5 songwriters who spilled the secrets of working with superstars

Raye - the 19-year-old Brit singer from London - is quickly becoming one-to-watch in the music world. Having already toured with Jess Glynne, Years & Years and MO, the Brit talent has collaborated with Jax Jones on 2K16 hit You Don't Know Me and, most recently, taken to the stage at V Festival.

But that impressive extra curricular activities don't end there: Raye has also racked up a fair amount of writing credits during her time in the biz. Tapped by the likes of Charli XCX and Snakehips, Raye's star is undoubtedly on the rise, just ask RiRi...

Yup, enlisted as one of the chosen few to attend a 'Rihanna writing camp' - essentially a writing boot camp in which up-and-coming songwriters are paired with world-renowned producers and sent off to jam together, all in a bid to produce Bad Gal's next big smash hit - Raye spilled all about her second time being sent to work, work, work, work, work for Rih:

"They book out a studio and they basically get a couple of really, really good producers in three different rooms and they just send writers that they love in, to write for the Rihanna project. It's really fun but you know it can be difficult because you're just thrown in with people you don't work with before."

Alarmed that Rihanna isn't the mastermind behind her tunes? Don't be. It's standard practice for superstars to outsource writing talents (producing a banger doesn't come easy!) and, thanks to these guys, we've got a little insight into what it's like to work with such superstars.

Here's what the people behind the lyrics had to say about their experience with everyone from Adele to Bieber...

There's a reason RiRi tracks are pure fire and that reason comes in the form of Bebe Rexha and Bibi Bourrelly.

Responsible for Eminem and Rihanna's 'Monster', Rexha chatted to Pigeons & Planes about the process that saw her song land in the lap of two of music's heavyweights:

“It wasn’t something that we originally planned. We were all just working on a great song for my project that we all loved. But it’s crazy, because I actually had one of those premonitions as I was cutting the vocals in the studio. I was like ‘This would be a great song for Eminem.’ And I remember Frequency saying something like ‘Stop it Bebe, just focus on what’s in front of you and finish the song. You’re all over the place.'”

As for Bibi Bourrelly, it's safe to say that RiRi was at the forefront of her mind when she penned Bitch Better Have My Money.

"We actually wrote it for fun because we thought lets try to write a song for Rihanna," Bibi dished to Vice. "We had no idea she would actually ever hear it or do it, we just decided. It took us forever to get it to her, and when she did hear it, she thought it was cool. I'm an artist first and foremost you see? The only songwriting projects I've ever had are Rihanna. And, to be honest, she's the only person I really cared about writing for. She liked my songs and the things I was doing, because I love to make music. And she picked them.

Rih-sult.

You may not know Jamie Scott by name but you've most certainly hit replay on more than a few of his tracks. From One Direction's Story Of My Life to Justin Bieber's Cold Water, the Brit singer-songwriter has a knack for churning out catchy hits.

Chatting to The Guardian about the momentous task of producing a smash for 1D, Jamie said that Story Of My Life was a turning point for the former X Factor alumni: “...We changed the game for them. In the history of all boy bands, they are usually on the way down [by the third album]. With that song I feel like we lifted them to another level.”

Although not all songs start off with an artist in mind, as proven by the writing process behind Cold Water that began life as a studio jam session with Ed Sheeran.

“Ed came and we had a bit of food and he suggested we try and write something. He came up with these chords and we wrote this song called Cold Water,” he told The Guardian. “I think there was another artist that we had in mind to write it for but we just ended up writing it anyway. A year later I got a call from my manager saying that [producer] Diplo had heard it and loved it and they maybe wanted to get Justin Bieber on it.”

The album credits for Beyoncé's Lemonade are, in a word, extensive. From Diplo to Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Soulja Boy to James Blake, Bey recruited the best in the biz when she set about making her sixth studio album.

All things considered, it's hardly surprising that the song-writing process behind the tracks was a pretty collaborative one. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Diana Gordon (the songwriter behind that infamous 'Becky with the good hair' line) revealed what it's like to work alongside the Queen herself:

"Beyoncé is a scientist of songs. I’ve never seen anyone work the way she works. She definitely changes the song structures. She can take two songs, say, 'I like two lines, I like the melody then let me use that for a verse and a bridge and write the whole middle.' It’s more of a collaboration. You never know what she’ll like. I came to her with a bunch of songs and she was like, 'I like that verse, I like the idea.' But she definitely doesn’t take things as is, at least not from me. I came in on the Jack White song ['Don’t Hurt Yourself'] and helped finish it.

I didn’t have a dad growing up, so 'Daddy Lessons', that was more of a fantasy for me. I felt like I was very strong in helping to raise my brothers and sisters but that really was her story. . . . When I played it for her, I was like, 'This is one of my favorite songs.' She was like, 'This is my life.' I told her, 'You know what, take it, do what you want with it.' She went and re-produced it, she changed some words, added the bridge, it’s hers."

When she's not busy belting out her own stratospheric songs and swinging from chandeliers, Sia is busy putting pen to paper on behalf of music juggernauts Adele and Katy Perry.

"I remember the day after I wrote with Adele," Sia told Rolling Stone. "I wrote her saying, 'I'm just writing because I want to make sure I wasn't too overly dominant. I'm feeling a bit insecure that it was a bit annoying working with me as opposed to satisfying.' That was what my experience was like. I felt kind of insecure. I'm a fan and I want to do a good job and I want to work for the artist when I'm writing with them. Sometimes that can bring up insecurities. Then she wrote me back and was like, 'What are you talking about?' I was like 'Riiight, OK!' I'm just a human being who's on my own trip. Trying to be of service, walking through life trying to make sure I'm being the best version of myself I can be."

But what happens when you hit up the studio with a star and you struggle to agree on anything? Enter: Katy Perry.

"That's what was interesting about writing with Katy Perry because, again, it's her voice at the end of the day. She's also quite dominant, and she's extremely analytical. I actually quit within the first hour of our first session. I was like, 'Can we be friends if this doesn't work? Like our whole songwriting dynamic?' And she was like, 'I love it. It's like a puzzle to me. It's like a crossword.' And I was like, 'But this is boring for me. The analysis is totally boring for me. It feels like the enemy of creativity.' It was so cool to be able to have that conversation on why we wrote in such entirely different ways. I'm glad I didn't give up on it because I actually did get a song out of it, and we also really had a laugh because we were able to be authentic."

Jin Jin is another name that you might not be familiar with but, much like Jamie Scott, you've definitely been belting out her tunes in the shower.

Having started her songwriting career writing hooks for Roll Deep, Jin Jin has since work with Craig David, David Guetta, Jess Glynne and Little Mix.

"I wrote Grow on Get Weird," Jin told Metro. "They don’t always go into every session, but I always feed off the artist’s energy and it was great having them in the room. Then we could talk like ‘would the Mixers say that’ ‘oh no they wouldn’t relate to that’ or ‘the Mixers would love that’. They were so energetic and fun and chaotic, and the vibe and the energy was so good to have them there. I love to have their personality in the room."