Whether they are rappers, country singers, or EDM DJs, the best musicians create a profound connection to their listeners through beat, lyric, and rhythm. We asked several Grammy-winning artists to describe their writing process, and this is what they said.
“We’re like, ‘Okay, it’s halftime at a Lakers game and someone’s sitting there eating a pretzel and waiting for the third quarter to start. What should be playing?’”
“I take the jingle from an amusement park ride, make it spooky, and then make it the uncomfortable kind of sexy.”
“I don’t really know, but I’d like to point out I’ve won one more Grammys than Prince.”
“Sometimes I just want to write an evil song, so I drink a six-pack of beer and then repeat whatever Satan tells me.”
“Honestly, I’ve been releasing the same three songs since 2012, but nobody seems to notice.”
“In 2002, I received an anonymous package containing hundreds of pages of song lyrics. Whenever it’s time for a new album, I just grab a few and send them in to my label.”
“What do you mean I won a Grammy?”
“I write a hardcore rap album. The studio fires back with, ‘Ed, you are colonial white.’ So we add some acoustic guitar and make every track a love ballad.”
“If I want to write a really raw, emotional song, I get fired up with a little cage fighting. When I’m in the octagon, no one can silence my primal scream.”
“I have been trying to come up with a word that rhymes with ‘dance’ since 1993. As soon as I can do that, I’ll start writing new songs again.”
“No one cares about how I write polka.”
“I start the majority of my songs with the lyric, ‘I would like a Grammy for this one, please.’ So far it’s worked 28 times.”
“When I write, I actually do it as my alter-ego: John Trundle, an insurance claims adjuster from Duluth.”
“First I make sure I have an ironclad contract signing everything over to my label. Then I write a smash hit they’ll never let go. Works every time.”
“My team takes care of all that. My role is to exude a ‘fuck around and find out attitude’ while simultaneously snitching on all of my closest confidants.”
“Walking around the maternity ward is where I get my strongest images. If they’re being honest, I think most songwriters will tell you we’re just failed obstetricians.”
“I always write the clean version first. To me, ‘wet ass pussy’ will never sound as good as ‘wet and gushy.’”
“I find I do my best work when I’m sad, so I’ll have my team bully me for a few hours and that usually gets me to a dark place.”
“I start with the same basic formula: yell my name, and hire talented musicians to do the actual work. From that point forward, the rest is pretty easy.”
“When I start overthinking things, I like to take a step back and remind myself that anything I say will sound great when I sing it. Listen: Scoobedy boop bap boop. 9/11 was an inside job. See? Doesn’t matter.”
“You’d be surprised how easy it is to find a website where you pay someone $200 and they send you an MP3 file.”
“We’ve plagiarized every single song we’ve ever released.”