The wait is finally over. Lust for Life, the new studio album from pop superstar Lana Del Rey is here and features 16 tracks of soon-to-be classic Del Rey tracks. Unlike her past efforts which relied on a handful of collaborators, Del Rey’s latest features an impressive laundry list of names, from featured artists to superstar producers, music vets to fresh faces.
In honor of Lust for Life’s grand debut, here’s a guide to everyone who helped Del Rey’s latest come to fruition.
Rick Nowels
A veteran producer who’s collaborated with everyone from Madonna to John Legend, Nowels’ creative fingerprints are all over Lust for Life. Credited as co-writer and/or producer on all 16 tracks, Nowels has been working with Del Rey since her 2012 album Born to Die, most notably co-writing and producing the ubiquitous hit “Summertime Sadness.” In a 2013 interview with Billboard, Nowels says he first met the singer in the summer of 2011. “I had heard some of her songs on YouTube and I loved what she was doing. When we wrote [“Summertime Sadness”], I realized that she was a brilliant songwriter and a magical artist. She writes the kind of music I want to listen to.”
A$AP Rocky
The star rapper is featured on two stand-out Lust for Life tracks: the sultry odes “Summer Bummer” (alongside Playboi Carti) as well as “Groupie Love.” Teased in an early June Instagram post with the caption “I think we made a lot of good ones but we saved the best ones for the record,” A$AP’s appearances on Lust for Life mark their first released songs as a duo — but it’s far from their first collaboration. In 2012, the two joined forces on the track “Ridin,’” an early cut that was later leaked online but never officially released. In addition, Rocky made an appearance as JFK to Del Rey’s Jackie O in the video for her hit “National Anthem.”
Max Martin
One of the most successful producers in music history, Max Martin has built a career on crafting culture-defining smash hits from Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” to Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” On Lust for Life, Martin helped Del Rey spruce up the Weeknd-featured title track, which came about after Del Rey made a special trip to the producer’s Swedish studio.
Boi-1Da
Perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with Drake (he’s signed to the superstar’s OVO Sound label), the Toronto music maker lends his producing prowess to Lust for Life standout “Summer Bummer” which also features A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti. Boi-1da’ s other recent collaborations include the Nicki Minaj track “Regret in Your Tears” (which chronicles her breakup with rapper Meek Mill) and the Rihanna hit “Work.”
The Weeknd
Featured on the album’s title track “Lust for Life,” the idea of including the pop superstar came from Del Rey herself. The first song she wrote for the album, “Lust for Life” was later spruced up by the aforementioned powerhouse producer Max Martin. Once Martin worked his magic, Del Rey noted in an interview for Dazed: “I was like, ‘Let’s try and make the verse the chorus,’ and we did, and it sounded perfect. That’s when I felt like I really wanted to hear Abel (The Weeknd) sing the chorus, so he came down and rewrote a little bit of it.” “Lust for Life” isn’t the first time the two pop superstars collaborated; Del Rey pitched in her vocal and songwriting prowess on Weeknd cuts for last year’s Starboy and 2015’s Beauty Behind the Madness.
Stevie Nicks
The singer-songwriter legend has been making a return to prominence of sorts, featured on both the Lust for Life track “Beautiful People Beautiful Problems” and duetting with Harry Styles in concert. Talking about working with the Fleetwood Mac star, Del Rey told KROQ in a recent interview: “She’s everything you hope she’s gonna be. She’s so contemporary, and she knows all the new music that’s out weekly. She loved the track and she added so much to it.” When chatting with Del Rey herself for V Magazine, Nicks said the collaboration changed her forever. “We are witchy sisters and that’s it. That’s where ‘Beautiful People, Beautiful Problems’ comes from, because we are trying to ride above all the problems and have hope in everything else, but it’s still a world filled with problems no matter how hard we try to change it.”
Justin Parker
Listed as co-writer for the aforementioned Stevie Nicks-featured track “Beautiful People Beautiful Problems,” Parker is a longtime Del Rey collaborator, helping pen a majority of the pop singer’s early hits from “Video Games” to “Born to Die.” Besides writing with Del Rey, Parker has also penned songs for a plethora of artists ranging from Rihanna and Mikky Ekko’s “Stay,” to Linkin Park’s “Invisible,” and even the Keith Urban track “Shame.”
Playboy Carti
Featured on the single “Summer Bummer” alongside fellow rapper A$AP Rocky, the track marks Playboi Carti’s first collaboration with Del Rey. Recently named as part of XXL Magazine’s Freshman Class of 2017, the 20-year-old Harlem rapper has teamed up with Rocky multiple times throughout the years, most recently on the track “Choppa” from his recently released self-titled debut commercial mixtape. Carti is currently making a splash with the rising single “Magnolia.”
Benny Blanco
Well known for concocting an array of smash hits for a variety of artists, Blanco lends his superstar producer tendencies on Lust for Life’s simply-titled opening track “Love.” For Blanco, the Del Rey cut is only the latest high profile release for the hitmaker who’s currently on the charts as producer for the Ed Sheeran album ÷, the Julia Michaels breakout “Issues,” and pop songstress Camila Cabello’s “Crying in the Club.”
Sean Lennon Ono
The offspring of music royalty, Lennon Ono has been busy hopping from project to project as of late. As part of The Claypool Lennon Delirium with collaborator Les Claypool, their most recent album was the art rock effort Monolith of Phobos. In addition, Lennon Ono lent his guitar skills to the Lady Gaga album Joanne. On Lust for Life, Lennon Ono is featured on the album’s 13th track “Tomorrow Never Came” which almost certainly alludes to his late father’s classic “Tomorrow Never Knows.” When speaking to Dazed about the collaboration, Del Rey explained Lennon Ono was very hands on: “I had listened to his records over the years and I did think it was his vibe, so I played it for him and he liked it. He rewrote his verse and had extensive notes, down to the mix.”
Emile Haynie
Credited as co-writer and co-producer on Lust for Life’s opening track “Love,” Haynie has crafted tracks with a genre-spanning list of stars. Alongside close collaborator and fellow star producer Jeff Bhasker, Haynie is behind everything from Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” to the Kanye West standout “Runaway.” When it comes to his history with Del Rey, the two previously teamed up for Born to Die, with Haynie helping craft nearly every track, including the Lana landmarks “Blue Jeans” and “Summertime Sadness.”