6 Songs You Didn’t Know Katy Perry Wrote for Other Artists

Before Katy Perry took over the pop world with hits “I Kissed a Girl” and “Hot n’ Cold” following her 2008 debut One of the Boys, she was living a different musical life as a Christian music artist, releasing her self-titled debut in 2001.

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Ready to re-emerge as an artist in pop, part of Perry’s work involved co-writing songs for other artists within the genre. Mostly co-writing for pop artists like Kelly Clarkson and Britney Spears, Perry also branched into country and hip-hop along the way.

Here are six songs Perry co-wrote for and with other artists.

“Girl Next Door,” Jessie James Decker (2009)
Written by Katy Perry, Ted Bruner, T. Vittetoe

Perry wrote two songs for country singer Jessie James Decker’s 2009 debut—”Bullet,” also co-written with Decker, and “Girl Next Door.” Though neither song was released as a single, the album did chart at No. 23 on The Billboard Top 200.

“I Do Not Hook Up,” Kelly Clarkson (2009)
Written by Katy Perry, Kara DioGuardi, Greg Wells

Off Kelly Clarkson’s fourth album, All I Ever Wanted, Perry co-wrote not one but two songs for the singer, “Long Shot,” (along with Glen Ballard and Matt Thiessen), which peaked at No. 33, and “I Do Not Hook Up,” which reached No. 8 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart. The empowering song is about falling in love over having a quick hook-up.

“That’s More Like It,” Selena Gomez and the Scene (2011)
Written by Katy Perry, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg

This was the second time Perry wrote a song for Gomez’s album, When the Sun Goes Down, with her band The Scene. Formed in 2008, the band, consisting of Gomez, along with guitarist Drew Taubenfeld, bassist Joey Clement, drummer Greg Garman, and keyboardist Dane Forrest, released three albums from her 2009 debut Kiss & Tell and A Year Without Rain in 2010—Perry also co-wrote the track “Rock God”—through their final release When the Sun Goes Down. “[This] is a little bit of a cheeky ’50s kind of theme, back then you always kind of assumed that the woman would cook for you and the guys would go work,” said Gomez. “The song kind of flips that and says ‘you can massage my feet, you can take care of me, you can cook me dinner.’ I think girls will enjoy singing that though I apologize to all of the boys who will be hearing that song.”

“Passenger,” Britney Spears (2013)
Written by Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Sia, Thomas Pentz (Diplo), Andrew Swanson

For her eighth album, Britney Jean, Britney Spears has a solid collection of co-writers and collaborators like Sia, who helped write two tracks, including “Passenger,” which was co-written along with Perry. The song was originally written for Perry’s Prism album and reworked for Spears. 

“Get On Your Knees,” Nicki Minaj featuring Ariana Grande (2014)
Written by Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Chloe Angelides, Henry Russell Walter, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Lukasz Gottwald, Sarah Hudson

Perry helped write the more hip-hop track off Minaj’s third album The Pinkprint album. The album, which also features contributions from Drake, Beyoncé, Meek Mill and more, won an American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album in 2015.

“Black Widow,” Iggy Azalea featuring Rita Ora (2014)
Written by Katy Perry, Iggy Azalea Tor, Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Benjamin Levin, Sarah Hudson

Another song originally meant for Perry’s Prism album, ”Black Widow” found its way to Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, who helped work on the song for this duet with British singer Rita Ora. Both sing about a woman scorned—It’s like I loved you so much that now I just hate you / Feelin’ stupid for all the time that I gave you / I wanted all or nothin’ for us, ain’t no place in between / Might-might be me believing what you say that you’ll never mean. Featured on Azalea’s debut, The New Classic, the song hit No. 1 on several charts including the Hot Rap/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for Katy Perry

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