In 2004, Mario saw his breakthrough with “Let Me Love You,” a sultry Ne-Yo penned track that remained at the No. 1 Billboard spot for nine weeks. Mario might have seemed like an overnight star, yet his coup was far from sudden. Like many stars, Mario had been grooming himself for the big time since he was a child.

Growing up in and around Baltimore, Mario dreamed of being a recording artist as early as four. His mother bought him a karaoke machine. He learned piano. At 11, Mario got discovered; he sang Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You” at a talent show held at a local college. By 14, Mario had signed a deal with Clive Davis’ J Records. He contributed “Tameeka,” with rapper Fabolous, to the Dr. Dolittle 2 soundtrack in 2001. Not long after, he sang Stevie Wonder’s “You and I” at Clive Davis’s coveted Grammy party — a rendition guests at the event still call captivating. He got to work on a debut album.

Mario, his first album, introduced his arrival. Lead single “Just a Friend 2002,” an up-tempo, teen-pop jam, used elements from the Biz Markie classic. Naturally, the single struck a chord with young adults. By his 16th birthday, Mario was on the road, wooing young ladies (and likely some of their adult parents) as part of the Scream III Tour. His debut album went gold.

Mario’s overall debut — the single, the album sales, the tour — was certainly impressive, but his follow-up was even better. Turning Point, his second album, was aptly titled, considering “Let Me Love You” broke Mario out of the teen-pop ghetto and into the adult big time. Some reviewers compared the song to vintage Michael Jackson, and it became a chart-topper in Europe as well as the States. Although “Let Me Love You” was the album’s shimmering diamond, the compilation featured more well-received songs and production from studio stars including Scott Storch and Lil Jon. Nevertheless, the point had been made: Turning Point went platinum. Mario had become one to watch both metaphorically and literally; movie roles in Step Up and Freedom Writers followed.

In October, Mario will release his third album, Go!, with an A-list roster of contributors. Jermaine Dupri, Ne-Yo, Alicia Keys, The Neptunes and Akon are just a few of the big names on board, all but guaranteeing that the much-anticipated project will be a blockbuster. It could in fact be the project that completes Mario’s career trajectory: from child phenom to teen sensation; bona fide star to household name.

"I am particularly pleased that our tradition of technology leadership and consistent attention to cost control have permitted us to deliver an ever-larger proportion of our licensing income to the songwriters, composers and copyright owners we represent," Bryant said in making the announcement. Operational expenses as a percentage of revenues decreased from 14.2 percent to 13.2 percent, the lowest in BMI's history and among the lowest of the world's major copyright organizations.

Although total license fees from traditional analog media continued to increase, revenues from cable, satellite, the Internet and other digital media surged ahead. Cable and satellite revenue grew by $24 million and now represents more than 17 percent of the company's total. New media revenues grew to more than $16 million, an increase of 35 percent over the prior year. International revenues also hit a new high at $204 million, and general licensing income, from tens of thousands of bars and restaurants, retail, and service establishments, increased 12 percent over the prior year to more than $86 million.

BMI's revenues are attributable to the diversity, scope and popularity of the music created by the more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers that the company represents. These songwriters transcend global boundaries and have broad international appeal, and include such acts as Mariah Carey, the Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira, Toby Keith, R. Kelly, Linkin Park, Juanes, Keith Urban, Gnarls Barkley, Korn, Don Omar and Pink, as well as top urban songwriters/producers including Lil Jon, the Neptunes, Snoop Dogg, Sean Garrett, multi-Grammy Award winner Kanye West, T.I., Jamie Foxx, and newcomers Ne-Yo and Chris Brown.

Through reciprocal agreements with foreign societies, BMI also represents such international chart-toppers as British breakout artist James Blunt (PRS) ["You're Beautiful"], Canadian rock group Nickelback (SOCAN), and Latin sensations Julieta Venegas (SGAE) and Reyli (SACM).

BMI film and television composers enjoyed impressive success, contributing music to 78 percent of all network primetime television shows and 24 of the 25 top-grossing films released during the fiscal year. BMI songwriters were awarded the majority of the Grammy and CMA awards, the Blues Awards and the Downbeat Jazz Poll. BMI classical composer Yehudi Wyner won the Pulitzer Prize in music, and Broadway celebrated the music of BMI songwriters with the multiple Tony-winning hit, Jersey Boys.

