Carla Marie Williams

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Carla Marie Williams
Carla Marie Williams Headshot.jpeg
Born
Harrow, London
NationalityBritish
Occupation
  • Songwriter
  • singer
  • record producer

Carla Marie Williams is a British songwriter, producer and singer, she is also the founder of Girls I Rate.[1] Notable songs she has written or co-written include Beyoncé's "Freedom", Naughty Boy's "Runnin'" and Britney Spears's "Private Show".[2][3][4] In 2016, Williams was nominated for two Grammy Awards for her work on Beyoncé's Lemonade album.

Early life[]

Williams grew up in Harlesden, London, England. At the age of 10, she formed girl group "The Likkle Mentions".[5] They entered local singing competitions and appeared on local radio. Williams completed her GCSEs and studied her A-Levels at Bentley Wood High School, an all-girls comprehensive school in Harrow. She worked as a youth worker, helping hard to reach young people for four years.[4]

Career[]

Williams moved to full-time songwriting in 2006 after losing her voice from muscular tension.[2] She was signed to Xenomania as a songwriter by Brian Higgins.[6] Williams has written tracks for Girls Aloud, The Saturdays, Kylie Minogue and Alesha Dixon. Most notably she co-wrote Girls Aloud's "The Promise", for which she received a BRIT Award,[7] and from her work writing "Runnin' (Lose It All)" for Naughty Boy, she was nominated for a Grammy for her work on Beyoncé's Lemonade album, via the track "Freedom" she wrote for Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar.

Since leaving Xenomania, Williams has founded her own writing collective, NewCrowd,[8] and has worked with artists Sean Paul, Rudimental, Rodney Jerkins, Mario, Wizkid, Jess Glynne, Nao, Paloma Faith, Mabel McVey, Craig David and Ray BLK.

Williams founded the Girls I Rate movement in 2015, launching it in March 2016.[9][10]

In 2016, Williams was recognised by Music Week in its Women in Music Roll Of Honour.[11] Girls I Rate has partnered with organisations such as PRS for Music,[12] Island Records/Universal Music,[13] as well as PRS Foundation[14] and VEVO[15] to deliver educational programmes for its GIR Academy of next generation young women, such as the Get Heard A&R masterclasses,[16][17] Arts Academy Weekenders, social events throughout the year and most recently Mentor Me in partnership with Musicians Union and PPL,[18] as well as the All My Girls UK Tour.[19] seeing her mentor over 300 girls and even GIR Radio.[20]

Williams signed a worldwide deal with Reservoir Publishing in 2018.[21]

At the end of 2019, Williams was invited by Simon Cowell to join The X Factor: The Band, as part of the industry experts panel alongside Fred Ball, Naughty Boy and Ella Eyre.[22] In July 2020, Williams took over the cover of Music Week,[23] which contained an open letter to the music industry.[24] Carla is also a PRSF Foundation Keychange 2020 Ambassador[25]

List of notable writing credits[]

Songwriting credits and discography[]

Year Artist Song Label Credit
2021 Sigma "Hope"[26] 3Beat Productions Vocal produced
2019 JP Cooper featuring Stefflon Don "The Reason Why" Island Co-wrote
2019 Elderbrook and Rudimental "The Reason Why" Parlophone Co-wrote, co-produced, vocal produced
2018 Mario "What You Started" New Citizen/Empire Co-wrote
2018 Sean Paul featuring Ellie Goulding "Bad Love" Island Co-wrote
2016 Craig David "Better with You" Insanity Co-wrote
2016 Britney Spears "Private Show" RCA Co-wrote
2016 Britney Spears "What You Need" RCA Co-wrote
2016 Beyonce featuring Kendrick Lamar "Freedom" Parkwood/Columbia Co-wrote
2015 Naughty Boy featuring Beyoncé "Runnin' (Lose It All)" Virgin EMI Co-wrote
2015 Becky G "The Lights" Co-wrote
2014 The Saturdays "Not Giving Up" Polydor/Fascination Co-wrote
2013 Charlie Brown featuring Misha B "Floodgates (part II)" All Around the World/Universal Music Co-wrote
2013 Nabiha "Transition" Sony Music Co-wrote
2012 Girls Aloud "Something New" Polydor Co-wrote
2013 Amelia Lily "You Bring Me Joy" Xenomania/Sony Music Co-wrote
2012 Jodie Connors featuring Stylo G "Talk" Universal Music/3 Beat Co-wrote
2010 Kylie Minogue "Mighty Rivers" Parlophone Co-wrote
2010 Mini Viva "One Touch" Polydor/Geffen Co-wrote
2010 Fugative "Crush" Hard2Beat Co-wrote
2009 Crookers featuring Kardinal Offishal "Put Your Hands on Me" Southern Fried Records Co-wrote
2009 Mini Viva "Left My Heart in Tokyo" Polydor/Geffen Co-wrote
2008 Girls Aloud "The Promise" Polydor Co-wrote
2008 Alesha Dixon "The Boy Does Nothing" Atlantic Co-wrote
2008 Girls Aloud "Love Is Pain" Polydor Co-wrote
2008 Girls Aloud "Fix Me Up" Polydor Co-wrote
2008 Girls Aloud "Rolling Back the Rivers in Time" Polydor Co-wrote
2008 Girls Aloud "Revolution in the Head" Polydor Co-wrote
2007 Girls Aloud "Can't Speak French" Polydor Co-wrote
2007 Girls Aloud "Sexy! No No No" Polydor Co-wrote
2007 Girls Aloud "Fling" Polydor Co-wrote
2005 Roll Deep "Intro" Relentless/Virgin Co-wrote

