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Stargate
OriginTrondheim, Norway
Occupations
Years active1996–present
Labels
Members
  • Mikkel S. Eriksen
  • Tor E. Hermansen
Past members
  • Hallgeir Rustan

Stargate is a record producing and songwriting team composed of Tor Erik Hermansen (born 14 October 1972) and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen (born 10 December 1972), based in Los Angeles. The team's genres include R&B, pop and hip hop. Stargate was established in Trondheim, Norway.

They have produced or written for Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, Wiz Khalifa, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Selena Gomez, Rita Ora, Normani, Mis-Teeq, Celine Dion, Blue, Janet Jackson, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Sam Smith, Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Pink, Sia, Whitney Houston, Nas, Chris Brown, Khalid, Charli XCX, Trey Songz and others.

Stargate broke into the American recording industry in 2001, with the release of One Night Stand, by British multi-platinum girl group Mis-Teeq, which peaked within the Top 5 of the Billboard Dance Charts.

Stargate and Mis-Teeq had further US chart success together, with the release of Scandalous. It charted at number 2 on the Billboard Dance Charts, No.11 on the Mainstream Top 40 and number 35 on Billboard Hot 100.

In 2006, Stargate had their first Hot 100 number 1 single, "So Sick", produced and co-written by the team and performed by Ne-Yo. They have since had 10 songs go to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. They also produced and co-wrote Beyoncé's worldwide hit single "Irreplaceable", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 consecutive weeks and "Firework" for Katy Perry. Throughout their career they have been noted for their extensive work with Rihanna, writing and producing four consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number 1 singles with the Barbadian singer in 2010 and 2011.

In 2013, the song "Almost Home" co-produced and interpreted by Mariah Carey for the Walt Disney movie Oz the Great and Powerful, won the 2013 World Music Awards for the World's Best Video.[3]

Formation and early works

Stargate began in 1996 as a song-writing trio in Trondheim, Norway, consisting of Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, and Hallgeir Rustan (born 11 April 1966).[4][5] When they first met, Hermansen was a talent scout for the Norwegian branch of the record label Warner Music Group, Eriksen owned a studio,[6] and Rustan was a mechanical engineer before becoming involved in music.[7] One of their first successful productions was with Norwegian R&B singer Noora Noor. Her first album "Curious" was produced in their Trondheim studio. Noora Noor was signed to the Norwegian branch of the record label Warner Music Group. "Need You", her main hit from this album, was released throughout Europe and gave Stargate attention from the UK music industry. While in Norway, they ventured into the British market, mostly writing songs for R&B-pop performers.[7] At this time they called the team Stargate, a name specifically established for their projects in the United Kingdom.[7]

The team's initial successes was in the British market.[4] Stargate's first international success came with British pop outfit S Club 7, whose 1999 single "S Club Party" reached No. 2 in Australia and No. 1 in New Zealand. This success was followed with another British pop group, Hear'Say's single "The Way to Your Love", which peaked at No. 1 in the United Kingdom in 2001.[8] The team has also produced many Top 10 hits in the United Kingdom for acts such as Blue, Mis-Teeq and Atomic Kitten,[4] and worked with European acts Javine, Shola Ama, Five, and Samantha Mumba.[9][10]

The team had been listening to American hits and "trying to measure up".[4] They remixed American hip-hop and R&B songs, adding layers of melody to suit the European radio audience. In the wake of their early successes, the team had to choose whether to remain in Norway or move to pursue their goals: "We knew that to make the records we really wanted to make, we had to go to America."[4] Hermansen and Eriksen chose to produce records in the United States, while Rustan preferred to remain a producer in Norway because he did not want to leave his family behind.[5][7]

In 2001, Stargate produced and co-wrote songs for American pop singer Mikaila's self-titled debut album. "So in Love With Two", a track from the album, had reached No. 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100,[11] becoming one of the team's earliest co-written singles that appeared on the US charts. It was followed three years later with Mis-Teeq's "Scandalous", which peaked at No. 35 on the Hot 100 and No. 2 in the United Kingdom.[6]

In the spring of 2005, Eriksen and Hermansen settled in New York. 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. After listening to each other's music, a songwriting session ensued and spawned in its second day the song "So Sick", which later topped the Billboard Hot 100 and ushered Stargate into American pop songwriting.[4][6]

Notable collaborations

Stargate and Ne-Yo collaborated on the hit single "Unfaithful" for Barbadian singer Rihanna's 2006 album A Girl Like Me.[4] In the same year, Stargate again collaborated with Ne-Yo for the single "Irreplaceable", recorded by American singer Beyoncé. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten consecutive weeks in 2006–07.[12] Also in 2006, Stargate and Taj Jackson gave American singer-songwriter Lionel Richie with "I Call It Love" his first R&B hit in 10 years.[13]

