The South African songwriter who worked alongside Rihanna, Dr Dre and Christina Aguilera

Multi-platinum South African singer and songwriter Candice Pillay has achieved what most musicians can only dream of, including writing for global superstars such as Rihanna and Christina Aguilera.

She has also had her vocals featured on tracks composed by Dr Dre, Eminem, and Calvin Harris, to name a few.

Pillay was born in Pietermaritzburg in 1981 to an Indian family, with the mix of cultures having had a profound impact on her music.

“I have African and Indian heritage, and mixing the African and Indian rhythms and drums is very close to R&B and hip hop,” she told Toronto Paradise in an interview.

“A lot of my melodies are very Indian, and you wouldn’t think that because they’re under a heavy 808, but I try to access all those cultures that I grew up on.”

She began performing at an early age, singing in her church choir at the age of five. Her father then began teaching her to play the acoustic guitar in her early teenage years.

Before long, Pillay was composing her own music at only 15 years old.

At 19, she decided to move to the United States, where she worked as an au pair while pursuing her music career, before eventually settling in Los Angeles a year later.

After au pairing for a while, Pillay began acting and modelling to keep her dream alive, appearing on the covers of several magazines.

“I kept writing and singing, working hard to survive. Things weren’t always easy; there were times when I didn’t even have a place to stay,” she wrote on Facebook.

The big break

While she had been releasing her own music, it wasn’t until 2010 that Pillay landed her first major gig, featuring on 50 Cent’s “Bang Ya Head Harder,” which also featured Lloyd Banks and Dr Dre.

“He really made an impression on me from the moment I met him,” she said during an MTV interview when speaking about working with Dr Dre. “Of course, he’s a legendary guy. We all look up to him.”

“You never know what to expect when you meet someone of his caliber. But from the first meeting, he was one of the most humble guys I’ve met,” she added.

In 2011, Pillay contributed to writing Rihanna’s “Cockiness (Love It),” which has been streamed well over 100 million times.

The following year, she co-wrote seven of the 13 songs on Christina Aguilera’s Lotus album, including the title track, “Cease Fire,” and “Circles.”

Meanwhile, she was working on her own project, a mixtape titled The Mood Kill, which comprises 15 tracks featuring production from Alex da Kid and Dem Jointz.

While she was making a name for herself in the songwriting business, Pillay’s vocals also began featuring more frequently on the tracks of artists she wrote for.

This included work on Tinie Tempah’s 2013 album Demonstration and Dr Dre’s 2015 composition Compton, where she co-wrote five of the tracks and featured on two.

“Dre, I am overwhelmed and honoured to have had the opportunity to work with you,” she wrote on Instagram after collaborating with the musician on Compton.

“Your energy and spirit, the love and respect you have for the music and every aspect of it, are so refreshing and inspiring.”

She explained that the offer from the renowned producer came when she was beginning to lose faith in the music industry and doubting whether there “were any key players in the game who even still cared about ‘the music’ and not all the irrelevant things attached to the art.’’

Tracks like “Medicine Man” and “Genocide” featured her vocals, alongside artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, and Anderson .Paak.

The year of Dr Dre’s release also saw Pillay collaborate with Alexander Grant and X Ambassadors’ Sam Harris to write Rihanna’s “American Oxygen.”

According to Pillay, the song hit close to home, given that it tells the story of an immigrant moving to the U.S. to chase the American Dream.

Despite being credited as the co-creator of these significant productions, Pillay has yet to receive public recognition or be nominated for any major awards.