Negin

Negin is the stage name of Swedish songwriter Negin Djafari, born in Gothenburg. Both of her parents were born in Iran: her mother Roohangiz is a singer and performer of classical Persian folk music, and her father Mohammed is, among other things, an organizer of music and cultural events in Gothenburg.

She started out as a singer herself, took private vocal technique lessons in high school, and then focused on songwriting. After high school she connected with the songwriting and production team Random, then made up of Hugo Lira and Thomas Gustafsson. They hired her to write melodies and lyrics for backing tracks pitched to artists around the world.

Her credits include I Believe in You for Agnes, the winner of Swedish Idol, on an album that reached No. 1 in Sweden. She gained international attention in 2007 with One in a Million, featured on Miley Cyrus’s album “Hannah Montana 2,” which topped U.S. charts and was certified four-times platinum.

She has also written songs for Asian artists such as Japanese acts Koda Kumi, Exile and Namie Amuro, as well as South Koreans BoA and TVXQ. Her song Last Angel became a major success for Koda Kumi; released in 2008, it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 400,000 copies sold in a week. She now lives in the United States, where most of her work takes place.