#RIHJECTS: 14 Songs Written For Rihanna That Other People Recorded

For her upcoming eighth studio album, R8, it seems that Rihanna, pop’s most consistent hitmaker, is flipping the script. She’s already released a few offbeat singles and chosen to have Kanye West executive produce, seemingly eschewing the cottage industry of songwriters and producers that sprang up to keep the Rihanna hit factory going back when she was releasing an album every year.

In the past, when Rihanna made an album, songwriting camps were convened. Experienced hitmakers brought their top shelf material in hopes of placing a track with one of the few sure things left in popular music. Sometimes they succeeded. And if they didn’t, there were always superstars and up-and-comers ready to accept a new single that sounded a bit like Rihanna. Over the past few years, countless Rihanna rejects and outtakes have piled up on the margins of the music industry and begun to find their way to the public, either as demos or as songs recorded by other artists. This allows a multitude of what-if scenarios, akin to the kind of “Al Pacino almost played Han Solo” casting legends that have become Hollywood lore. Here’s a recent history of the #RihJects—14 songs that have been confirmed, or heavily rumored, to have been written with Rihanna in mind before ending up elsewhere.