Diana Gordon, Beyoncé's Lemonade Co-Writer

Diana Gordon

She's not new on the block, she's been in the business for a lot longer than you might think. Few thinks to know about Diana Gordon.  

1. She signed her first record deal when she was 19 years old but walked away in 2011 because she felt like the music didn't fully reflect her personality. "I was doing these performances and making money, but it got to the point where it felt so foreign," she told The Fader earlier this month.

2. She's since signed with another record label but doesn't know if she wants to release a traditional album. Her years of working with finicky record execs have left her "anti-formula."

3. Her first major writing credit was "Gonna Breakthrough," featured on Mary J. Blige's 2005 album The Breakthrough. 

4. She's also written for Ciara ("Livin' It Up"), Jennifer Lopez ("Starting Over," "What Is Love?" and "Everybody's Girl"), and Danity Kane ("2 of You").

5. She was the featured vocalist on the 2009 Flo Rida song "Sugar." She also co-wrote the song and appeared in its music video.

6. She had a number-one hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart with her 2010 single "Dirty Talk."

7. In 2011 she released her first album, With the Music I Die, under the name Wynter Gordon. 

8. She co-wrote three songs on Lemonade: "Sorry," "Daddy Lessons," and "Don't Hurt Yourself." In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she called Beyoncé a "scientist of songs" and said her process is very collaborative. "She definitely doesn't take things as is, at least not from me," Diana said. "I came in on the Jack White song ["Don't Hurt Yourself"] and helped finish it."

9. Last month she shared a poem that explains why she decided to go by Diana again. "I release all the negativity surrounding my past including a false name that I wore as a costume," she wrote. "I wiped it off like smudged makeup after a long night of partying. My real name is Diana. It says so on my birth certificate. And it's time for me to get to know her."

10. Beyoncé has made her the performance coach for her protégés Chloe x Halle. Diana has called them her "beautiful younger sisters."

 11. Her newest song is called "The Legend Of," and it's the first song she's released under her real name. "I've never been comfortable stating my value or saying 'I am exceptional,'" she said of the song. "'The Legend Of' is a tiny cliff note of stories from my life. It blends music I enjoy, the unique tones that make up my voice and is a celebration of my achievements and lessons I've learned disguised as failures."