Oakland, CA — As music lovers, we’re always quick to celebrate our favorite artists for the success of our favorite tracks and albums, but how often do you stop and think about who actually wrote the track you can't get out of your head? Since their names aren't usually listed on the track unless you do some digging, it seems we rarely give credit to the main creators who are responsible for those hits — the songwriters! They usually get overlooked because they mostly remain in the background, however, they are often the most important piece of the chessboard when it comes to us getting the catchy hits we love so much! While a lot of artists do write their own lyrics, it is rare for a song to be written solely by one person. Songwriters are often the ones responsible for coming up with those favorite bars and hooks of yours that we sing in the shower or with our homies in the car. More recently with social media and credits being more accessible on streaming platforms, songwriters are slowly becoming more recognized by audiences and people want to find out more about who actually wrote their favorite songs. We have done some digging to bring you four songwriters we think you should know about who are responsible for some of the biggest hits of the past few years:
Nija Charles
The talented Nija Charles, a 22-year-old songwriter from New Jersey, has been killing the game. She has written songs for the likes of Beyonce, Cardi B, Jay Z, Lady Gaga and more. Nija is making waves at her young age with hits under her belt like “LoveHappy'' and “Heard About Us” off of Beyonce and Jay Z’s joint album entitled "Everything Is Love." She also wrote Cardi B’s hit tracks “I Do” featuring SZA and “Ring” featuring Bay Area star Kehlani —both of which debuted on Cardi B’s Grammy award-winning album "Invasion Of Privacy." And most recently, she penned Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's hit single"Rain On Me." No doubt we’ll be hearing much more from this hitmaker in the near future.
Quentin Miller
Quentin Miller, a 30-year-old songwriter and out of Atlanta, is responsible for many of the hits we’ve come to know and love. In particular he's made a career out of co-writing many tracks for mainstream pop star/rapper Drake. You may recognize his name from the whole Meek Mill-and-Drake feud where he was outed as Drake’s ghostwriter in one of Meek Mill’s disses. Yikes. But in reality, he is responsible for co-writing many tracks off of Drake’s "If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late" album, such as “6 Man,” “10 Bands,” “Know Yourself,” “Legend,” “No Tellin” and “Used To” featuring Lil Wayne. Now that's a nice fat pub check right there! Not only is he a poppin’ songwriter, but he’s also a rapper in his own duo group called WDNG Crshrs. Who knows, maybe we’ll get some more Drake collabs in the future.
Cameron Forbes
Chicago songwriter Cameron Forbes has brought us many hits that continue to get stuck in our heads long after streaming. Forbes has written for Tyga, Sean Kingston, Cher Loyd and more. He’s responsible for co-writing the 6x platinum Tyga hit “Taste” featuring Offset, which was the anthem of the year from the way it was played so much! I know it got stuck in your head now even just as we mentioned it. That's how catchy it is! He also co-wrote G-Eazy’s recent track “Still Be Friends,” as well as many more Top-10 hits. Not only is he a talented songwriter he’s also a saucy vocalist/artist as well. We look forward to hearing some of his original work in the future.
Kirby
Kirby Lauryen A.K.A. KIRBY, is a songwriter out of Mississippi. She was discovered on YouTube by Roc Nation by writing a song a day for 275 straight days. She’s written for very mainstream artists like Kanye West, Beyonce, Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Ariana Grande and more. Kirby is responsible for the following hits: Kanye West and Paul McCartney’s “Only One,” “FourFiveSeconds” by Rihanna, Ariana Grande’s “Break Your Heart Right Back” and others. Based on this discography we’ll definitely be hearing more of her very soon as she continues to create groundbreaking hits.