The Hitmakers: 10 Black British Songwriters You Need To Know

Whether it’s indie, rap, rock, Afroswing, grime, pop or anything else, the UK has always had a seat at the global top table. Part of that is an ever-healthy underground music scene, whose breakout stars rise up to dictate how the charts are going to look, but perhaps even more important than that are the behind-the-scenes players shifting and adjusting on a hairpin—the songwriters.

In years gone by, songwriters played a number of different roles. The Brill building in New York, for example, was the motor that ran the earliest iteration of the pop music machine, knocking out hits like The Archies’ “Sugar” and The Shangri-Las’ “Walking In The Sand” (i.e. the “Oh no!” song that was all over TikTok this past summer). Adapting to the ‘new sound’ of the day, shifting styles almost at a moment’s notice, is a talent that isn’t as revered as much as it should be. Writing an era-defining hit that’ll be remembered across the decades is a phenomenal achievement by itself, but the writers of songs that we’ve selected in this list have done it—in some cases—dozens of times and for multiple artists. And their ability to adapt doesn’t just apply to trends: they also have to switch up their style for each new artist.

Songwriting for some of the world’s biggest artists is a tremendous gift, but it’s not always the most immediately recognised or respected. Whether you like the music or not, talent is talent and you can’t ignore that. With that being said, here are 10 Black British songwriters that you need to know today.