Kendra Foster and X Ambassadors’ Sam Harris know a thing or two about songwriting. Foster is a two-time Grammy winner for her work with D’Angelo on his seminal Black Messiah LP, while Harris has written for Rihanna and scored major song placements with Chrysler and ESPN College Football, and in the Will Smith movie Bright. We paired Foster and Harris for a deep-dive conversation on all things songwriting, and they delivered. This conversation covers co-writing, making time to work on new joints while on tour, how songwriting blends technical and spiritual elements, and working with and without producers. It also takes in the artistic and financial benefits of taking risks, how D’Angelo taught Kendra to be patient with her perfectionism, and the way Imagine Dragons forever changed X Ambassadors’ career. Check it out, and subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.