Biography

Possessing a keenness that belied his age, Pittsburgh, PA, rap lyricist Wiz Khalifa came to be a rising star over the course of the late 2000s based on his young bravado and hardcore yet charismatic execution of rhymes. Consciously building up his city's hip-hop reputation, he sought out to create a sound that was uniquely Pittsburgh, relying on his East Coast (Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan), Southern (Three 6 Mafia), and other (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) hip-hop influences.

A military brat, Khalifa, whose real name is Cameron Thomaz, was born in 1987 in Minot, ND. After his parents divorced when he was about age three, he lived in various places and military bases around the world before settling in Pittsburgh. He was constantly writing during that time and soaked up a great deal of knowledge from his globetrotting experiences. His first attempt at committing lyrics to paper happened around age nine, and at 12 he was already recording and producing his own records in his father's Oklahoma studio.

Norwegian Stargate (Mikkel Eriksen & Tor Hermansen) have been named “Songwriter of the Year” at the 26th Annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards, at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, California.

ASCAP President and Chairman Paul Williams and ASCAP CEO John A. LoFrumento presented Norwegian songwriters/producers Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Hermansen with ASCAP’s Songwriter of the Year award.

The StarGate the duo was responsible for penning an impressive six of the most performed songs of the past year:
Chris Brown’s “With You,”
Ne-Yo’s “Closer” and “Miss Independent,”
Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music” and “Take a Bow,”
and Jordin Sparks’s “Tattoo.”

This is the second time that Stargate have been named Songwriters of the Year — the hit-making duo picked up the coveted prize at the 2007 ASCAP Awards in London after taking the charts by storm with a string of hits, including the Billboard #1 “So Sick” by Ne-Yo.

See video below..

Rolling Stone magazine names production team Stargate among “The 125-Plus People Places and Things Ruling the Rock & Roll Universe”. 

This week, Rolling Stone Magazine published its prestigious “The 125-Plus People Places and Things Ruling the Rock & Roll Universe” list – a veritable who’s who of the premier division of current popular music.

In the category “Best Hitmakers” Rolling Stone magazine chose no other than Norway’s clean shaven studio wizards.