About
James Blake Litherland (born 26 September 1988) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his emotive, soulful light head voice and use of falsetto, he first gained recognition following the release of three extended plays—The Bells Sketch, CMYK and Klavierwerke—in 2010. He signed with A&M Records to release his self-titled debut album (2011) the following year, which was met with critical praise and peaked within the top ten of the UK Albums Chart. Blake departed A&M in favour of sister label Republic Records, on which he released his second album, Overgrown (2013) to further critical and commercial success; it likewise peaked within the chart's top ten and moderately entered the US Billboard 200. His third album, The Colour in Anything (2016), was followed by his 2018 single "King's Dead" (with Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Future), which peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart and number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its success foresaw the release of his fourth album, Assume Form (2019), which became his highest-charting entry on both the UK Albums Chart and Billboard 200. His fifth and sixth albums, Friends That Break Your Heart (2021) and Playing Robots Into Heaven (2023), followed thereafter. Along with recording, Blake has done songwriting and production work for other artists. Often doing so with Oneohtrix Point Never, Dominic Maker, Justin Vernon or his partner Jameela Jamil, Blake has been credited on releases for Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Rosalía, Strick, JID, Travis Scott, Normani, and Lil Yachty. He has won a Mercury Prize from two nominations, two Grammy Awards from nine nominations, a Latin Grammy Award, and three Brit Award nominations.
