Why Every Pop Star Wants a Piece of Starrah Initially inspired by street literature like Sister Souljah’s “The Coldest Winter Ever” and female rappers like Eve and Nicki Minaj — hence her dexterity with syncopated flows and finding unobvious rhythmic pockets in a beat — Starrah also developed the omnivorous taste of the playlist generation. “Even though a lot of people say ‘blogs aren’t true,’ what’s said on the blogs still affects that person — period.” She recalled Rihanna gushing over the steely breakup jam “Needed Me” — with its Instagrammable one-liners like “Didn’t they tell you that I was a savage?” — which peaked at No. An A-list studio presence for just two years, Starrah, 27, has tallied more than six billion streams on Spotify and YouTube alone — to say nothing of her innumerable radio plays — bridging genres and genders as a songwriter on “Fake Love” by Drake, “Needed Me” by Rihanna and “Havana,” Ms. Cabello’s breakout single, which peaked at No. 1 hits like “Bad and Boujee” by Migos and “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” by Cardi B — “The industry started to realize that she’s not one-dimensional,” Mr. Jarjour said. Mr. Jarjour was impressed by her work ethic, both out of the studio and in it: “From the beginning, Starrah sent more music than anyone else,” he said, and she was very organized, a rarity for prolific songwriters. Somebody had to do it: With streaming now the top mode of listener consumption by far — up nearly 60 percent this year — and hip-hop/R&B easily outpacing any other genre, the Katy Perrys and Maroon 5s of the world needed an emissary.
