
By Marika N. Johnson | For The Birmingham Times
Birmingham westside native Snipe Young has once again proven his musical prowess, adding four more Grammy Awards to his impressive resume at the 2025 Grammy Awards. It was his innovative sound design on Kendrick Lamar’s breakout diss track, “Not Like Us”, that earned him Grammy victories in four major categories: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Music Video, and Best Rap Performance.
Meanwhile, songwriter Pynk Beard, formerly known as Sebastian Kole announced on Facebook that he had won a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album for writing on
“Hell’s Kitchen”, the Alicia Keys-scored Broadway musical. His song on the album is entitled “Perfect Way To Die.”
“I’m honored to win… when the work meets the opportunity… I’ve been the pen behind a few of these awards… now I’m trying to figure out how to be the FACE… what a way to end a #KoleWinter… Now it’s PNK BRD SZN,” he wrote in a follow-up post.
Young, a multi-talented force in the music industry, wears many hats, excelling as an engineer, music producer, songwriter, and sound design engineer.
His Grammy success story began in 2016 when he contributed to Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” album, which won numerous awards and earned him his first Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album. The project also secured major accolades, including the 2017 BET Award for Album of the Year, the 2017 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album, and the 2017 Billboard Music Award for Top R&B Album.
Reflecting on his role, Snipe explained, “As a sound designer, I use recording techniques, editing software, and audio engineering to create sounds that enhance the mood and atmosphere of a project.”
His success continued in 2017 with music production and songwriting credits, alongside co-writer Goldie, on Chris Brown’s Indigo album on “Girl of My Dreams” and “All On Me”. The hit single No Guidance was nominated for Best R&B Song (but did not win) at the Grammys but achieved notable commercial success, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Billboard Top R&B Albums, and Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.
His latest Grammy triumph with Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” only further cements his reputation as one of the industry’s premier sound design engineers.
Pynk Beard grew up in the Dolomite neighborhood of Birmingham, eventually going to the University of Alabama. He graduated from UA with a degree in Music Technology.
After graduation, he co-wrote songs for Jennifer Lopez and Flo Rida that helped him land a music deal with EP Entertainment and Motown in 2012. He left Birmingham, moved to Los Angeles and wrote his biggest hit for Alessia Cara, “Here.” That song ultimately won her a Grammy in the Best New Artist category. After that he went on to work with artists including Keys, John Legend and Usher.
