Makeba Riddick-Woods (also known as "Girl Wonder") is an American singer-songwriter who has been active since 2005. She is originally from West

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, US. Currently she is managed by Jay-Z's record label and production house,

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...

. Their official website describes her as one of the industry's top pop music songwriters and vocal producers.

Background

Riddick attended

Baltimore School for the Arts The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is a public performing arts high school located in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland, United States and is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. Established in 1979, The Baltimore School for the ...

before graduating from Berklee College of Music (Boston) with a bachelor's degree in Music Management. She moved to New York City to develop her career as a songwriter. Her early break came from songwriting and singing background vocals for

3LW 3LW (initialism of "3 Lil Women") was an American girl group formed in 1999 by Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Naturi Naughton. Jessica Benson later replaced Naughton after she left the group in 2002. 3LW was signed to the label Epic Reco ...

, Jennifer Lopez and

B2K B2K (Boys of the New Millennium) was an American boy band that was active from 1998 to 2004, and again from 2018 to 2019. In 1998, the group was formed by American dance choreographer Dave Scott and Interscope A&R Keshia Gamble. The members ...

Songwriting and vocal production

Riddick is best known for her work with multi-platinum selling pop artist Rihanna for whom she has vocally produced and collaborated on three albums with including '' A Girl like Me'', ''

Music of the Sun ''Music of the Sun'' is the debut studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on August 29, 2005, by Def Jam Recordings. Prior to signing with Def Jam, Rihanna was discovered by record producer Evan Rogers in Barbados, who helped Ri ...

'' and ''

Good Girl Gone Bad ''Good Girl Gone Bad'' is the third studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on May 31, 2007, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. Rihanna worked with various producers on the album, including Tricky Stewart, The-Dream, Neo d ...

''. She co-wrote and vocally produced the star's reggae influenced song "

Rude Boy Rude boy, rudeboy, rudie, rudi, and rudy are slang terms that originated in 1960s Jamaican street culture, and that are still used today. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other ...

" from Rihanna's fourth studio album, ''

Rated R Rated R refers to movies (and also to TV shows and video games in certain systems) that have been given a "restricted" rating by one of the following film rating systems: * Motion Picture Association of America film rating system * Canadian Home Vid ...

''. She also produced vocals for all the remaining tracks on the album, and co-wrote the intro track "Mad House". Riddick has also collaborated with French DJ-come producer

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

, first the song "If We Ever" which is also her first solo credited vocal performance, taken from Guetta's 2009 Grammy-nominated album ''

One Love One Love may refer to: Music * One Love (record producer), Timothy Sommers, American record producer, half of the duo Kinetics & One Love * ''One Love: The Bob Marley Musical'', a 2015 stage musical Albums * One Love (Blue album), ''One Love'' (B ...

''. She also worked with Guetta to produce tracks for R&B singer

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

's album ''

Flesh Tone ''Flesh Tone'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Kelis, released on May 14, 2010, by the will.i.am Music Group and Interscope Records. Recorded while the singer was unsigned and pregnant with her first child, the album is an ode to m ...

'' including the lead single and U.S. Dance Chart topper "

Acapella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

". Riddick's other writing and production credits include

Danity Kane Danity Kane was an American girl group whose original and most well-known lineup comprised Aubrey O'Day, Aundrea Fimbres, Dawn Richard, Shannon Bex, and Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett. Its most recent iteration included O'Day and Richard as a duo ...

's '' eponymous album''; Beyoncé's U.S. radio hit "

Get Me Bodied "Get Me Bodied" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her second solo studio album ''B'Day'' (2006). It was written by Beyoncé, Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, Sean Garrett, Makeba Riddick, Angela Beyince, and Solange Knowles, while ...

" from her second album

B'Day ''B'Day'' is the second studio album by American singer Beyoncé. It was released to coincide with her 25th birthday on September 4, 2006, by Columbia Records, Music World Entertainment, and Sony Urban Music. Originally set to be released in 200 ...

; Braxton's 2005 album ''

Libra Libra generally refers to: * Libra (constellation), a constellation * Libra (astrology), an astrological sign based on the star constellation Libra may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Libra'' (novel), a 1988 novel by Don DeLillo Musi ...

'' and Jennifer Lopez's 2005 album ''

Rebirth Rebirth may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film * ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film * ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth * ''The Re ...

'' as well as platinum-selling work for Mariah Carey. She also worked in the studio with

Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), also known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won multiple Grammy Awards. Among hi ...

on material for

Diddy - Dirty Money Diddy may refer to: *Sean Combs (born 1969), American rap mogul also known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy, Puff, Puffy, and Sean John **Diddy (song), "Diddy" (song), a 2001 song by P. Diddy **Diddy – Dirty Money, an American hip hop group featuri ...

's delayed album ''

Last Train to Paris ''Last Train to Paris'' is a 2010 studio album by American rapper and record producer Diddy and American R&B and hip hop duo Dirty Money, billed collectively as "Diddy – Dirty Money". It was released on December 14, 2010, by Bad Boy Records ...

''. Additionally she has worked on records for the British girl group

Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...

on the song " About a Girl" taken from their seventh studio album ''

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''. The collaboration reached top ten in the UK. In America Riddick was reunited with

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won ...

when a record she wrote "Make My Heart" was released by Braxton as the second single from the star's upcoming album ''

Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the n ...

''. Makeba produced Rihanna's vocals for Eminem's single " Love the Way You Lie".

Solo career

She is said to be releasing her own debut solo single titled "Change Up" which will be produced by Darkchild and will serve as the lead single from the producer's collaborative project, ''The Writersproject Volume 1''.

Production and writing credits

Source: Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddick, Makeba Living people Berklee College of Music alumni African-American women singer-songwriters Musicians from Baltimore M 21st-century African-American women singers Cocaine 80s members Singer-songwriters from Maryland 1981 births