BMI staged its 54th Annual Pop Awards on May 16, with top honors given to BMI Icons Crosby, Stills & Nash; Jesse Carmichael, Ryan Dusick, Adam Levine and Mickey Madden of Maroon 5 and Lil Jon as Songwriters of the Year; "She Will Be Loved" as Song of the Year; and EMI Music as Publisher of the Year. Hosted by BMI President/ CEO Del Bryant and Los Angeles VP/GM Barbara Cane at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the black-tie dinner recognized the writers and publishers of the past year's 50 most performed pop songs from BMI's catalog of more than 6.5 million compositions.

	BMI Pop Awards Photo Slideshow
	BMI Icon Tribute
	2006 BMI Pop Awards song list
	Crosby, Stills, & Nash Bio

A highlight of the gala ceremony featured a musical tribute to legendary singing trio Crosby, Stills & Nash, who were honored as BMI Icons for their "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, whose signature three-part harmony has endured for more than three decades, join an elite list of previous BMI Icons that includes Paul Simon, James Brown, Brian Wilson, Isaac Hayes, Dolly Parton and Carlos Santana.

Martin Bandier and his EMI Music Publishing team accept the publisher of the year award

The musical partnership of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash has produced some of the most timeless rock songs ever written, including "Marrakesh Express," "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," "Helplessly Hoping," "Guinnevere," "Teach Your Children," "Wooden Ships," "Dark Star" and "Just a Song Before I Go." Called "the voice of an entire generation," CSN has just announced a summer reunion tour with Neil Young.

Maroon 5	Lil Jon	Crosby, Stills & Nash

Pop-rockers Maroon 5 were joined on stage by rapper Lil Jon to collect their BMI Songwriter of the Year Crystals for placing three songs each on the most performed list of 50. The trio of tracks earning Maroon 5 members Jesse Carmichael, Ryan Dusick, Adam Levine and Mickey Madden the prestigious title were "Sunday Morning," their two-time BMI Pop Award-winning smash, "This Love," and Song of the Year "She Will Be Loved."

Lil Jon picked up his third Songwriter of the Year win - he was both BMI's top Pop and Urban writer in 2005 - for penning "Lovers and Friends" (Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring Usher & Ludacris), "Goodies" (Ciara featuring Petey Pablo) and "Salt Shaker" (Ying Yang Twins featuring Lil Jon), the latter two of which also made the list of top songs at the 2005 BMI Urban Awards. He was also honored at that ceremony as writer of the Song of the Year ("Yeah!"), as well as named one of BMI's Top 10 Urban Producers.

Included on Maroon 5's multi-platinum debut, Songs About Jane, "She Will Be Loved" was named BMI Pop Song of the Year for scoring the most airplay of any song on the most performed list during the award period. Co-written by the band's four BMI members, and published by Careers-BMG Music Publishing and February Twenty-Second Music, "She Will Be Loved" earned Maroon 5 their second Grammy this past February for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; they were named Best New Artist the previous year.

EMI Music Publishing (EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc./EMI-Hastings Catalog, Inc./Stone Diamond Music) claimed its second consecutive BMI Pop Publisher of the Year prize with 18 songs on the top 50 list, giving the publishing giant the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. EMI Chairman & CEO Martin Bandier accepted the company's 11th BMI Pop Publisher Crystal.

In addition to the Song of the Year, BMI also recognized the performance achievements of two other songs: "Beverly Hills" earned Most Performed Song on College Radio kudos for songwriter Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and publisher E.O. Smith Music, and "1, 2 Step," written by BMI Top 10 Urban Producer Jazze Pha and published by Bubba Gee Music, Noontime Tunes and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., received BMI's very first Internet Song of the Year award by tallying the most hits on BMI-licensed web sites during the award period.

Three other songs besides "This Love" took home a second BMI Pop Award, including "Heaven" by Los Lonely Boys, which also won last year; D.H.T.'s version of "Listen to Your Heart," which earned a Pop Award in 1990 for the recording by Roxette; and the Hall & Oates remake of "I'll Be Around," which won a Pop Award in 1972 for the original Spinners hit written by Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt.

Songwriters Gavin DeGraw, Kara DioGuardi, George Pajon, Jr., will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes, and Full Force members Paul Anthony, Baby Gerry, B-Fine, Bowlegged Lou, Curt-T-T and Shy Shy each scored two BMI Pop Awards, while publishers Careers-BMG Music Publishing/Zomba Songs, Cherry River Music Co., Dimensional Songs of the Knoll, El Cubano Music, Ensign Music LLC, February Twenty-Second Music, Forceful Music/Mokojumbi Music, G. DeGraw Music, Inc., K'Stuff Publishing, Songs of TVT, Sony/ATV Songs LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group (Songs of Universal, Inc./Irving Music), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Waters of Nazareth Publishing and will.i.am music, inc. were each cited for multiple award-winning songs.

