James has had a diverse and successful career in music. He began as a drummer during his school years and played with various bands. While in university, he started writing songs, and one of them was featured on a well-known Gospel label and achieved international sales success. This led him to work as a songwriter exclusively, with eight of his songs published and still in use worldwide.

However, James eventually rediscovered his love for rhythm and percussion in music. He worked as a drummer and percussionist, collaborating with musicians like Marcus Mumford and Inflo Josiah, who won Producer of the Year at the 2022 Brit Awards and a Grammy nominee, and also received the Best Album award at the Ivor Novello Awards.