Biography

South African R&B singer and songwriter Candice Pillay moved to the U.S. at the age of 19. In the early 2010s, after several years of trying to break into the industry, she gained major traction once she co-wrote a track for Rihanna ("Cockiness [Love It]"), and co-wrote and co-produced several cuts for Christina Aguilera's Lotus album. In 2015, after she racked up additional credits with Tinie Tempah, Pillay released a mixtape titled The Mood Kill, and a number of high-profile releases surfaced with her input. First was Rihanna's "American Oxygen," a single co-written by Pillay, and Dr. Dre's Compton followed a few months later with Pillay's writing on five tracks, two of which also featured her as an artist. A little later in the year, former Danity Kane members Shannon Bex and Aubrey O'Day debuted their slightly left of center Dumblonde project with a self-titled album that involved her writing on all but one cut. In September 2020, she released Stand Silent with Jon Connor, a protest song inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in the US and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi