13 Rappers Who’ve Written for Singers

Fans were kind of confused to learn Ciara’s new single “Body Party” featured her rumored boyfriend Future, especially since Future doesn’t contribute any verses (he does adlib a bit) to the song. He did, however, co-write the Mike WiLL Made It produced R&B jam. Future also co-wrote Ciara’s recently released “Wake up, No Makeup” and he even lent his writing skills to Ludacris’ hook for “Blueberry Yum Yum.” Since Future isn’t the first rapper to write for a singer, we at XXL decided to take a look at other rappers who’ve written records for singers. And yes, some hybrid rapper-singers did make the list. And yes, they do count. —Kai Acevedo (@LilPuccii)

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Lauryn Hill

Credits include: “All That I Can Say” by Mary J. Blige; “A Rose is Still A Rose” by Aretha Franklin; “Do You Like The Way” by Carlos Santana; “On That Day” by CeCe Winans

The former Fugee did it all. She rapped, sang, wrote and produced, which is probably why the Queen of Soul called on Hill to write and produce the first single for her “A Rose is Still a Rose” album.

Kanye West

Credits include: “Party” by Beyonce; “Unbreakable” by Alicia Keys

When Kanye isn’t working on his own masterpieces, he’s writing hits for his famous friends.

André 3000

Credits include: “Bubble Pop Electric” & “Long Way to Go” by Gwen Stefani; “Millionaire” by Kelis

The ever illusive Andre 3000 has been a creative force since he landed on the scene with partner-in-rhyme Big Boi. All of that creativity landed him two writing credits on Gwen Stefani’s debut.

Drake

Credits include: “Unthinkable” by Alicia Keys; “R.I.P.” by Rita Ora; “Fall for Your Type” by Jamie Foxx 

Whether he’s writing rhymes for himself or writing songs for R&B’s elite Drake delivers. “Unthinkable” became Alicia’s 8^th single to reach the top of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop chart and stayed there for 12 consecutive weeks.

Young Jeezy

Credits include: “Robocop” by Kanye West

Yes, Kanye is a rapper. We know, we know. But Jeezy’s contributions were for Kanye’s non-rap album 808s & Heartbreak. Kanye spoke of Jeezy’s influence on the album saying, “Jeezy came down to Hawaii with us because every time I’d write a chorus or write any type of hook, I’d be like man, ‘What Would Jeezy Do?’ You know how niggas have bumper stickers that say ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ Our shit is like, ‘What Would Jeezy Do?’ What would he say on this record?”

M.I.A.

Credits include: “Elastic Love” by Christina Aguilera

The “Bad Girls” rapper added some of her swagga to Christina’s Bionic album.

Rock City (aka Planet VI)

Credits include: “When I Grow Up” by The Pussy Cat Dolls; “Music For Love” by Mario; “Man Down” & “Pour It Up” by Rihanna; “Kisses Down Low” by Kelly Rowland; “Bow Down/I Been On” by Beyoncé

After a failed stint with Akon’s Konvict Music, the brothers changed their name to Planet VI and released their debut mixtap¸American Nightmare under the new moniker. All of this happened while the records they were writing were burning up the Billboard Hot 100.

Jay-Z

Credits include: “Questions Existing” by Rihanna; “Kitty Kat”, “Hip Hop Star”, “Yes” by Beyoncé; “Enough Cryin’” by Mary J. Blige’s alter ego Brook Lynn

When Hov said, “I ain’t a biter, I’m a writer for myself and others,” he wasn’t lying. Almost every hip-hop head knows he’s written raps for the likes of Dr. Dre and Diddy, but he’s also lent his lyrical genius to records for Beyoncé and Rihanna.

Nicki Minaj

Credits include: “Saxon” demo for Rihanna

Way before Nicki went all Pop on us with songs like “Starships” Nicki penned this bad girl anthem for Bad Girl RiRi’s Rated R album.

Jermaine Dupri

Credits include: “Confessions Part II” & “U Got It Bad” by Usher; “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey

It’s well known that JD has produced some of the biggest records of the past decade, but he’s also written a lot big records. He’s even written songs he didn’t produce like Weezer’s “Can’t Stop the Party.”

Cee Lo Green

Credits include: “Don’t Cha” by The Pussycat Dolls

The Lady Killer originally wrote “Don’t Cha” for his artist Tori Alamaze. The record was released, but never caught steam. He then got the record to The Pussycat Dolls and the rest was history.

Missy Elliot

Credits include: the majority of Aaliyah’s One in A Million album; “Signs”, by Beyonce; “Trippin’” for Total; “Where My Girls At?” by 702

One of the greatest female rappers of all time also served as one of the most prolific songwriters of the 90s and early 2000s. She was knocking out hits for everybody from Aaliyah in the 90s to Monica in the 2000s.

Ja Rule

Credits include: “Rainy Dayz” by Mary J. Blige; “I’m Real (Remix)" by Jennifer Lopez

No matter how hard some may try to forget Ja’s dominance in the early 2000s it’s impossible, especially when he was writing smash hits for the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Mary J. Blige.