[1][2] Waddell is a 2x GRAMMY nominee,[3] with audio engineering work for musical artists including Ministry, Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross, Public Enemy and The Bar-Kays.

His father, James Waddell Jr., an esteemed civil rights era sculptor, created the first-ever sculpture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, following his service in the Vietnam War.

Lucious Matthews, Waddell's uncle, was prominently featured in several significant photographs from the civil rights movement, notably identified as the 'man in the brimmed hat' during the Memphis sanitation worker strike.

Drawing on his expertise in attribution, gained through his work with Sound Credit, Waddell played a pivotal role in the origination of this legislation, personally drafting its initial version.

[11] In February 2023, Waddell, as founder and CEO of Sound Credit, announced a $30 million advance facility from the GRAMMY red carpet in Los Angeles, and a partnership with UK-based music licensing company PPL aimed at enhancing international royalty collection services for American performers.

[15][16] Waddell appeared with supermodel Karlie Kloss in 2020 for the CSForAll Commitments Summit, for a discussion around the expansion of access to computer science education.

[23] In 2016, Waddell became co-founder and chief executive officer of Sound Credit (Soundways), a music industry technology corporation based in Memphis, TN.