Riley Green is already proving himself to be a hit songwriter. Green writes most of his songs, penning both his recent No. 1 hit, "Worst Way," and his current "Don't Mind If I Do" duet with Ella Langley by himself.
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But Green now admits songwriting didn't come naturally to him, at least at first. Growing up in a household that loved country music, even if most of his family were not musically gifted, Green reveals that one of the very first songs he wrote was actually rap.
"I wrote a song called 'Escalade,' that was about getting in an Escalade," Green admits on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "It had a rap part in it."
It was when Green went to a writers' night that he realized if he wanted to be a songwriter, it was time to get serious.
"I learned how to write, because I got tired of playing the same cover songs all the time," Green shares. "And I remember going to Nashville for the first time, playing a writers' round at Tootsie's. There were 15 people in line after me, and every one of them was better than me. So I was like, 'Man, what can I do to set myself apart?'
"No one can tell the exact stories that I tell," he continues. "So I started writing songs about how I grew up, and my family, and those values. I was really fortunate that I think a lot of people grew up the same way. I think a lot of those songs did really well."
Riley Green Shares The Story Behind "Don't Mind If I Do" With Ella Langley
In a now well-known story, Green says he never intended Langley to join him on "Don't Mind If I Do." Fortunately for Langley, she's such a talented singer, that Green quickly realized she was perfect for the song.
"I remember sitting there, and she was like in a sweatsuit," Green recalls to his record label. "She came by the house and sang it, and it was just, I couldn't imagine anybody doing it better than she did. So, it was cool for her to be on the song. Also having her out with all the success on the other song, and also lyrically, it kind of feels like the song after 'You Look Like You Love Me.' So it's kind of cool to have that accidentally work out."
