Muni Long on the secret to a TikTok hit, who's on her playlist and writing for Ariana Grande

In USA TODAY’s The Essentials, celebrities share what fuels their lives, whether it's at home, on the set or on the road.

R&B hitmaker Muni Long has an unmatched pen.

Writing pop hits for Rihanna ("California King Bed"), Fifth Harmony ("Worth It"), Mariah Carey, Madonna, Ariana Grande and more, she's spent the past half decade or so on her own recording path. Breaking out in 2021 with her Grammy-winning single "Hrs & Hrs," she looks to replicate the success at February's award show, where she's nominated four times – the most in the R&B category – including best R&B album for her most recent project, "Revenge," and its TikTok-viral standout single "Made For Me."

"When you go viral on TikTok, there's this stigma there (suggesting) the impact isn't real, or it's just kind of fly by night. So to get the recognition from my peers that like, 'No, actually, it's legit. We actually really like what she's doing and we love that she's bringing R&B back.' It's really affirming for me."

From what's on her playlist (Kendrick Lamar's "GNX") to her songwriting must-haves, vocal cures and what makes a TikTok-certified hit, Muni Long lets us in on her Essentials.

Muni Long on her 'stream of consciousness' songwriting: 'I get this divine download'

Long's foremost rule for songwriting is no distractions. The "Ruined Me" singer doesn't have many people in the studio with her to record a song, and she tries not to get another person's music in her head. "I want my ideas to be my melodies and lyrics to be as original as they can be."

Like a heavenly gift, the artist says she can't "take credit" for her songwriting expertise.

"It's just a stream of consciousness. I get this divine download (and) it just falls out of my mouth," she says. "The song just comes out so fast, like 10 minutes, start to finish. I've got a first verse, I got a chorus, I got a pre-(chorus). It might take me an extra 10 minutes to write a bridge, but never more than 45 minutes."

The inspiration can hit her out of nowhere, even mid-conversation, where she has to excuse herself before she loses the spark. "The people who are used to seeing it, they just get out of the way and let me do it. The people who aren't used to seeing it, it's like, 'Did you just make that up right now?'"

Muni Long takes us to songwriting school

What makes a good song and, likewise, a good songwriter?

"I was taught that great songs have space," Long says. "The space between the melody and the lyric is just as important to pause as the melody and lyric."

The singer says it's also important for a song to grab your attention early on, be clear and have an earworm chorus.

"There's a song on (the 1990s children's TV series) 'Lamb Chop' that I liked when I used to be a kid," she says, singing "The Song That Doesn't End." "It just loops. If you can do that with a song, you have a really great ability. If you started anywhere in the song and just read it out loud, it makes sense."

As far as writer's block is concerned, the Grammy winner can't relate.

"If I have nothing coming up, that means there's nothing that wants to be said right now," she says. "I don't really have much involvement, aside from being the voice and just saying out loud what I hear in my head."

Muni Long's vocal rituals: Rest, tea and ginger crystals

Long is all about her vocal health. Before a show, you might see her drinking a cup of tea with her fresh ginger crystals, and she is sure to get a good night's sleep and avoid coffee, alcohol or anything citrus days before a performance.

"I didn't used to take it as serious. I was just so stressed out and trying to do everything," she says. "Especially with having lupus, I was just inflamed, and I couldn't get the inflammation down, and I would lose my voice a lot."

She points out that on the morning of her breakthrough performance of "Made For Me" at the Soul Train Awards in 2023, she couldn't speak. It took a vocal coach two hours to bring her voice back to life.

"It's like you're an athlete. It's not a joke," she says. "So sometimes I even have to walk around with a sign or a sticky note on my shirt that says 'vocal rest.' Or I have hand signals (to show) I'm not talking. It's a very strict regiment."

What's on Muni Long's playlist? Kendrick Lamar, classical music and subliminal messaging

"I listen to things that are far separate and apart from anything that I might be trying to make at the time," Long says.

Like many other rap fans, Long has Lamar's latest album, "GNX," and wanted collaborator Tyler, The Creator's most recent album, "Chromakopia," on her playlist.

But her music tastes also veer on the "eclectic," she says. One of her favorite musicians is Italian film composer Piero Piccioni, and she listens to audio subliminal messages, solfeggio frequencies – relaxing sound patterns thought to have positive health effects – and rain sounds.

"I listen to (Piccioni) a lot on plane rides, when I'm in hotels and I need to calm down. I also listened to a lot of frequency music, so like subliminal messaging. You know, 'You're powerful.' 'You're awesome.'"

'Made For Me' singer Muni Long on what makes a TikTok hit

Long's music has gained a natural following on TikTok. The chorus to "Time Machine," with its velvety smooth yodels, has been used as TikTokers look to rewind time, and "Made For Me" saw users reunite soundtracked by the line, "Twin, where have you been?"

There's no formula for making a TikTok-approved track – and it's best not to try.

"There's things that I do think could have potential, but I feel like the TikTok formula works best when it's organic," she says. "If you're on the platform enough, you can sniff out what's real and what isn't. Like when someone's trying to go viral, it's obvious."

TikTok users can spot the fake from the familiar, she says.

"Speaking TikTok is a language. There's a way that you word certain stuff, and those are the things that make them go viral. I don't think you can predict it."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Muni Long, 'Hrs and Hrs' singer, on songwriting, going viral on TikTok