Another of the ceremony's highlights included a special presentation to 21-year-old Catawba College student Dennis E. Reed, Jr., first place winner of the BMI Foundation's 9th Annual John Lennon Scholarship Awards. The Charlotte, North Carolina native, who got to share the stage with some of music's biggest stars, went home with a $10,000 scholarship for his song, "Out of Control." Established in 1997 by Yoko Ono in conjunction with the BMI Foundation and matched by generous donations from Gibson Musical Instruments, the John Lennon Scholarship program recognizes the talent of young songwriters between the ages of 15 and 24.

John Lennon Scholarship winner Andrew Horowitz is congratulated by BMI Icon Brian Wilson at the 2004 BMI Pop Awards	Tally Hall keyboardist/vocalist Andrew Horowitz (seated far right)

"Good Day" was first honored in 2004 by winning first place in the John Lennon Scholarship competition, a program established in 1997 by Yoko Ono in conjunction with the BMI Foundation that recognizes the talent of young songwriters between the ages of 15 and 24.

Horowitz was awarded a $10,000 scholarship during a special presentation at the 2004 BMI Pop Awards ceremony, sharing the stage with BMI Icon Brian Wilson and Pop Award winners 3 Doors Down, The Neptunes, Michelle Branch, Evanescence and many other big stars.

A native of Warren, N.J., Andrew Horowitz began piano studies at the age of five and was composing by age eight. In high school, he pursued private composition and piano studies with faculty at the Juilliard School. He also played in the New York Youth Symphony, led an active jazz quartet, musical directed for several musical theatre productions, and worked as a freelance pianist. He is a 2005 graduate of the University of Michigan with a double degree in Music Composition and English Language and Literature. His rock band, Tally Hall, is currently tearing up the Ann Arbor music scene with their full-length studio debut, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum.

The genre’s defining feature is a relentless drum-machine track, almost identical across different songs, derived from Trinidadian soca music and Jamaican dancehall and reggae rhythms. This beat is called “Dem Bow” after the beat in a Shabba Ranks song of the same name. Although it emerged from the island of Puerto Rico, reggaetón reflects cross-cultural roots. In the ’70s, Jamaican workers migrated to Panama to work on upgrading the country’s famous canal and the trademark “riddims” they imported were appropriated into the popular songs and styles in this adopted locale. DJs helped popularize this hybrid form of Latin reggae, and by the early ’80s it could be heard mainly in underground settings across Latin America. Meanwhile in Puerto Rico, artists were translating Jamaican reggae into Spanish, and fusing these lyrics with Panamanian-style reggae beats after artists like El General introduced this blend of rap and reggae music to the island. Translating Jamaican reggae into Spanish, and fusing these lyrics with Panamanian-style reggae beats, hip-hop and dancehall, reggaetón was born. DJ Playero, who produced Vico C’s first underground recordings, is one of the pioneers in the introduction of this genre. He produced five reggaeton compilation albums with artists like Daddy Yankee, Yaviah, Mexicano, Big Boy, and Frankie Boy, among others, in the early ’90s.

“The Queen of Reggaetón,” Ivy Queen, is the genre’s undisputed female ruler. Born in Puerto Rico but raised in New York, she returned to the island in the ’90s and teamed up with impresario DJ Negro, who invited her to join a rap compilation label known as The Noise. Ivy Queen wrote and performed her first hit song, “Somos Raperos Pero No Delincuentes,” with them and launched her career as a formidable artist. “Sabes Que Tu,” a collaboration with Wyclef Jean, raised her profile even higher. With her own releases and projects with others — notably El Mexicano, K-7 and Don Omar — she maintains her powerful allure through self-penned lyrics that often speak of her alliance to her native Puerto Rico with pointed pro-feminist messages injected into the rhymes.