With the team's contributions to music, Stargate emerged as the No. 1 hot producer on the 2006 Billboard Year End Chart.[13] In the following year, Stargate received a Spellemann (Norwegian Grammy). The team received three awards at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards 2007 in Los Angeles, for the songs "So Sick", "Sexy Love" and "Unfaithful"; and two awards at the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards 2007 for "So Sick" and "Sexy Love". They were named Songwriters of the Year at the 2007 ASCAP/PRS in London, receiving nine awards including Song of the Year for "So Sick".[14][15]

In 2007, "Beautiful Liar", a duet between Knowles and Colombian singer Shakira, became another hit for Stargate, reaching No. 1 in more than 30 countries including the United Kingdom.[16] The song earned Hermansen and Eriksen the Ivor Novello Award for Best-Selling British song. Although "Beautiful Liar" is chiefly an American song, it includes British songwriters Amanda Ghost and Ian Dench, thus eligible for the award.[17][18]

At the 2008 ASCAP Pop Music Awards, Hermansen and Eriksen received five awards for most performed songs, including "Irreplaceable" among the top five.[19][20] Stargate was named Best Hitmakers in Rolling Stone magazine's "Best of Rock 2008".[21] Eriksen and Hermansen received Grammy nominations for five separate songs in six categories for the 2008 Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for "Irreplaceable", Best R&B Song for "Hate That I Love You" and Best Dance Record for "Don't Stop the Music".[10][22]

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. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[23] Stargate received nominations in more than 10 categories for the 2009 Grammy Awards.[24] They won their first Grammy in 2009 in the Best R&B Song category for "Miss Independent", performed by Ne-Yo.[25]

Stargate produced "Black and Yellow" for rapper Wiz Khalifa in 2010, a song that reached No. 1 in the Billboard U.S Charts,[26] and Sean Kingston's "Letting Go".[27] They produced four No. 1 singles for Barbadian recording artist Rihanna including "Rude Boy", "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?" and "S&M".[28] Stargate co-wrote and co-produced Owl City's single "Shooting Star" which was released on the Shooting Star EP on 15 May 2012.[29]

In 2013, the song "Almost Home" co-produced and interpreted by Mariah Carey for the Walt Disney movie Oz the Great and Powerful, won the 2013 World Music Awards for the World's Best Video.[30]

As a favor, Stargate also produced the song The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) for Norwegian brothers Ylvis. 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. The video was produced in return for the Ylvis brothers portraying the Stargate duo in a mockumenary. [31]

Other ventures

Star Roc

Stargate teamed-up with American hip hop mogul Jay-Z to launch the record label StarRoc. The label, which is based at Jay-Z's Roc The Mic studio in Manhattan, will be a 50/50 partnership with the team and Jay-Z's entertainment company Roc Nation.[32] 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". They met through Ty Ty Smith, A&R from record label Def Jam and a long-time friend of Jay-Z.[33] The label released one album, the self-titled release from Alexis Jordan in 2011.[34] As of 2016, the website's registration has expired. No posts have been made on the label's Instagram account since mid-2013[35] and its Twitter postings ceased in March 2014.[36] The current status of the label is unknown.

Steller Songs

In addition to their new venture, Eriksen signed a global co-publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing.[9] According to Music Week, his relationship with EMI will further the publishing company's involvement on Stargate's future projects.[37] Prior to the deal, EMI has been involved with Hermansen's projects for nearly ten years since he signed a deal in 1999.[9] Hermansen and Eriksen will also continue their joint-venture partnership, Stellar Songs, with EMI.[37]

Non-musical ventures

Mikkel Eriksen owns part of the Norwegian clothing firm JohnnyLove which they are trying to introduce to the American market.[38] On the American launch party in New York on 12 October 2011 Jay-Z came to show his support and stated to the reporter that he was "a little bit Norwegian, as I am sure you know".[38]

Tor Erik Hermansen owns one third of the award-winning Norwegian St. Lars restaurant in Oslo together with international TV-chef Andreas Viestad[39] and Face2Face-founder Per Meland.[39] Queen Sonja of Norway[39] and the former Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg are regular guests.[39] 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.[39]

Influences and style

Stargate chiefly produces songs in the genres; R&B, pop, dance-pop, Europop and hip hop music.[1][2][6]

