Meet Nate James
(Scroll down for his audio story)
Content warning - experiences of racism.
"It was a beautiful mixed household — culture, food, music, love — just a wonderful place to be."
Singer, Nate James, found fame on The Voice UK 2013. He explores what it meant to grow up as the son of an African American US Air Force airman stationed at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk during the 1970s. Born and raised in Newmarket and later Woodbridge, Nate reflects on a childhood shaped by American military life, Black American culture and small-town East Anglia.
From barbecues soundtracked by Marvin Gaye and Blackstreet to trips onto the air base to buy the latest albums and trainers before they reached the UK high street, his upbringing was rooted in a rich mix of music, food and community.
At the same time, Nate acknowledges the complexities of race, belonging and identity, and what it meant to grow up Black American-British in East Anglia.
Nate's story
Click here for the transcript.
