The genius behind your favourite hit

Your favourite singer, on many occasions, has got nothing to do with the lyrics that you love so much.

The real force behind your favourite hits is usually some unsung (literally) hero called a songwriter.

Just like action movie stars depend on stunt men and comedic actors depend on hilarious writers; singers depend on songwriters for their lyrics. They may have the voice but some have no idea how to write hit songs.

Hit songs are often celebrated just as much as the singer or musician singing them. But not many people take the time to find out the genius behind the catchy lyrics that have them bobbing their heads up and down to the music.

Beyond caring whether the song has a good rhythm and flow to it, clever wordplay and amazing production in the video, the average music fan never bothers with the song credits let alone a songwriter’s identity.

Many have never heard of the name Rod Temperton, the man who wrote Michael Jackson’s mega hit “Thriller” that is in every record book available.

The Englishman wrote many of Jackson’s most famous songs, including Rock With You and Off the Wall.

GRAMMY NOMINATION

Last week Lovy Longomba, one half of the duo Longombas was nominated for a Grammy award as one of the writers in the song 'Change Your Life' by Iggy Azalea featuring rapper T.I.

Now, had it not been for Iggy’s four nominations some of which included best new artist and best rap album, nobody would have given a second thought to Lovy whom, with his brother, left the country about seven years ago. The two relocated to the US and only broke their silence with their song Queen.

'Change Your Life', the Grammy hit in which Lovy co-wrote, is the third single in Iggy’s album The New Classic.

Lovy, along with his brother Christian are famed for their songs 'Vuta Pumz', 'Piga Makofi' and 'Shika More'.

Elated by the news, Lovy wrote on his Facebook page: “I still can’t believe this, a boy from Africa with a dream now the door to the Grammys is open... #GodIsWorking We did it.”

Renowned music director, producer, singer and songwriter Chris Adwar has penned songs for the likes of Neo-Soul songbird Carol Atemi, gospel musician Wendy Kimani, Kanji Mbugua and the Voices United Choir.

Adwar agrees the songs always hit and nobody cares who wrote them, but he understands that comes with the territory.

So how many people does it take to write a worldwide hit song? If you are Pharrell who wrote Happy, one, but if you are Flo Rida, Beyonce, or Chris Brown it takes about six to ten people. But that does not mean a song crafted by five or more people is less special than one done by a single writer.

From a lay person’s perspective, songs that have been written by more than one writer may seem less personal partly because they do not know what goes into writing a song.

“Yes I do co- write. Sometimes a song can’t be finished by just one person. Certainly most of the hit songs we know today have two or more writers,” says Adwar.

Adwar will sometime write a song with a specific artiste in mind, especially when a song is commissioned, but often he just wants to tell a story.

Elani’s Brian Chweya, a brilliant singer and songwriter as well, has written songs for Dela, former Tusker Project Fame contestants Renee and Wendy Kimani, Aziza and a couple of gospel acapella groups. He has co-written with singer Meshack Otieno, the rest of his band and boyband Sauti Sol.

Artistes who write their own songs, according to Chweya, are bound to benefit two-fold, for the song and performance.

“The artiste who benefits the most is the one who writes the good song and performs the song. These artistes get immediate love and respect from the fans as well as recognition,” he says.

Majority of songwriters in the country and internationally double up as singers as well. So, does song writing pay just as much as performing? “That’s hard to say because some people live off writing only. It pays me,” says Adwar.

As for Bien-Aime Baraza,Sauti Sol’s lead singer, the payments take long. “I’m supposed to get paid but I haven’t, when MCSK does their remuneration we’ll see how much I get, I haven’t seen it yet.”

SHALLOW INDUSTRY

Bien claims he is the best writer in the country. He wrote Elani’s Jana Usiku, Amani and Juliani’s Umenitosha and Ruth Matete’s Nakupenda, which Sauti Sol also produced.

He has also written for former TPF contestants Amos and Josh, Daddy Owen and one of the gospel churches in Kenya.

According to Adwar and Chweya, many Kenyan artistes write their own songs and in Bien’s opinion, this is not a wise move.

 “Kenyan artistes write their own songs and that’s why the industry is shallow. The reason why Rihanna has many hit songs is because each song has its own writer(s). You can’t write all your songs because you can’t correct your own mistakes. Even Davido has songwriters. It’s not a shameful thing to have someone write a song for you, we need to make sure we give people ideas,” he says.

Bien reveals they (Sauti Sol) are also looking for young song writers to give people a chance and they are open to having anyone write songs for the band.

“I doubt if I was a solo artiste I would be this successful. As long as the train of thought is maintained and the delivery is perfect it is okay,” he states.

As for gospel musicians, Biene says it is easy to write for gospel artistes because there is less insecurity compared to secular ones who do not want people to know what they are working on.

Next year, Bien will open a song writers association, which will be a hub of ideas because Kenyans need better stories in songs.

Jaguar with songs like, Kipepeo and Kigeugeu has always written his songs. Not for lack of trying, but he says he has never met anyone who writes close to his style. He has however not written for any artiste.

“I haven’t written songs for other artistes but I guide them especially the upcoming ones. Everybody has their own style and it depends on what type of song you want. If I meet anyone who writes something that is close to my style then maybe I will consider it. And before I release such a song it’ll have to pass through many producers so that I get their opinion. If they don’t feel it then I won’t release it,” says Jaguar.

Songwriting seems like an easy art, because after all, what could be so hard about rhyming words like fly and sky?

Not only do songwriters come up with simple rhymes but the little phrases or lines that become the hook to the song they write are what make a song hit.

Ester Dean a singer/songwriter has written songs for an endless list of pop artistes and rappers alike: Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Keyshia Cole, Chris Brown, T.I, Kelly Clarkson, Ludacris, Juelz Santana, Beyonce, Tinie Tempah and so many more. According to the New Yorker, she has a genius for infectious hooks. Some of her best hooks are her three Rihanna smashes Rude Boy “Come on, rude boy, boy, can you get it up / Come on, rude boy, boy, is you big enough?”) S&M (“Na-na-na-na come on”), What’s My Name (“Oh, na-na, what’s my name?”) and Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass (“Boom, badoom, boom / boom, badoom, boom / bass / yeah, that’s that super bass”).

Every year, Rihanna, who never writes her own songs, releases an album, largely because her label provides her with top producers and writers around the world to brainstorm on songs, something that constantly keeps her supplied with material.

Many Kenyan artistes have the task of coming up with creative lyrics and performances. Apart from collaborations, this may be why they release one or two songs an entire year. Yet again, it might be why Kenyan songs sound the same. But if they were to outsource the song writing, the industry will perhaps have a new face and sound.