Formed in 1996 in Trondheim, Norway, Stargate broke into the US recording industry in 2001, with their first major credit on the single "One Night Stand" by British girl group Mis-Teeq, which peaked within the top five of the Billboard Dance Charts.
The duo has worked extensively with Barbadian singer Rihanna, having produced her singles "Don't Stop The Music", "Rude Boy", "Only Girl (In The World)", "What's My Name?
[5] Stargate started in 1996 as a songwriting trio in Trondheim, Norway, consisting of Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, and Hallgeir Rustan (born 11 April 1966).
Initially, their work was slow until they met singer-songwriter Ne-Yo in a hallway at Sony Music Studios in New York.
Ne-Yo, who had been working on his debut album, In My Own Words, decided to collaborate with the team, aware that Stargate produced R&B records.
[14] Also in 2006, Stargate and Taj Jackson gave US singer-songwriter Lionel Richie with "I Call It Love" his first R&B hit in 10 years.
Although "Beautiful Liar" is chiefly a US song, it includes British songwriters Amanda Ghost and Ian Dench, thus eligible for the award.
[12][24] On Ne-Yo's third solo album, Year of the Gentleman, Stargate produced and co-wrote four songs, among them the singles "Closer" and "Miss Independent", the latter of which had reached No.
The song was intended as a joke in Ylvis's Norwegian talk show but became an unexpected viral hit with over 900 million views as of December 2019.
[33] Eriksen and Hermansen's connection with Jay-Z, who was then the CEO of the record label Def Jam, began with the release of "So Sick".
The programme features mentoring from Ne-Yo, Charli XCX, JetsonMade, Emily Warren and John Cunningham.
Jeff Rabhan Chairman of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, joined the programme as executive director.
[41] On the US launch party in New York on 12 October 2011 Jay-Z came to show his support and explained to the reporter that he was "a little bit Norwegian, as I am sure you know".
[41] Tor Erik Hermansen owns one third of the award-winning Norwegian St. Lars restaurant in Oslo together with international TV-chef Andreas Viestad[42] and Face2Face-founder Per Meland.
[42] The owners have tried to bring some of the ambience from the New York-restaurant The Spotted Pig, owned by Stargate's StarRoc-partner Jay-Z, to the restaurant.
[1][2][8] Hermansen and Eriksen grew up as R&B and hip-hop (urban) fanatics in Norwegian suburbs, where most youths listen to Europop and US rock.
"[6] According to the team, they have always loved US music, citing acts such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Usher, Destiny's Child, and R. Kelly and the British band Depeche Mode as their inspiration.
[8] In their usual production style, Stargate first creates an instrumental backing track—also common in pop and hip hop productions—from which a collaborator would write lyrics and add vocal melody into.
When we have some killer beats and musical starting points, we hook up with one of our favorite topline writers, who gets cracking on the lyrics and melody.
[34] Ben Sisario of The New York Times described Stargate's music as "sugary, lilting R&B in the Michael Jackson vein leavened with the kind of melody-rich European pop that paints everything in bright primary colors ... Their work carries on a tradition of Scandinavian bubble-gum artistry that stretches from Abba to Max Martin".
[6] Sisario added that, unlike other's producers in the US, "Stargate signature is more difficult to detect, because to some degree the duo's style is an adaptable method, not a specific sound".
[6] Steve Lunt, an A&R executive at Atlantic Records, pointed out, however, that "if you put a bunch of Stargate songs together you will see the thread running through them".
Sheffield commented that, in the song "Tattoo" by Jordin Sparks, the team "have no shame about churning out 'Irreplaceable' replicants forever", reprising the acoustic guitar-drum loop formula.