Ilya Salmanzadeh (; born 19 September 1986 in Stockholm), known mononymously as ILYA, is a Swedish-Persian songwriter, producer and singer. He rose to prominence outside of Sweden after co-writing and producing Ariana Grande's "Problem" and Jennifer Lopez's "First Love". Career In 2005 at the age of 19, Ilya signed with Warner/Chappell Music in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2009, he graduated from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. "Miss Me", Mohombi & Nelly's song in 2010, was Ilya's first internationally acclaimed production. In 2011, he produced "Mama" and "Reba" from The Lonely Island's Grammy-nominated album, Turtleneck & Chain. In 2013, he produced Cher Lloyd's song, "I Wish", and Fifth Harmony's award-winning song, "Me & My Girls". Alongside Max Martin, he co-wrote and produced Ariana Grande's "Problem" and Jennifer Lopez's "First Love" in 2014. "Problem" went on to become one of the fastest-selling singles in iTunes history before winning a Teen Choice Award, VMA and EMA months later. In June 2014, Ilya was nominated for the Denniz Pop Awards, an annual prize handed out to up-and-coming musicians. "Bang Bang", co-produced by Ilya, was released as a joint single by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj on 29 July 2014 to universal acclaim. In January 2015, Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do", co-written by Ilya, was released for the soundtrack album to the motion picture, Fifty Shades of Grey, becoming the most-streamed song in a week on Spotify. In May 2015, he remixed Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" with Kendrick Lamar, which became his first No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He co-wrote and produced large parts of Ariana Grande's later albums Sweetener and Thank U, Next. In 2019, Salmanzadeh co-wrote and produced Beyoncé's Grammy-nominated song "Spirit". He also worked on the production of Labrinth's singles "Miracle" and "Oblivion" (which features Sia), both taken from his sophomore solo album, Imagination & the Misfit Kid. Discography Singles As lead artist 2007: "Used To Be" As featured artist 2009: "Get You on the Pool" (Kocky & Trash featuring Ilya) 2011: "Got It Like That" (Lazee ft. Ilya) Production discography Ilya's works include: Awards and nominations See also Persian Swedes List of songs recorded by Jennifer Lopez References External links 1986 births Living people English-language singers from Sweden Musicians Institute alumni People from Kerman Singers from Stockholm Swedish agnostics Swedish audio engineers Swedish composers Swedish male composers Swedish dance musicians Swedish expatriates in the United States