BLK Beats: Scottish producer wins Grammy for work on SZA's Snooze

Blair Ferguson said it was "incredible" to be a winner at the Grammys representing his home country

A 20-year-old music producer whose career began in his Glasgow bedroom has won a Grammy award for his work on a winning track.

Blair Ferguson made his contribution to SZA's smash hit Snooze from a makeshift studio while staying with his aunt.

The track won the gong for best R&B song at the Los Angeles ceremony.

He said it was "incredible" to be a winner at the Grammys representing his home country.

The track also featured on SZA's album SOS, which won Best Progressive R&B Album.

Despite being relatively unknown in Scotland, Blair has already worked alongside stars such as Justin Bieber and Diddy.

He contributed to his first top US top 10 album when he was just 16.

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Under the name BLK Beats, the former Kelvinside Academy pupil wrote the original demo for SZA's hit song Snooze, which features on her SOS album.

The song peaked at number two in the US Billboard charts in July and is the only song to have spent the whole of 2023 in the Billboard Hot 100.

In September it hit number 18 in the UK charts.

Blair also contributed to albums nominated in this year's Grammys, including Diddy's The Love Album, Off the Grid and Girls Night Out by Babyface.

SZA won the award for Best R&B Song at the Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles

In an interview for the Recording Academy which runs the Grammys, he said it was "incredible" to be at the awards representing Scotland.

"It came from a very weird time in my life," he said. "I was staying at my aunt's place and it was just this weird world where I was just trying to find my place in the industry.

"The idea was founded there and it grew arms and legs and now we're standing here."

He said his family and friends stayed up to watch awards at home in Scotland and were celebrating into the night.

Asked what his plans were for the future, he replied: "More Grammys. I'm still young so I've got to get more."

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Blair started making his own music when he was just 15 and quickly developed a talent for creating melodies and sample tracks.

He started sending his music to hundreds of producers and songwriters in the music industry, with hopes that one could be picked up by an artist.

Blair was one of five producers who went on stage to collect the album award for SOS

Less than a year later, the Covid pandemic hit and he told his parents that he wanted to leave school and pursue a career in music.

Within months, he had written a song for hip hop artist Lil Tecca for his album Virgo World which charted in the US Billboard top 10.

Blair went on to work with other big artists including Diddy, 24kGoldn, and Justin Bieber and is now mentored by producer Carter Lang.

Blair now splits his time between Los Angeles and Scotland, where he still shares a flat with four school friends in Edinburgh and takes university evening classes in philosophy.

His mum Linda Christie said his friends and family were "all super excited" about his achievements.

Mum Linda Christie said the whole family was 'massively proud' of Blair

"We're obviously massively proud of him," she told BBC Scotland News. "He did create the original piano melody that was the basis of the whole song."

The economist had tried to encourage her son to follow an academic path, but she said music was "what got him through" the Covid pandemic.

"We never had any clue this would happen," she said. "At 16 he just said 'I can do this' and started networking."

She was amazed when within a year he was contributing to Billboard hits in the US.

"We were just like, 'oh my goodness, how did you do that?'" she added.

Jenny Cunningham, who taught Blair at Kelvinside Academy for 10 years until he left school in 2020, said they were "proud and delighted at the success of a pupil whose talent was always apparent.

She said: "Blair's flare for music shone brightly from the beginning - particularly in classical piano and choir singing. He always had something special. It was clear he had the potential to go far."

Blair initially thought the song was too laid back to do well in the charts

But she added: "It's astonishing to see what he's achieved.

"To win a Grammy is beyond most musicians' wildest imaginations.

"You could argue that he has already reached the top - but I am certain that he's only just getting started."

Blair previously told BBC Scotland News he was asked to work on ideas for SZA for a Women in R&B project while living in his aunt's attic in Glasgow.

"I had a makeshift studio and I was in a bit of limbo," he said.

"But I made the original demo for Snooze and sent it through to my friend and co-producer Leon Thomas and they expanded on the session - and the rest was history."

He said he initially thought the song was too laidback to chart well.

"But I was completely wrong," he said. "Which is very nice, the charts completely ate it up.

"SZA is just a genius and she's able to transform any record with the way she comes up with a melody. I don't think any other artist could have made that track."