It happened at the 2013 Grammys. Rihanna stood center stage, stripped of the neon lights and the high-octane choreography that usually defined her world tours. She just sang. That performance of "Stay" didn't just climb the charts; it stayed there. But if you look at the liner notes, you'll see it wasn't a solo effort. So, who wrote the song stay by rihanna? It's a question that leads down a path of a then-unknown songwriter and a demo that was almost too personal to give away.
The Secret Architect: Mikky Ekko
The primary engine behind the track is a guy named Mikky Ekko. Back in 2012, Mikky was a struggling musician in Nashville, not exactly the place you'd expect a global R&B-pop smash to originate. He wasn't trying to write a hit for a superstar. He was just trying to write.
Mikky wrote the song with Justin Parker. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Parker is the same mind behind Lana Del Rey’s "Video Games." They had a specific vibe in mind—something raw. When they finished the demo, it wasn't a "Rihanna song." It was just a Mikky Ekko song.
His label sent it out. Honestly, Mikky wasn't even sure he wanted to give it up. He told Billboard later that the song was so intimate it felt like "revealing a secret." But when Rihanna heard it, she didn't just want the song; she wanted him on it. That's why the version we all know is a duet. She knew she couldn't recreate that specific vulnerability without the person who felt it first.
The Justin Parker Connection
Justin Parker is the king of the "sad girl" ballad, though he'd probably hate that label. His involvement is why the piano arrangement feels so hauntingly hollow. It doesn't use the massive, layered synths that dominated 2013. Instead, it relies on space.
Parker and Ekko hit a vein of gold. They avoided the "club anthem" trap. At the time, Rihanna was coming off the back of Talk That Talk, which was heavy on dance-pop. She needed a pivot. Parker provided the structural bones—those simple, repetitive piano chords—that allowed her voice to actually break.
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Why Rihanna Fought for This Track
When people ask who wrote the song stay by rihanna, they often overlook the "polishing" stage. Elof Loelv is the third name you'll see in the credits. He handled the co-production and helped bridge the gap between a Nashville demo and a global pop record.
Rihanna’s team, including the legendary A&R person Jay Brown, heard the potential immediately. But Rihanna was the one who insisted on keeping the production sparse. Most labels would have tried to add a beat. They would have tried to make it "radio-friendly" by 2013 standards—meaning loud. She said no.
It was a risk.
Think about it. In a world of EDM-pop, she released a song that was basically just a piano and two voices. It worked because the songwriting was bulletproof. Mikky Ekko’s lyrics like "Not really sure how to feel about it / Something in the way you move" are deceptively simple. They don't use big metaphors. They use plain English to describe a complicated, messy relationship.
A Masterclass in Vulnerability
The song actually changed the trajectory of Rihanna's career. Before "Stay," she was the untouchable "Good Girl Gone Bad." After "Stay," she was a human being. The song's authorship is vital because it proves that Rihanna doesn't just pick "hits"—she picks stories that mirror her own life. At the time, her personal life was under a microscope. Everyone was talking about her relationship status.
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Mikky Ekko's lyrics provided the perfect vessel for her to express things she couldn't say in an interview. Even though she didn't write the words herself, her delivery made them hers. That's the mark of a great interpreter of song.
The Impact on Mikky Ekko’s Career
For Mikky, "Stay" was a double-edged sword. On one hand, he was suddenly on the Grammy stage with one of the biggest artists on the planet. On the other, he was forever linked to a song he wrote in a moment of private desperation.
He's gone on to work with everyone from Vince Staples to Olivia Lovato, but "Stay" remains his calling card. It’s the "pension" song—the one that will be played at weddings and in grocery stores for the next forty years.
People often get confused and think Sia wrote it. It’s an easy mistake. Sia wrote "Diamonds," which was on the same album, Unapologetic. But "Stay" has a different DNA. It’s less "soaring anthem" and more "shaky confession." That's the Mikky Ekko touch.
Misconceptions About the Writing Process
There's this weird myth in pop music that "songwriting camps" produce everything. You know the ones—twenty writers in a room with a beat. That wasn't the case here.
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- It started as a solo project. Mikky wrote it for his own album.
- The demo stayed largely intact. The version you hear on the radio is shockingly close to the original draft.
- Justin Parker’s piano is the original take. They didn't even re-record some of the core elements because the "feel" was impossible to catch twice.
Writing a hit isn't always about math. Sometimes it's about catching a mood before it evaporates. Parker and Ekko caught lightning in a bottle, and Rihanna had the sense to leave the bottle open.
How to Appreciate the Crafting of "Stay"
If you're a songwriter or just a fan, looking at the construction of this track is a lesson in restraint.
The Chords: It uses a basic C - Dm - Am - F progression. It’s the "four chords of pop," but it starts on the C major and lingers on the D minor. This creates a sense of unresolved tension. It feels like a question that never gets answered.
The Lyrics: Note the lack of a traditional "bridge." The song flows like a conversation. It doesn't build to a massive explosion; it just cycles through the emotion until it fades out.
The Production: Listen to the vocal bleed. You can hear the room. You can hear the breath. Most modern pop is scrubbed clean of those "human" noises. Elof Loelv kept them in.
Taking Action: Beyond the Credits
Understanding who wrote the song stay by rihanna is just the start. If you want to dive deeper into the world of minimalist songwriting, here’s what you should do:
- Listen to Mikky Ekko’s solo version. It’s available on various streaming platforms. Hearing it without Rihanna’s star power lets you appreciate the raw structural integrity of the song.
- Check out Justin Parker’s discography. Look for his work with Lana Del Rey and Bat for Lashes. You’ll start to hear a "signature" in how he uses piano to create atmosphere.
- Study the "Unapologetic" liner notes. Compare "Stay" to "Diamonds." One is a feat of engineering and soaring vocals; the other is a feat of songwriting and restraint.
The legacy of "Stay" isn't just that it sold millions of copies. It's that it proved you don't need a wall of sound to reach the back of a stadium. You just need the right words, written by the right people, at the exact moment the world is ready to listen.