Francisco Saldaña and Victor Cabrera — the duo known as Luny Tunes — are often described as “the Neptunes of reggaetón,” owing to their chart dominance and canny knack for inventing hits for other artists. Former kitchen workers at Harvard University, they migrated to Puerto Rico, where they added bachata and meringue to the reggaeton formula and crafted one of the genre’s biggest smashes, Daddy Yankee’s track “Gasolina,” from Barrio Fino, a benchmark release that hovered on the Latin charts for nearly two years. Since then, Luny Tunes has showcased a rotating cast of talent on their own releases. The two’s Mas Flow (2003), La Trayectoria (2004) and Mas Flow, Vol. 2 (2005) — arguably the party album of the year — solidified their reputation as songwriters and artists of note whose productions are conspicuously musical. “We never use samples,” confirms Saldana. “We want to create everything new.”

An illustrious cast of contributors, including Ivy Queen, Pit Bull, D’Mingo and Nina Sky, join Tony Touch on his latest opus, The ReggaeTony Album, proof of his prominence in the genre. Alternately known as “Tony Toca,” the Brooklyn-based DJ has orchestrated massive releases via his mix tapes, beginning with The Piece Maker, featuring the music of Big Pun, Wu Tang Clan, Eminem and others. Also an alumnus of The Noise nightclub in Puerto Rico, the DJ and producer has enriched the genre with his deft productions, grafting the incendiary street smarts of hip-hop to more tropical Latin grooves. With a regular slot on New York’s Power 105.1, Music Choice Television and Sirius Satellite Radio plus choice DJ gigs spinning from Spain to Switzerland, Touch/Toca is among the genre’s foremost ambassadors, spearheading a roster of artists that often includes Vico C and Don Dinero.

His frequent guest artist, D’Mingo, a vocalist, keyboardist and arranger, was originally a more traditional singer. His debut, Que Vacile Mi Gente, (executive produced by Jelly Bean Benitez) presented a salsa-flavored style, while Rumbero Soy upped the Latin quotient considerably.On all of the projects on which he now guests, his distinctive tenor voice connects the high-octane rhythms of reggaetón to the seductive melodies of classic Latin songcraft.

From Hector “El Bambino” to Hector “El Father”: A name change signifies the musical maturation of the artist/producer often compared to his stateside counterparts, P. Diddy or Dr. Dre. In the ’90s, Hector Delgado Roman was one half of a pioneering duo, Hector and Tito, notably the first reggaetón artists with the drawing power to sell out massive concerts in Puerto Rico. In 2005, after a heady 12-year run, Hector launched his solo career with a performance in Pasto, Colombia, to a stadium filled with 60,000 adoring fans. His compilation album, Los Anormales, with guest spots by Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Wisin y Yandel and others and released on his own imprint, GoldStar Music, sold 130,000 copies in just two days in Puerto Rico. In addition to founding his label, he was the first reggaeton artist to sell out two concerts in the new 18,000-seat coliseum in Puerto Rico. Today, most of these artists have signed contracts with major labels such as Universal, Columbia, EMI and Interscope.

DJ Playero is another notable figure in the growth of the genre, compiling some 39 volumes of reggaetón and helping to launch the careers of Daddy Yankee, Chezina, and Baby Rasta y Gringo, among others.

Reggaetón is clearly a genre of inclusion, and the most accomplished artists now collaborate outside of the genre. Ivy Queen’s Real has pairings with Sean Paul, Beenie Man and Fat Joe, and Luny Tunes anticipate working with Jennifer Lopez, the Black Eyed Peas and Ja Rule. Boundaries aren’t limited to the Caribbean or the East Coast. In Southern California, two brothers, Johnny and Victor Lopez, the duo known as Crooked Stilo, have mixed hard-core rap and cumbias into a stew they describe as “crunketón,” incorporating such far-flung sounds as the regional Mexican bounce of banda and hard core hip-hop. Says Victor, “We grew up with Dr. Dre, NWA and Snoop Dogg. It’s a big influence. We’ve been in this for 10 or 12 years, and we’ve always mixed the Latin and English stuff. It’s just lately that the reggaetón blew everyone out of the water. It’s something new, it’s hot in the clubs and people like dancing to it, plus the words and melodies have something to them.”

With their latest release, Retrasalo, Crooked Stilo advances their genre bending sound. Victor Lopez, who lives in the San Gabriel Valley town of Temple City, attests that he listens to potential beats in his car, “bumping” them before his lyrics arrive. Reggaetón is, he says, a physical experience. “There’s a saying that with the music you can only get the people through their hearts or through their feet. Reggaetón does it through the feet.”

