LUKE JAMES(EXPLICIT)Photographer: Sarah McColgan. No R&B artist who released a debut album in 2014 paid dues like Luke James. The New Orleans native's past includes background singing for Tyrese, a fruitless stint on J Records, and composer credits on recordings by a list of artists that is, to say the least, varied from Charlie Wilson to Britney Spears, though Chris Brown's "Crawl" was most successful. Likewise, James himself is a vocalist with a number of approaches.