06.12.2006

In a recent assessment by the hugely trafficked web-portal About.com Norwegian producer duo Stargate has ascended to the status of second most important producers in pop music, surpassed only by Timbaland.

2006 has been a triumphant year for the Trondheim duo that relocated to NYC only last year. Their latest contribution, Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable,” is currently number 2 on the billboard Hot 100 list. But the Stargate year started out with a number one, namely “So Sick” performed by one of 2006’s hottest newcomers Ne-Yo. Later “Unfaithful”, which they wrote and produced for Rhianna also become a smash hit, and the success continued with Lionel Ritchie’s comeback “I call it love.” 

Such a number of hits in one year is quite remarkable, but the most amazing aspect of the Stargate saga is how rapid it all has been. Only a year and a half since they relocated in the US they have become an industry name and among the most productive and successful songwriter-producers in the world’s biggest market. And it is this rapid ascendancy that gave About.com reason to name them the second most important producers in pop music, for their venture has really only just begun and it is pretty clear that these guys and their unique sense of R&B music will make a huge imprint on pop music in the years to come.