Mariah Carey	Kanye West	John Legend

Mariah Carey's multi-platinum comeback album, The Emancipation of Mimi, and its smash single "We Belong Together," helped the pop singer score three of the most coveted Grammy nominations: Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The hit ballad also picked up mentions for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, while Mimi added Best Contemporary R&B Album to Carey's haul.

Presenters for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards nominations included BMI songwriter/artists John Legend, CeCe Winans, Mariah Carey, Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and Patti LaBelle. Photo by S. Lovekin/WireImage

Rapper Kanye West continued his red hot streak, also earning nominations in the Album and Record of the Year categories with his sophomore release Late Registration and the hit "Gold Digger," respectively. He will compete against himself for the Album of the Year title as a producer on Carey's disc. As a songwriter, West will battle for the Best Rap Song crown with his "Diamonds from Sierra Leone," as well as Best R&B Song as a co-writer on the Alicia Keys track "Unbreakable."

Black Eyed Peas	Brooks & Dunn

Soul singer John Legend is up for Best New Artist, Best R&B Album for his debut Get Lifted, and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Song of the Year for "Ordinary People," which he also co-wrote. Legend joins his mentor Kanye West and rapper Common on the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ticket with "They Say."

Casting Crowns	Common

Coming in with six nominations was Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas who, as a songwriter, has a shot at Song of the Year and Best R&B Song as co-writer of Legend's "Ordinary People" and Best Rap Song for the Peas' hit "Don't Phunk with My Heart." The band is also up for Best Rap and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Death Cab for Cutie	Foo Fighters

In addition to Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Common earned three other mentions, including Best Rap Album for Be. Four nods also went to Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, Billy Childs and BMI producer/songwriters the Neptunes, who have production credits on two Album of the Year nominees -- Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi and Gwen Stefani's Love. Angel. Music. Baby.

The Game	Gorillaz	John Williams

Earning three nominations apiece were Sheryl Crow, with Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Good is Good"), Best Pop Vocal Album (Wildflower) and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for the single "Building Bridges," featuring Brooks & Dunn and Vince Gill; Eminem (Best Rap Solo Performance, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Rap Album); and film composer John Williams, up for Best Score for Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, as well as for Best Instrumental Composition for both "Anakin's Betrayal" (from Revenge of the Sith) and "The Ferry Scene" (from the War of the Worlds soundtrack).

Maroon 5	Norah Jones	Sheryl Crow

Double nominees included rappers The Game and T.I., songwriter Marcus Hummon, singer Norah Jones and gospel diva CeCe Winans.

Other BMI songwriters and artists collecting Grammy nominations were Christina Aguilera, Dallas Austin, Casting Crowns, Eric Clapton (PRS), Death Cab for Cutie, Paquito D'Rivera, Danny Elfman, Fall Out Boy, Osvaldo Golijov, Dave Holland Big Band, Intocable, Keane (PRS), Maroon 5, Sugarland, Ying Yang Twins, and BMI Icons Charlie Daniels and Brian Wilson.

Sugarland		T.I.

The 48th Annual Grammy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on February 8.

BMI's 2006 Grammy Award Nominees:

8 NOMINATIONS
Mariah Carey
John Legend
Kanye West

6 NOMINATIONS
William Adams

4 NOMINATIONS
Billy Childs
Common
Foo Fighters
Gorillaz (PRS)
The Neptunes

3 NOMINATIONS
Yolanda Adams
The Black Eyed Peas
Sheryl Crow
De La Soul
Eminem
Herbie Hancock
Faith Hill
Alison Krauss & Union Station
John Williams

2 NOMINATIONS
Bobby Boyd
Brooks & Dunn
Andrew Coleman
Andrew Dawson
Dixie Chicks
The Game
Michael Giacchino
Jeff Hanna
Marcus Hummon
Norah Jones
Delbert McClinton
Donnie McClurkin
Joel Moss
Willie Nelson
Al Schmitt
Fat Man Scoop
T.I.
The White Stripes
CeCe Winans

MORE NOMINEES
Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra with Arturo O'Farrill
Christina Aguilera
Trey Anastasio
Audio Adrenaline
Audioslave
John August
Dallas Austin
Ramon Ayala y Sus Bravos Del Norte
Marcia Ball
Ray Barretto
Steve Berkowitz
Big & Rich
Terence Blanchard
Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones
Blue Highway
Printz Board
William Bolcom
Peter Boyer
Solomon Burke
Burning Spear (PRS)
Sam Bush
Gary Calamar
Caribbean Jazz Project featuring Dave Samuels Orishas (SACEM)
Kurt Carr
Casting Crowns
Christopher Cerf
Steven Curtis Chapman
Cherryholmes
The Chieftains (IMRO)
Willy Chirino
Eric Clapton (PRS)
Dorinda Clark-Cole
Conjunto Progreso
Ry Cooder
Stewart Copeland
The Crabb Family
Robert Cray
Bill Cunliffe
Rivers Cuomo
Daft Punk (PRS)
Charlie Daniels
Day of Fire
Death Cab for Cutie
Deep Dish
Mos Def
Jack De Johnette
The Del McCoury Band
Ani DiFranco
Jerry Douglas
Dave Douglas
Paquito D'Rivera
John Du Prez (PRS)
Jerry Duplessis
Nokie Edwards
Danny Elfman
Ahmet Ertegun
Bill Evans
Fall Out Boy
Sammy Figueroa
Béla Fleck
Floetry
David Foster
Jamie Foxx
Aretha Franklin
Kirk Franklin
Carlos Franzetti
Larry Gatlin
Joachim Garraud (SACEM)
Gilberto Gil
Vince Gill
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Osvaldo Golijov
The Grascals
Grits
Buddy Guy
Merle Haggard
John Hammond
Raiatea Helm
Dave Holland Big Band
Israel Houghton
Van Hunt
Eric Idle (PRS)
Intocable
Jamiroquai (PRS)
Jars of Clay
The Jazz Chamber Trio
Rodney Jerkins
Eric Johnson
George Jones
The Jordanaires
Ledward Ka'apana
Keane (PRS)
John P. Kee
Garison Keillor
Toby Keith
R. Kelly
B.B. King
Kitaro
Kraftwerk (GEMA)
Ladysmith Black Mambazo (SAMRO)
Las 3 Divas
La Secta Allstar
The Last Poets
La Tropa F
Donald Lawrence
Ricky Lewis
The Light Crust Doughboys
Lil Wayne
Harold Lily
Aaron Lindsey
Linkin Park
Little Joe
Los Lonely Boys
Los Pleneros de la 21
Andre Lyon
Maroon 5
Joeworn Martin
Martina McBride
Delbert McClinton
Vicky McGehee
Tim McGraw
Sarah McLachlan (SOCAN)
Meat Beat Manifesto
Pat Metheny Group
Luis Miguel
Mingus Big Band
Ministry
Keb Mo
Molotov
Rick Moranis (SOCAN)
Mudvayne
Martha Munizzi
Walter Murphy
Meshell Ndegeocello
North Mississippi Allstars
The Oak Ridge Boys
Claus Ogerman (GEMA)
Walter Ostanek (SOCAN)
George Pajon, Jr.
Eddie Palmieri
John Prine
Queens of the Stone Age
Rascal Flatts
Joshua Redman Elastic Band
Sonny Rollins
The Royal Jesters
Eddie Santiago
Marvin Sapp
Seal (PRS)
José Serebrier
Shakira
Wayne Shorter Quartet
Ron Sluga
Omar Sosa
Luciana Souza
Jimmy Sturr
Sugarland
Tierney Sutton
System of a Down
Ali Farka Touré (BUMDA)
Tiempo Libre
Turtle Island String Quartet
Keith Urban
Bebo Valdés
Marcello Valenzano
Louie Vega
Rhonda Vincent & the Rage
Brian Wilson
BeBe Winans
George Winston
Paul Winter Consort
Hugh Wolff
David Yazbek
Ying Yang Twins

BMI saluted the premier r&b, rap and hip-hop songwriters, producers and publishers at its 2005 BMI Urban Awards, staged August 26 in the Grand Ballroom of the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami Beach.

BMI Urban Awards Event Photos

BMI Urban Awards Song List

Billboard #1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Lil Jon and R. Kelly were named Songwriters of the Year, each receiving four "most performed song" awards. "Yeah!," written by Sean Garrett, Lil Jon and Patrick "j.Que" Smith, was named Song of the Year, Kanye West received Producer of the Year honors, and EMI Music Publishing was awarded the BMI Crystal for Urban Publisher of the Year. The first Urban Ringtone Award went to Lil Jon and Craig D. Love for "Freek-A-Leek." A highlight of the gala was a tribute to urban funk legends Charlie Wilson and The GAP Band, who were named BMI Icons for their "enduring influence on generations of music makers."

Lil Jon	R. Kelly	The GAP Band

The ceremony was hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations