With the recent Calvin Harris V Taylor Twitter storm, we thought we'd look at some pop songs you may be surprised to find out are written by famous DJs
It’s no surprise that when big name producers aren’t making tracks for themselves they’re often getting paid the big bucks to produce tracks for other people. However, we often find ourselves glancing at the production credits of a popular track to see a name we didn’t expect.
Here are 12 examples of such occurrences:
Diplo co-produced “Look At Me Now” by Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes
The fast flowing track from hip-hop’s number one spoilt brat seemed to be everywhere following its release in 2011, but did you know it was produced by the one and only Diplo? We all know about Diplo’s side projects like Major Lazer and Jack Ü but he’s actually a prolific producer aside from his own stuff, having also worked with the likes of M.I.A., Snoop Dogg and Katy B.
Galantis produced “Toxic” by Britney Spears
Okay, we have to ‘fess up here and say that Galantis didn’t technically produce this track, it was actually a duo called Bloodshy & Avant. But one half is Christian Karlsson of Galantis, so that counts… Right? We’re having it anyway, because who doesn’t secretly love this track? And that video…
Avicii produced “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay
When the biggest name in EDM meets one of the biggest in rock, “A Sky Full of Stars” is what happens. Such a huge collaboration was always bound to provide a hugely successful track, and so it proved to be. Little known fact: even though it is entirely released as a Coldplay song and Chris Martin usually plays piano on their tracks, Avicii played all the piano parts for this song.
Tchami co-produced “Turn Down For What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon
French house producer Tchami, released his debut EP "Promesses" on our label back in January, but he's been prolific behind the scenes for many years now. Along with co-producing "Turn Down For What" with DJ Snake, he also produced three Lady Gaga tracks along with co-producing 2015's sound of the summer, "Lean On" with Major Lazer.
Ever Wonder How DJs Pick Their Names? Find Out Here.
Gesaffelstein produced “Black Skinhead” by Kanye West
Kanye West, understandably, has a reputation as a master producer, having produced tracks for some of the most legendary contemporary hip-hop artists, including Jay-Z and Common. It could have been considered a pretty safe assumption, then, that he would have produced most of his own music – particularly his biggest tracks. However, French techno artist Mike Lévy (better known as Gesaffelstein) produced one of 2013’s biggest tracks for him. Who knew?
Erick Morillo produced “I Like To Move It” by Reel 2 Real
Before Madagascar picked this track up and made it beyond mainstream, it was considered a huge dance anthem from the early 90s. Unsurprising, in the knowledge that legendary New York house producer Erick Morillo was behind it.
Madeon produced “Venus” by Lady Gaga
If you know Madeon and you know this song, you could probably tell he was behind it even before reading this. It turns out Madeon is just one out of a bunch of big-name producers who work on tracks for Gaga, though.
Zedd co-produced “Beauty and a Beat” by Justin Bieber ft. Nicki Minaj
Say what you like about Bieber, say what you like about Nicki – they know how to put out a popular track. Given the word ‘beat’ is in the title of the song, it’s surprising no credit was given to Zedd or his co-producer Max Martin. But you certainly can’t argue with 505,000,000+ YouTube plays, that’s a well-received beat.
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Hudson Mohawke co-produced “Mercy” by Kanye West ft. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz
HudMo knows how to make a beat sound big. Last year’s “Chimes” made it onto an Apple advert, so he’s certainly no small time producer. He had his say in Kanye’s “Mercy” in 2012 and has since featured the likes of Pusha T on his original tracks. He's become the go-to-guy amongst rappers for beats now.
Swedish House Mafia produced “Numb” by Usher
The EDM super band were at their peak in 2011/12. Their performance at the 2011 American Music Awards led them to collaborating with Usher for this dance-pop track, leading him away from his R&B roots. Individually and together, Steve Angello, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso have all produced several tracks for other people, but this is definitely one of the most random.
Axwell co-produced “Wild Ones” by Flo Rida ft. Sia
Speaking of Axwell, he co-produced this track in 2011 with soFLY & Nius. This song was huge when it came out in no small part thanks to Axwell’s production. Think what you want of Flo Rida and the song, but you can’t deny its popularity.
Sub Focus produced “Kickstarts” by Example
And to finish the list, our very own Example. This (superb) song was produced in 2010 by fledgling British drum and bass DJ Sub Focus, who has gone on to establish himself with some of the most popular songs of the last 5 or so years. But we bet you didn’t realise he produced this track!
