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Naughty Boy Reveals Some Problems For Songwriters

Naughty Boy had something to say about the treatment of songwriters for popular artists on BBC Radio’s Heat Map show. His words were a response to the Rolling Stones Keith Richards, who previously criticised singers who collaborate with writers in the songwriting process.

“Well, they can’t rely on themselves, can they?” Richards said in his interview with Time Out London. “We’re in the midst of a heavy-duty “showbiz” period, even stronger than when we killed it last time. The X Factor and all this competition shit. It’s just for people who want to be famous. Well, if it’s fame you wants, good luck. You’d better learn to live with it.”

Naughty Boy, who has written songs for Rihanna, Leona Lewis and Emeli Sande, revealed some information about issues behind recognition when it comes to bigger artists. “There are performers and songwriters. Songwriters suffer for the song. It’s their story. There’s nothing wrong with that, but credit needs to be given where it’s due.”

Early on in his career while working with Sande, he saw that she was an active contributor. He says this gave him false impressions of what actually goes on in the writing room.

“Artists become fans of the writers and keep using them,” he said. “But they don’t really acknowledge them when they become big. It’s about giving recognition to the others involved. We live in the social media age, all it would take is a tweet.”

According to NME, he also said the honesty within certain songs is often comes from the writer’s life, rather than the artist’s.

Watch the video of Naughty Boy’s latest track with Beyonce below.

Image: Digital Spy