Stargate wins ‘Best R&B Track’ Grammy

Stargate. Photo: mic.no

Stargate, the NYC-based Norwegian production duo that comprises of Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, took home one of the music industry’s most coveted awards this weekend when the two were bestowed with a Grammy in the “Best R&B Track” category.

Stargate received their Grammy for the songwriting and production of Ne-Yo’s major hit Miss Independent taken from the album “Year of the Gentlemen”.

Says Stargate’s Tor Erik Hermansen to news agency NTB: ‘Winning the Grammy for best R&B track ranks up there among the most memorable events of our lives. It’s especially rewarding to be awarded the prize in a category where the songwriters are the recipients.”

Stargate and Ne-Yo’s careers and rise to stardom are inextricably linked as Hermansen explains to NTB: ‘When we began working with Ne-Yo, both him and us were totally unknown figures on the music scene. (Receiving the Grammy for this collaboration) is therefore a major highlight for us.”

The successful production duo, which has scored a number of Billboard Hot 100 hits with such artists as Rhianna, Beyoncé and the above mentioned Ne-Yo, were named producers of the year by both Billboard as well as Rolling Stone Magazine earlier this year.

Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel S. Eriksen have also joined forces with hip-hop mogul/icon Jay-Z for the creation of a new label christened StarRoc.