A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist^{[citation needed]}. This differentiates from a singer-composer^{[citation needed]}, who composes the song's melody.

Collaboration takes different forms. Some composers and lyricists work closely together on the song, with each having an input into both words and tune. Oftentimes, a lyricist will fill in the words to a tune already fully written out. Dorothy Fields worked in this way. Lyricists have often added words to an established tune, as Johnny Burke did with the Erroll Garner tune Misty. Some partnerships work almost totally independently, for example, Bernie Taupin famously writes lyrics and hands them over to Elton John, who then sets them to music, with minimum interaction between the two men.

In the Christian hymn-singing tradition, many of the best-loved pieces have words written to fit existing melodies. The Christmas carol, What Child Is This, had its words set to an old English folk tune that formerly was a lover's lament, Greensleeves. The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams famously set existing poems, by men like William Cowper and Charles Wesley, to traditional folk tunes to create hymns, many of which he published in the English Hymnal. A different way in which this happened was the marriage of non-related words and tune, a well known example being The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States, with words written by Francis Scott Key strictly as a poem, which was later set to the tune of an old drinking song.

Adidja Palmer (born 7 January 1976)- better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican dancehall artist, songwriter and businessman. He has many nicknames, including: Addi, The Teacher, World Boss, Kartel, Vybz, Gaza General and Gaza Don.

Adidja Palmer began his career as a teenager in 1993 with his first recording "Love Fat Woman", released on Alvin Reid's label "One Heart", using the moniker "Adi Banton", a homage to Buju Banton. Palmer was later part of the three-member group "Vybez Cartel", keeping the slightly altered name after group split up, and became a protege of Bounty Killer, for whom he claims to have written nearly 30 songs, including "Gal Clown".

Vybz Kartel rose to prominence in 2003 after a string of hits in Jamaica. The year culminated in a pre-planned on-stage clash with Ninjaman at the annual dancehall festival Sting in Kartel's hometown of Portmore. The clash turned violent when Kartel's crewmembers, as well as Kartel himself, threw punches and assaulted Ninjaman onstage. While Kartel's manager initially blamed Ninjaman for the fracas, Kartel himself quickly apologised to Ninjaman and Sting organizers for the fracas. Four days after the incident, the two artists appeared before the press to announce a settlement of their differences and to end any animosity.

Sameer (Hindi: समीर, born 24 February 1958) is an Indian lyricist,the main form of work undertaken by Sameer is for Indian songs in Hindi language films. His father is the famed Hindi lyricist, Anjaan (Lalji Pandey). . He has won three Filmfare Awards. Recently, he announced his association with Tumbhi where he would nurture & review artists and their artwork.(2010).

Sameer, officially named Shitala Pandey, but commonly known by his nickname Rajan, was born near Benaras, Uttar Pradesh. He earned a Master of Commerce degree at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, and started a new position as a bank officer at the Central Bank of India. However, a few days after joining, he left the job because, according to him, he "knew the bank was not my world". In order to pursue a career as a lyricist, he moved to Mumbai in 1980.

Sameer started his career as a lyricist in 1983 with the film Bekhabar (1983). The first film song he recorded was Maar Ke Kataaree Mar Jaibe for the Bhojpuri film Bairi Saawan (1984) sung by Suresh Wadkar and Preeti Sagar. In 1990, he came into prominence with hit songs in films such as Dil and Aashiqui. He won his first Filmfare Award for the song Nazar Ke Saamne in the latter. In the following decades he emerged as a leading lyricist in Bollywood, writing the lyrics for over 500 Hindi films (4,000 songs).

Rah Digga (born Rashia Fisher) is an American rapper. Well known as a long time member of the Flipmode Squad, a hip hop group led by Busta Rhymes, she parted ways amicably with the group in 2007. She has been called "one of rap's most prominent women MCs" by Allmusic and "one of hip-hop's most skilled female MCs" in the book How to Rap. Rah Digga is a resident of Newark, New Jersey.

Rah Digga was born in New Jersey and went to study electrical engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She learned how to rap by studying the raps of KRS-One, Rakim, and Kool G Rap of the Juice Crew.

She starred in the movie Thirteen Ghost, and she worked with hip-hop group Twice the Flavor before joining the Outsidaz, leading to a feature on the track "Cowboys" from the Fugees album The Score. Being seen by Q-Tip at the Lyricist Lounge lead to her meeting with Busta Rhymes, and joining his Flipmode Squad, later appearing on "numerous Busta Rhymes albums". Her debut solo, Dirty Harriet, was released in 2000 featuring Busta Rhymes and Eve. She also worked with Bahamadia on the track "Be Ok" from Lyricist Lounge, Vol. 1.

Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973) is an American actor and MC, known by the stage names Mos Def ( /ˌmoʊsˈdɛf/) and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which released the album Black Star in 1998. He was a major force in late 1990s underground hip hop while with Rawkus Records. As a solo artist he has released the albums Black on Both Sides in 1999, The New Danger in 2004, True Magic in 2006, and The Ecstatic in 2009.

Although he was initially recognized for his musical output, since the early 2000s, Mos Def's screen work has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who has garnered critical acclaim for his acting work. He is well known for his portrayal of Brother Sam in the American drama series Dexter. Mos Def has also been active in several social and political causes.

He was born Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdul Rahman. He was raised by his mother in Brooklyn; his father lived in New Jersey. While his father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later an active member in the community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into mainstream Islam from the Nation, Mos Def was not exposed to Islam until the age of 13. At 19, he took his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. He is friends with Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest.