SZA had a big night at the BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards held at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Thursday (September 5). In addition to receiving the previously announced BMI Champion Award, she was named BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter of the Year and received Song of the Year for “Kill Bill” along with co-writers Rob Bisel and Carter Lang. The smash hit reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has over a billion streams on Spotify.
On receiving the BMI Champion Award, SZA said: “I have to say the songwriting awards mean the most to me because when I started I needed people to come and write for me. I had no one. … I'm grateful to be honored today because there are so many songwriters in here who literally made me.”
This was the first time the BMI Champion Award had been presented in the 24-year history of the R&B/Hip-Hop ceremony. Mike Steinberg, BMI's EVP, Chief Revenue and Creative Officer, praised SZA for “using her voice like a champion…and raising the bar on songwriting creativity and pushing boundaries at every turn.” He added: “Her once-in-a-lifetime sound has mesmerized audiences around the world.”
In a tribute to SZA, Bren Joy performed 'Broken Clocks' and MaKenzie performed 'Nobody Gets Me'.
The private event was hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O'Neill and BMI VP, Creative, Atlanta, Catherine Brewton.
As previously announced, Babyface was named a BMI Icon at the ceremony. On accepting the award, Babyface said: “I just know that I got here because I love music, and it was the only thing I knew I could do, and I did it with all my heart. If you do it from the heart, that's the main thing that keeps you going.”
He then wowed the audience with a performance of 1990's “Whip Appeal.” Babyface and Perri McKissack co-wrote the song, which reached the top 10 on both the Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Babyface has collected 64 BMI Awards. He has received BMI Song of the Year three times, BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year seven times and, along with co-founder LA Reid of LaFace Records, was named a BMI Icon in 2006.
Several artists paid tribute to Babyface by performing his songs. The Mac Royals opened with “My My My,” followed by Tamar Braxton with “Superwoman” and Mario with “I'll Make Love to You” and “Can We Talk.” Lil Wayne paid tribute to his mentor and friend before O'Neill and Brewton presented the Icon Award. O'Neill praised Babyface's talent and impact on generations of music makers and for being with the BMI family for nearly five decades.
Hitmaker Tay Keith took home producer of the year for his work on hits like Drake's “First Person Shooter” featuring J. Cole, Travis Scott's “Meltdown” featuring Drake, Sexyy Red's “SkeeYee” and Drake's “Circo Loco.” and 21 Savage. This is the third time Keith has been named producer of the year. (He was also named BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter of the Year in 2018.)
Coleman, Dougie F, Metro Boomin, RIOTUSA and Jahaan Sweet were also named top producers during the ceremony.
Universal Music Publishing was named BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Publisher of the Year for representing 21 of the previous year's most-performed songs, including “Kill Bill,” “Barbie World,” “Paint the Town Red,” “Players”, “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” and “Snooze”.
During the ceremony, BMI recognized the top producers and songwriters of the 35 most-performed R&B/Hip-Hop songs of the previous year in the US, naming 56 first-time winners.
To see the full list of winners, visit The BMI website.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/sza-wins-bmi-rb-hip-hop-awards-babyface-honored-1235768996/