Hermansen and Eriksen grew up as R&B and hip hop fanatics in Norwegian suburbs, where most children listen to Europop and American rock.[21] Their interest in music started in the 1980s with breakdance and rap.[5] Eriksen and Hermansen were raised on pop music, growing up listening to music of 1970s pop group ABBA and Germany-based pop outfit Boney M. In an article by The New York Times, Barry Weiss, president of Jive Records, who had hired Stargate to produce songs, "Those influences lend themselves to them making very melodic pop records, with great hooks and choruses."[4] According to the team, they have always loved American music, citing acts such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Usher, Destiny's Child, and R. Kelly and the English band Depeche Mode as their inspiration.[5] The team also cited producers Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds of the 1980s R&B band The Deele, and R&B-pop production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as their early influences.[6]

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.[4] In an interview with About.com, the team explained their style:

We always start out with a musical idea. Great effort goes into creating a solid melodic core. We both play the keyboards and program, but in general Mikkel plays the instruments and controls Pro Tools, while Tor has the executive overlook as well as lyrical input. However, we both are hands on and have no rules or limitations. 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. We make sure there's a lot of melody in the track, so it can inspire the writer. Together with the topline writer we work, often tweak and simplify the song, and never quit before we feel we've got a killer hook.[33]

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".[4] Sisario added that, unlike other's producers in the United States, "Stargate signature is more difficult to detect, because to some degree the duo's style is an adaptable method, not a specific sound".[4] 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".[4]

Critical reception

Critics found some of Stargate's succeeding works a replica of Irreplaceable's musical formula. Sheffield commented that, in the song "Tattoo" by Sparks, the team "have no shame about churning out 'Irreplaceable' replicants forever", reprising the acoustic guitar-drum loop formula.[40] The New York Times music critic Kelefa Sanneh deemed it "sounds like a cousin" of "Irreplaceable".[41] The release of R&B singer Chris Brown's 2007 single "With You" produced similar impressions: Sheffield, in his review for Brown's album, noted that "Stargate was just trying to roll out 'Irreplaceable' one more time".[42] Hillary Crosley of Billboard magazine wrote that "With You" "leans a bit too heavily" toward "Irreplaceable".[43] Stylus Magazine also noted that Rihanna's Stargate produced single, "Hate That I Love You" was a rehash of Ne-Yo and Stargate's previous works saying, "Here you've got the 'Sexy Love' drums, the 'Irreplaceable' strum, and a bit of the synth and chorus melody from 'So Sick'... is hardly the new twist all these old bits need to sound fresh."[44]

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
NOR
[45] 		AUS CAN
[46] 		FRA
[47] 		GER
[48] 		ITA NZ SWE SWI UK
"Wilder"
(featuring Tyler) 		2001 — — — — — — — — — — Non-album singles
"Easier Said Than Done" 2002 — — — — — — — — — —
"Waterfall"
(featuring Pink and Sia) 		2017 30 19 86 36 47 81 —[A] 67 38 47
"1Night"
(featuring PartyNextDoor, 21 Savage and Murda Beatz)[50] 		2018 — — — — — — — — — —
"Folk er fake"
(featuring OnklP & Unge Ferrari) 		— — — — — — — — — —
"Be Right Here"
(with Kungs featuring Goldn) 		— — — 77 — — — — — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Title Year Album
"Carry You Home"
(Tiesto featuring Stargate & Aloe Blacc) 		2017 Club Life: Volume Five China

Productions

Main article: Stargate production discography

Grammy Awards nominations

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2007 "In My Own Words" Best Contemporary R&B Album Nominated
B'Day Won
2008 "Irreplaceable" Record of the Year Nominated
"Don't Stop the Music" Best Dance Recording Nominated
"Hate That I Love You" Best R&B Song Nominated
2009 "Miss Independent" Won
"Spotlight" Nominated
Year of the Gentleman Album of the Year Nominated
Best Contemporary R&B Album Nominated
Jennifer Hudson Best R&B Album Won
"Spirit" Best Pop Vocal Album Nominated
2011 "Only Girl (In the World)" Best Dance Recording Won [51]
2012 "Firework" Record of the Year Nominated
"Black and Yellow" Best Rap Song Nominated
2017 "Try Everything" Best Song Written for Visual Media Nominated [52]
Confident Best Pop Vocal Album Nominated
2018 "Issues" Song of the Year Nominated

Notes

  1. ^ "Waterfall" did not enter the New Zealand Singles Chart, but reached number one on the New Zealand Heatseekers Singles chart.[49]

References

  1. ^ a b "Rolling Stone Declares "EDM" Producers of the Moment – Elektro". Elektro Daily. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Stargate". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  3. ^ "World's Best Video – 2013 Nominees". World Music Awards. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sisario, Ben (6 May 2007). "Wizards in the Studio, Anonymous on the Street". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  5. ^ a b c d Myklebust, Anne (6 May 2008). "Stargate to Fame". Norway.org. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d e Mitchell, Gail (30 October 2006). "Norwegian production duo breaks big in U.S." Billboard/Reuters. Yahoo!. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  7. ^ a b c d "Rustan Hallgeir". MyHitOnline. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  8. ^ "All the No. 1's". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  9. ^ a b c Christman, Ed (16 September 2008). "Stargate United At EMI". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  10. ^ a b Cragg, Michael (30 July 2008). "How Europe is conquering American pop". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  11. ^ "Artist Chart History – Mikaila". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  12. ^ Kaufman, Gil (5 February 2008). "Beyonce's 'Irreplaceable' Could Have Gone Country: Behind The Grammys". MTV. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  13. ^ a b "Mary J. Blige the queen of R&B charts in 2006". Billboard. Yahoo!. 25 December 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  14. ^ "Stargate's Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen receive songwriter of the year honours at 27th annual ASCAP awards in London". EMI. 7 October 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  15. ^ Cardew, Ben (11 October 2007). "Stargate honoured at Ascaps". Music Week. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  16. ^ "Amanda Ghost". BBC. 17 March 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  17. ^ "2008 Ivor Novello awards: The winners". BBC. 22 May 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  18. ^ "Ivors nominees". BBC. 21 April 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  19. ^ "ASCAP Celebrates 25 Years of Honoring Pop Music's Top Music Creators". ASCAP. 9 April 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  20. ^ Cardew, Ben (10 April 2008). "EMI Publishing triumphs at Ascaps". Music Week. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  21. ^ a b Hiatt, Brian (2008). "Best Hitmakers: Stargate". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  22. ^ "50th annual Grammy Awards nominations". Variety. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  23. ^ "Artist Chart History – Ne-Yo". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  24. ^ "The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Nominations List". The Recording Academy. 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  25. ^ MTV News Staff (8 February 2009). "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  26. ^ Toshitaka Kondo (4 February 2011). "Interview: Stargate Talks Producing Wiz Khalifa's "Black And Yellow" And "Roll Up"". Complex Media.
  27. ^ Mariel Concepcion (4 August 2010). "Sean Kingston and Nicki Minaj 'Let Go' In New Video". Billboard.
  28. ^ JIM FARBER (26 September 2012). "Rihanna debuts new single 'Diamonds'". New York Daily News.
  29. ^ "Owl City Announces EP With Guest Vocals By Blink182's Mark Hoppus". Screen Invasion.
  30. ^ "World's Best Video – 2013 Nominees". World Music Awards. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  31. ^ "Ylvis Super-Producer Admits 'The Fox' Is Unintentional EDM Parody".
  32. ^ Sisario, Ben (19 September 2008). "Jay-Z Starts New Label". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  33. ^ a b Lamb, Bill. "10 Questions With Stargate". About.com. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  34. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (24 February 2011). "Alexis Jordan: Alexis Jordan – review" – via The Guardian.
  35. ^ "Star Roc Records (@starrocrecords) • Instagram photos and videos".
  36. ^ "StarRoc Records (@StarRocRecords) – Twitter".
  37. ^ a b Williams, Paul (15 September 2008). "Stargate songwriting team re-united at EMI Publishing". Music Week. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
  38. ^ a b "Adresseavisen – Mikkel er et geni". adressa.no. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  39. ^ a b c d e "Dagbladet – Å starte restaurant gjøres med hjertet, ikke med hodet". Kjendis. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  40. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2007). "Jordin Sparks: Jordin Sparks". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  41. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (26 November 2007). "Critics's Choice: 'Jordin Sparks'". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  42. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2007). "Chris Brown: Exclusive". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  43. ^ Crosley, Hillary (10 November 2007). "Exclusive". Billboard. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  44. ^ Shipley, Al (29 August 2007). "Rihanna ft. Ne-Yo – Hate That I Love You". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
  45. ^ Peak positions on Norway VG-lista chart:
  46. ^ Peak positions on Canadian Hot 100:
  47. ^ Peak positions on French Singles Chart:
  48. ^ Peak positions on German Singles Chart:
  49. ^ "NZ Heatseekers Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  50. ^ "1Night (feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR, 21 Savage & Murda Beatz) – Single by Stargate". iTunes Store (AU). Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  51. ^ "Past Winners Search: Stargate". The Recording Academy. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  52. ^ "Complete List of Nominees for the 2017 Grammys". Billboard. Retrieved 6 January 2017.

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