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Last night, Missy Elliott finally got her flowers when she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Missy is the first female Hip Hop artist to achieve the honor and even President Barack Obama, himself, thanked the legend for her contributions to music and our community.
We’re ecstatic to see Missy, who has penned classic songs like Aaliyah’s “One In A Million,” Total’s “What About Us,” and more, get the respect she deserves — by the way, that doesn’t even begin to cover her work in songwriting for other artists, not to mention her one-of-a-kind style and all the hits she put out on her own projects.
We’re hoping Missy Elliott’s Songwriters Hall of Fame honor is just the beginning and that more and more Black women in music will be recognized down the line. Here are some names that come to mind when we think of great women with excellent pen game, who might just follow in Missy’s groundbreaking footsteps one day, or are already beginning to.
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Ester Dean
Ester’s pen game is CRAZY. Just a few of her credits include Rihanna’s “Rude Boy,” Beyoncé’s “Countdown,” Selena Gomez’s “Come and Get It,” Nicki Minaj’s “I Lied,” MJB’s “I Am,” and Ciara’s “Never Ever.”
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Keri Hilson
Keri never really got the recognition she deserved in the songwriting department, as she’s also got an extensive list of songwriting credits connected to many of your faves. Just to name a few… Omarion’s “Ice Box,” Ludacris and MJB’s “Runaway Love,” Britney Spears’ “Gimme More,” and Avant’s “4 Minutes.”
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Diana Gordon
This is definitely a name you all should know. Diana “Wynter” Gordon penned “Daddy Lessons,” “Sorry,” and more on Beyoncé’s award-winning Lemonade album. If you missed what she had to say about that “Becky with the good hair” line, read that HERE.
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Priscilla Renea
Miss Priscilla is definitely a favorite of ours in the songwriting department. Her credits include K. Michelle’s “V.S.O.P.,” Ariana Grande’s “Imagine,” Mariah Carey’s “A No, No,” Rihanna’s “California King Bed,” and more.
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Victoria Monét & Tayla Parx
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These two are the machine behind some of Ariana Grande’s biggest hits, including “thank u, next” and “7 Rings”… yep, did you know two young Black women did that?!
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Sonyae Elise
Sonyae Elise has worked with some pretty big names in the game, including projects for K. Michelle, Anderson .Paak, Omarion, and more. She’s definitely on our radar and she should be on yours too.
