Makeba Riddick facts for kids

Makeba Riddick-Woods, also known as Girl Wonder, is a talented American songwriter and singer. She has been working in the music world since 2002. Makeba was born and grew up in West Baltimore, Maryland. In 2008, she signed with Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation.

Makeba's Early Life and Music Journey

Makeba Riddick went to the Baltimore School for the Arts. This is a special school for students who love art. After that, she studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston. She earned a degree in Music Management.

After college, Makeba moved to New York City. She wanted to become a songwriter. She got her first big chances by writing songs and singing background vocals. She worked with groups like 3LW and B2K. She also worked with famous singer Jennifer Lopez.

Writing Songs and Producing Vocals

Makeba Riddick is very well known for her work with the superstar Rihanna. Makeba helped Rihanna with three of her albums. These albums were A Girl like Me, Music of the Sun, and Good Girl Gone Bad.

Makeba helped write and produce the vocals for Rihanna's song "Rude Boy". This song has a reggae style. It was on Rihanna's fourth album, Rated R. Makeba also produced the vocals for almost all the other songs on that album. She even helped write the intro song "Mad House."

Makeba has also worked with the French DJ and producer David Guetta. She sang on his song "If We Ever." This was her first time being the main singer on a song. It was on David Guetta's album One Love. This album was even nominated for a Grammy Award in 2009.

She also worked with David Guetta on songs for R&B singer Kelis. They worked on Kelis's album Flesh Tone. One of the songs, "Acapella", became a number one hit on the U.S. Dance Chart.

Makeba has written and produced for many other big artists. She worked on songs for Danity Kane's album. She also helped with Beyoncé's hit song "Get Me Bodied." This song was on Beyoncé's second album, B'Day. Makeba also worked with Toni Braxton on her 2005 album Libra. She helped Jennifer Lopez with her 2005 album Rebirth. Makeba also created platinum-selling music for Mariah Carey.

She worked with famous producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. They created music for Diddy – Dirty Money's album Last Train to Paris. Makeba also worked with the British girl group Sugababes. She helped with their song "About a Girl." This song was on their album Sweet 7 and was a top ten hit in the UK.

Makeba worked with Toni Braxton again on the song "Make My Heart." Toni Braxton released this song as a single from her album Pulse. Makeba also produced Rihanna's vocals for Eminem's huge hit song "Love the Way You Lie."

Makeba's Solo Music

Makeba is planning to release her very own first solo song. It is called "Change Up." This song will be produced by Darkchild. It will be the first song from a project called The Writersproject Volume 1.