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

Carla Maria Williams
Born	Harrow, London
Nationality	British
Occupation	Songwriter singer record producer entrepreneur

Early life

Williams grew up in Harlesden, London, England. At the age of 10, she formed girl group "The Likkle Mentions".[4] 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.[3]

Career

Williams transitioned to full-time songwriting in 2006 after losing her voice from muscular tension.[1] She was signed to Xenomania as a songwriter by Brian Higgins.[5] 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,[6] 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, Carla Marie has worked with artists such as: Sean Paul, Rudimental, Rodney Jerkins, Mario, Wizkid, Jess Glynne, Nao, Paloma Faith, Mabel McVey, Craig David and Ray BLK.

2016 was a pivotal year for Carla Marie's career. She founded Girls I Rate - a non profit organization that advocates for change, creates opportunities and empowers the future young womxn in the music and entertainment industry. Girls I Rate has partnered with organizations such as PRS for Music,[7] Island Records/Universal Music,[8] as well as PRS Foundation[9] and VEVO[10] to deliver educational programmes for its GIR Academy of next generation young women, such as the Get Heard A&R masterclasses,[11][12] Arts Academy Weekenders, social events throughout the year and most recently Mentor Me in partnership with Musicians Union and PPL,[13] as well as the All My Girls UK Tour.[14] seeing her mentor over 1,500 girls and even GIR Radio.[15][16][17]

In that same year, Williams was recognized by Music Week in its Women in Music Roll Of Honour.[18]

Williams signed a worldwide deal with Reservoir Publishing in 2018.[19]

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.[20] In July 2020, Williams took over the cover of Music Week,[21] which contained an open letter to the music industry.[22]

In 2021, Carla Marie was awarded “Campaigner of the year” at Women In Music Awards by Music Week - a recognition of her life long career contributions toward womxn empowerment and change in the creative industries.

List of notable writing credits

• Craig David – "Following My Intuition"
• Britney Spears – "Glory"
• Alesha Dixon – "The Boy Does Nothing"
• The Saturdays – Not Giving Up
• Naughty Boy – "Runnin' (Lose It All)"
• Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar – "Freedom"

Songwriting credits and discography

Year	Artist	Song	Label	Credit
2022	Stylo G	"Spain Town"	365 Records Limited	Co-wrote
2021	KAMILLE	"Mirror Mirror"	Pure Cut Records, Virgin EMI records / BMG	Co-wrote
2021	Sigma	"Hope"[23]	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

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