Today we’d like to introduce you to James Burrell.
Hi James, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve been drawing since before I can remember. I was born the same year Street Fighter and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted, so a lot of old art my mother kept for a while consisted of TMNT. I only remember the first thing I drew well was Sonic the Hedgehog, but I’ve been drawing since. I dabbled in music production when I was 16 years old, making beats for UCHS class projects inspired by my buddy Ken “Zerobeat” Williams, who gave me a copy of FL Studio to work with, and I in-turn inspired prolific beatmaker James “JBJR” Bishop Jr’s rise into music production. We would then form a music collective in our college years with my good friend in college Embra “Epidemic Phaze” Bolden, and name it after a fictional movie production company in my favorite video game “Viewtiful Joe” called “His Master’s Dance.”
My professional story truly begins in 2010, a few months after I officially finished college and right when I was about to have my graduation ceremony. I already had experience in web development as an early teen, and I needed to not only practice putting together websites to build my art portfolio, but I also needed quick cash, so I built a website for my first client in 2010. After working a video editing internship for a while, I would start putting myself out there for more web development work, eventually leading up to starting a partnership with my old intern lead, a company called Kake Multimedia based in Chicagoland that still runs to this day. I would also build a tribute website for Rockwell Knuckles and Tef Poe, which led to becoming the go-to digital artist and web developer for many of St. Louis’s prolific artists such as Bo Dean, Haiku, T-Dubb-O, and more.
In my current years, while working full-time web developer jobs, I would start fully integrating myself into the fighting game community, attending my first event at ComboBreaker 2018 in Chicagoland. I took this passion of attending events in 2018 and 2019 to creating a podcast dedicated to the casual side of fighting games and the community called “The Casual Fighter Podcast” with the rest of His Master’s Dance collective in 2020. I also created my own Street Fighter tournament to allow lower-ranked/skilled players to compete with others on the same level and take a chance at commentary named after the podcast; the tournament creation became a stepping stone for me in quickly getting more commentary opportunities at the Chicagoland locals and international online events, as well as commentating official Capcom sponsored Street Fighter tournaments in 2022. I hope to continue that path by getting even bigger opportunities to call the game that I love: Street Fighter.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have struggled along the way. Major depression in 2011 and 2012 caused me to move back home to St. Louis for a while, but it did allow me to reset and reintegrate with the hip-hop community back home. I also struggle with ADHD, and knowing that I have the talent but the procrastination killing my drive and motivation sometimes hinders me, it won’t stop my obligations to others. To anyone dealing with ADHD and depression, do not hesitate to talk to the proper channels, even if family and close friends are your remedies. You do not have to walk alone with this, and I know what it’s like to lose loved ones to these struggles.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As far as my art, recently, I had artist tables at Evolution 2022 in Las Vegas and East Coast Throwdown in New York/Stamford. Evolution is the biggest fighting game tournament of the year, and having that opportunity to showcase my art and having all those people from different walks of life love and buy my art is an experience I can never trade. I currently sell a t-shirt based on my favorite anime and one of my favorite music groups, a mash-up between My Hero Academia and Gorillaz’s Demon Days album called “Hero Days.” I have multiple variants, such as “Heroine Days,” “Pro Days,” and “Villain Days.” Those shirts fully sell out at every event I’ve ever sold at so far. It still boggles my mind to this day, but it was a passion project, and I am most proud of that. It is currently sold on my website at lljb3.com. My passion for what I like sets me apart from others. People have always said when I’m into something, I put my heart and soul into it, and I feel that shows in my works.
What changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The fighting game community and game industry is my biggest interest and hobby. If it wasn’t trending upward a few years ago, with Street Fighter 6 on the horizon, Mortal Kombat 1 soon to be released this year, and Tekken 8 coming sometime after, the fighting game genre is having a second golden age, just like in the 90s. A ton of new players and fans will come, and I hope to continue running The Casual Fighter Podcast and beginners tournaments to bring in those people and give them a haven to integrate into the FGC.
Pricing:
- Art Commissions start at $100
- Web Development starts at $1000
- Street Fighter 6 Commentary Rate starting at $35 per hour
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lljb3.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lljb3_
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/lljb3
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/lljb3
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lljb3
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/lljb3
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lljb3
- Other: https://twitch.tv/lljb3
Image Credits
Bo Dean – Fromerica album, cover by LLJB3 LowKickEsports Twitch – Super Saturdays Capcom Pro Tour World Warrior Finals Bo Dean & T-Dubb-O – Bruce vs. Bane II album cover by LLJB3 Tef Poe 2023 website design
