Soul Singer Leela James Releases New Project “Thought U Knew”

Soul Singer Leela James Releases New Project, “Thought U Knew”

Houston, Texas- It has been a busy year for soul singer, Leela James! She has toured the country the past 4 months, visited HBCU campus to host girl talks, and is wrapping up her international “Right Back In It” tour. In the midst of all of that, she has opened up about being a single mother, caretaking for her mother who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and balancing life. All of these recent experiences inspired what she is describing as one of her best projects yet, “Thought U Knew”. The R&B Diva is truly unstoppable and has perfected her sound through experience, love for good music, and is back with an album that has something for everybody. “Thought U Knew” will officially be released on all digital and streaming platforms this Friday, October 27th! The nine song LP features production by longtime collaborator Rex Rideout (Fall For You, Complicated) along with Camper (H.E.R.,Coco Jones, Brandy), Amadeus (Trey Songz, Chris Brown), Cornelio Austin (BJ The Chicago Kid) and Jairus “JMo” Mozee (Anderson Paak, Anthony Hamilton). In honor of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, Leela reached out to legendary rapper, YoYo! who performed on the track “I Was You Woman”.

With the release of her first single and music video, “Right Back In It”, R&B and soul singer-songwriter, is poised to revive soul music like never before. The groovy song, written by Leela and Franci Richard and conceived and produced by Rex Rideout, is a follow-up to her #1 smash from 2021, “Complicated”. The single just cracked the Top 10 on the Adult R&B Billboard Chart.

In September, Ms. James released the second track, “Thought U Knew” along with a music visual that featured Leela’s good friends, Syleena Johnson, Avery Sunshine & Medusa. The 3-minute visual paid homage to one of Leela’s favorite movies, “Set it off”. This single is swiftly moving up the charts and is a fan favorite.

“My music is my art and I’m always excited to share my craft with the world. “Thought U Knew” is a project that was therapeutic for me, says Leela James. As James has toured the world this year, she followed one of her longtime passions to host a “Girl Talk” session at various HBCU campuses. The Girl Talk series has so far made stops at Morris Brown College, Clark Atlanta University, and Prairie View A&M University. The emotional and informative one-hour sessions consisted of chatting with students about health, wellness, sticking together, finding self-love, and taking their goals seriously.

Leela will wrap 2023 participating in a voter’s campaign with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and several holiday initiatives to help families throughout the city of Houston. She will debut her “Thought You Knew” US Tour in January 2024, dates listed below:

Friday, November 24th – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
Sunday, December 10th – Newark, NJ – New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Saturday, January 13th – Grand Prairie, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre
Sunday, January 14th – Tampa, FL – Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park
Saturday, January 20th – Indianapolis, IN – Old National Centre-Egyptian Room
Sunday, January 21st – Detroit, MI – SoundBoard at Motor City Casino Hotel
Friday, January 26th – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
Saturday, February 10th – Grand Rapids, MI – DeVos Performance Hall
Tuesday, February 13th – Nassau, Bahamas – Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite Cruise
Saturday, March 30th – Gary, IN – Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana-Hard Rock Live

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