References[]

  1. ^ "GIRLS I RATE". girlsirate.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b Butter, Susannah (10 November 2016). "Carla Marie Williams: 'We need more swag in the industry – women need to bring it back'". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  3. ^ Baiden, Kamilla Rose (16 May 2016). "Introducing Carla Marie Williams, The North London Songwriter Penning Tracks For Queen Bey". Vibe. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Meet Carla Marie Williams, the British songwriter who wrote Freedom for Beyonce". Newsbeat. BBC News. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  5. ^ Spendelow, Nathan (20 January 2016). "Meet the Harrow woman who ended up writing songs for Beyoncé". getwestlondon. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  6. ^ Williams, Carla Marie (29 February 2016). "Carla Marie Williams: For black women in music it's hard to defy the stereotype". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  7. ^ Wright, Matthew (8 March 2016). "10 Questions for Songwriter Carla Marie Williams". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  8. ^ Baiden, Kamilla Rose (16 May 2016). "Introducing Carla Marie Williams, The North London Songwriter Penning Tracks For Queen Bey". Vibe. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  9. ^ Psarias, Vicki (18 March 2016). "GIRLS I RATE Gala Dinner". Honest Mum. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  10. ^ Williams, Carla Marie. "uardian Available for everyone, funded by readers ContributeSubscribeSearch jobsSign in Search current edition: UK edition News Opinion Sport Culture Lifestyle Show More Women in Leadership Carla Marie Williams: For black women in music it's hard to defy the stereotype". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  11. ^ Gumble, Daniel (25 October 2016). "Music Week Women in Music Roll of Honour revealed". Music Week. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  12. ^ Staff Writer (9 March 2019). "PRS for Music celebrates International Women's Day with Girls I Rate". PRS For Music. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  13. ^ Lerner, Rebecca (24 March 2018). "Programs Like 'Girls I Rate' In The U.K. Empower Young Female Artists". Forbes. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  14. ^ Homewood, Ben (10 July 2020). "PRS Foundation partners with MOBO, Girls I Rate & more to support black musicians". Music Week. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  15. ^ Gumble, Daniel (27 February 2018). "Girls I Rate gala dinner to be held on International Women's Day". PSN Europe. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  16. ^ Staff Writer. "Girls I Rate". PRS Foundation. PRS Foundation. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  17. ^ Ottewil, Jim (24 April 2017). "Get your music heard with Girls I Rate". PRS M Magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  18. ^ Garner, George (1 October 2020). "Girls I Rate Academy launches new mentoring scheme for female creatives". Music Week. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  19. ^ Staff Writer (1 March 2019). "Carla Marie Williams Songwriting Masterclass". Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  20. ^ Staff Writer. "GIR Radio". Girls I Rate. Girls I Rate. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  21. ^ Ingham, Tim (28 March 2019). "CARLA MARIE WILLIAMS SIGNS WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING DEAL WITH RESERVOIR". MusicBizWorldwide. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  22. ^ Staff Writer (9 December 2019). "X Factor: The Band... Meet the Experts". ITV. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  23. ^ Garner, George (6 July 2020). "New edition of Music Week out now". Music Week. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  24. ^ Williams, Carla Marie (7 July 2020). "'I want more black women to be celebrated': An open letter to the music business from Carla Marie Williams". Music Week. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  25. ^ Radcliffe, Maya (23 September 2020). "UK music industry commits to Keychange Gender Equality Pledge". PRS M Magazine. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  26. ^ Daly, Rhian (8 August 2021). "Watch the Sigma-soundtracked Olympics highlight video 'Hope'". NME. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
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