Songwriter and DJ Naughty Boy has responded to Keith Richards’ comments on songwriters in music, arguing that while there’s nothing wrong with using songwriters, the people who write the hits deserve more recognition.
Earlier this week, Richards had commented on performers having songs written for them, including Naughty Boy’s collaborator Rihanna. He said “Well, they can’t rely on themselves, can they?”
Speaking on Will Gompertz’s Heat Map show on BBC Radio 5Live, Naughty Boy said “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.”
“Artists become fans of the writers and keep using them,” he continued. “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.”
PressNaughty Boy – real name Shahid Khan – also said that his early work with Emeli Sande gave him a false impression of the work balance in the songwriting process, as Sande contributed a lot to her songs, and discussed how the ‘honesty’ of a song often comes from the personal experiences of the writer.
Richards’ earlier comments had included “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.”
