Random J playlist: Written by James Fauntleroy

Let's talk about the smug guy in the picture above, with his Flash and Green Lantern rings. You may not recognise his face. But it's not his face that he's known for. It's his songwriting.

This, folks, is James Fauntleroy. The man who has probably written at least one song for one of your faves. His songwriting resume includes Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Drake, SZA, Bruno Mars, Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna. That's just to name a mere few. As is the life of a songwriter, James receives much of his accolades and kudos behind the scenes; although he does have a few GRAMMY's to his name.

James is set to launch a solo career in 2019, the prelude to which we've already gotten. But I have a feeling 2019 will see him in the liner notes of some big releases which may overshadow his own. With him being such a key part of three of Rihanna's albums (Rated R, Unapologetic and Anti), I'd put money on him working with her on her long awaited follow up to 2016's Anti. And with James having written literally the whole of The 20 / 20 experience with Justin and 2 songs on Man of the woods, he's basically getting cheques from Justin for life. We know how Justin likes to keep the same folk on his album payrolls. Justin be single-handedly putting Timbaland's child's through college and paying the rent overheads for Danja's studio.

So, this Spotify playlist honours the man behind much of the music that has flowed through Rap and R&B over the past 5 years. This playlist is not a dump of every single song James has written, but a curated list. Of course, there is a host of unreleased music floating around that has James' name attached to it (Brandy's "Drum life", Timbaland's "Back together" being two of my faves) which I'd urge you to scour for.

If you've been completely unaware of who James Fauntleroy is and just which songs he's been responsible for, then get yourself up to speed and stream the bitch.

🎧 Listen on Spotify: Written by James Fauntleroy