Ilya Salmanzadeh (; born 19 September 1986 in Stockholm), known mononymously as ILYA, is a Swedish-Persian songwriter, producer and singer. He rose to prominence outside of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

after co-writing and producing

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

's " Problem" and

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

's "

First Love First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

Career

In 2005 at the age of 19, Ilya signed with

Warner/Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2009, he graduated from the

Musicians Institute Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor ...

in Hollywood, California. "

Miss Me "Miss Me" is the third single by Canadian recording artist Drake from his debut album ''Thank Me Later''. The hip hop song features labelmate and Young Money founder Lil Wayne. It was produced by Drake's long-time collaborators Boi-1da and 40. ...

Mohombi Mohombi Nzasi Moupondo (born 17 October 1986) is a Congolese-Swedish musician, singer, composer and dancer. He grew up in Norsborg and Kista near Stockholm. Mohombi was RedOne's first signing to 2101 Records in joint venture with Universal Mu ...

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

's song in 2010, was Ilya's first internationally acclaimed production. In 2011, he produced "Mama" and "Reba" from

The Lonely Island The Lonely Island is an American comedy trio, formed by Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone in Berkeley, California, in 2001. They have written for and starred in the American TV program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). The three ...

's Grammy-nominated album, ''

Turtleneck & Chain ''Turtleneck & Chain'' is the second studio album of the American comedy troupe The Lonely Island, whose members are Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone. The album was released on 10 May 2011 by Universal Republic Records. Turtlenec ...

''. In 2013, he produced

Cher Lloyd Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English singer. She finished fourth place in the seventh series of ''The X Factor'' in 2010. Following the seventh series finale, Lloyd was signed to Syco Music. Her debut single, " Swagger Jagger", was r ...

's song, "

I Wish I WiSH was a Japanese pop group consisting of two members, Ai Kawashima and nao. Ai is responsible for the vocals and occasionally plays the piano also with nao on the keyboard or piano. Their most notable track is and was in the Oricon ranking ...

", and

Fifth Harmony Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, was an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and previously Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signe ...

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

-winning song, " Me & My Girls". Alongside

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

, he co-wrote and produced

's " Problem" and

's "

" in 2014. "Problem" went on to become one of the fastest-selling

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

history before winning a

Teen Choice Award The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United S ...

, VMA and EMA months later. In June 2014, Ilya was nominated for the

Denniz Pop Awards Dag Krister Volle (26 April 1963 – 30 August 1998), better known as Denniz Pop (stylized ''Denniz PoP''), was a Swedish DJ, music producer, and songwriter. He co-founded the recording studio Cheiron Studios in Stockholm in 1992. Life and car ...

, an annual prize handed out to up-and-coming musicians. "

Bang Bang Bang Bang or Bang Bang Bang or similar may refer to: Food * Bang bang chicken, a Chinese dish *Bang bang shrimp, a Chinese dish People * Abdul Razzaq (cricketer) (born 1979), nicknamed Bang Bang Razzaq * Bang Bang (Dubliner) (1906–1981), ...

", co-produced by Ilya, was released as a joint single by

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind''. She studied ...

, Ariana Grande and

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

on 29 July 2014 to universal acclaim. In January 2015,

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...

's " Love Me Like You Do", co-written by Ilya, was released for the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

to the motion picture, ''

Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...

'', becoming the most-streamed song in a week on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

. In May 2015, he remixed

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

's " Bad Blood" with

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...

, which became his first No.1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He co-wrote and produced large parts of

's later albums ''

Sweetener {{Wiktionary, sweetener A sweetener is a substance added to food or drink to impart the flavor of sweetness, either because it contains a type of sugar, or because it contains a sweet-tasting sugar substitute. Many artificial sweeteners have been ...

'' and ''

Thank U, Next ''Thank U, Next'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Ariana Grande, released on February 8, 2019, by Republic Records. It was released six months after her fourth studio album '' Sweetener'' (2018), conceived in the midst of Grande ...

''. In 2019, Salmanzadeh co-wrote and produced

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's Grammy-nominated song "

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

". He also worked on the production of

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. After initially pursuing a career in music production, Simon Cowell signed him to his record labe ...

's singles "Miracle" and "Oblivion" (which features

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

), both taken from his sophomore solo album, '' Imagination & the Misfit Kid''.

Discography

Singles

;As lead artist *2007: "Used To Be" ;As featured artist *2009: "Get You on the Pool" (Kocky & Trash featuring Ilya) *2011: "Got It Like That" (

Lazee Mawuli Kulego (better known by his stage name Lazee) is a Swedish rapper from the Malmö suburb Lindängen. Biography Lazee was born in Malmö, Sweden, to parents of Ghanaian origin. His passion for music grew at a young age and he was heavily in ...

ft. Ilya)

Production discography

Ilya's works include:

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmanzadeh, Ilya 1986 births Living people English-language singers from Sweden Musicians Institute alumni People from Kerman Singers from Stockholm Swedish agnostics Swedish audio engineers Swedish composers Swedish male composers Swedish dance musicians Swedish expatriates in the United States Swedish hip hop musicians Swedish keyboardists Swedish people of Iranian descent Swedish pop guitarists Swedish pop pianists Swedish pop singers Swedish record producers Swedish rhythm and blues musicians Swedish singer-songwriters Universal Music Group artists Warner Music Group artists 21st-century Swedish engineers Male pianists 21st-century Swedish singers 21st-century pianists 21st-century guitarists 21st-century Swedish male singers Musikförläggarnas pris winners