The two first met in their adopted hometown of Philadelphia where Legend was attending college and Tozer was hustling up sessions and gigs. When a mutual friend invited John Legend — then known as John Stephens — to an informal jam, the duo bonded. “I thought, ‘This guy is pretty good’,” recalls Tozer.

Tozer was soon co-writing and producing with the artist and mailing out indie CDs from his apartment. Armed with an industry directory, he cold-called record labels. “People knew it was going on,” remembers Tozer. “We had good songs.” When John Stephens was inked to Kanye West‘s production company, Tozer remained an integral member of the team behind the artist now known to the world as John Legend.

Signed to powerhouse publisher Famous Music, Tozer has also inked an across-the-board production deal with Sony, encompassing all of their labels. In addition to his ongoing relationship with Legend, he has created songs and tracks with Heather Headley, Estelle and Natasha Bedingfield.

His late start notwithstanding, Tozer has clearly made up for lost time. “My friend found a five-page letter I sent him in the summer of 1996,” laughs the tunesmith. “I said I’d started writing lyrics and music, but I wrote, ‘Nothing I would ever play for anybody’.”

These start in the Caribbean, of course, since Headley hails from Trinidad. Hence the prominent reggae-flavored album track "Rain," which features Shaggy and is one of several Headley co-writes.

"The beauty of the island was the music — calypso, soca, reggae," explains Headley, who was also exposed to classical, country, gospel, r&b, and even Bollywood music before moving with her family to Ft. Wayne, Ind., at 15. "So I was never pigeonholed in what I listened to — and I think [my lable] gets mad because I sing whatever I want to. To me, a good song is a good song."

Songs are clearly the key for Headley, who chooses to collaborate when it comes to writing them. "I like to hear people say, 'Why don't you try this?,' or 'That second verse isn't working.' I love working off other people's energy."

As a singer, meanwhile, she cites Whitney Houston and CeCe Winans as role models, and has rightly drawn critics' comparisons with Mariah Carey, Beyoncé and Mary J. Blige. But she's stern when she cautions against neglecting those who came first.

"We have great singers in our generation, but whenever I think I'm getting a little too good, I listen to singers like Ella Fitzgerald," she concedes. "They bring me back to earth — and we can't let them be forgotten!"