also released in Japan and reached the top spot in Hawaii and Japan charts.

In 2012, another song of Jeff, called "Good", reached the number one on Hawaiian radio.

His song "Love Me" joined "Hawaiian Girls" and was licensed to Japan and reached the number one spot in radio charts.

Jeffrey James won 2013 Most Promising International Male Singer Performer of The Year by Top Brand Awards and People's Choice Asia Awards Best New International Male Performer 2013 for his Entry “Lets Not Pretend” and “Hawaiian Girls”.

References