Ghostwriters, part 2

After writing my last post I looked into other artists that ghostwrite and/or don't write their own lyrics and found some interesting facts. Clearly, not all rappers have the time or lyrical ability of their own to write their own material and sadly some rappers just don't have an appealing voice or flow and charisma to entertain audiences. This is where ghostwriting comes in. But why would anyone want to ghostwrite? Especially if you're Nas or Jay-Z and have several platinum albums, tours and other commitments. Artists like P. Diddy and Will Smith for example have the money to make hit records by paying a ghostwriter and also getting a well produced track. That right there is enough incentive to hire a ghostwriter. I managed to find a few examples of ghostwritten songs that I'm sure the majority of you have heard before. Dr. Dre's part in Still D.R.E. was actually written by Jay-Z, Will Smith had Nas write for him on his hit single Getting Jiggy With It. Southern rapper Smitty was a ghostwriter before rapper, Eminem ghostwrites a lot of work for artists, and if you listen closely on Forgot About Dre by Dr. Dre, Dre flows similar to Eminem. It is also rumored that rapper Gillie the Kid wrote lyrics for Lil' Wayne on the album Tha Carter, which was released in 2004. This escalated into a feud between the two rappers once Gillie admitted to writing for Wayne in an interview. I wouldn't doubt that Gillie did work for Lil' Wayne, if you listen to old Wayne and new Wayne there is clearly a difference in lyrical style, which now revolve heavily around metaphors.

Obviously the artist does not want anyone to know that their work wasn't written by them. Royce the 5'9" admitted to writing songs for Dr. Dre on the Chronic 2001, which ultimately severed their friendship. Also, Diddy's song I'll Be Missing You, about the death of his friend The Notorious B.I.G. was ghostwritten by a man that goes by Sauce Money, who got $1,000 US for his work. Unfortunately someone with a wallet as big a Diddy's only forked over $1,000 for lyrics that he used to commemorate his late friend.

That is basically a summary of some info I've come across in my search for ghostwriters. Doesn't seem like the most fulfilling job but at the end of the day you're getting paid to write a couple of bars that rhyme (and hopefully satisfy the audience). Maybe one day P. Diddy or Dre will shoot me a cheque for a few hours worth of work.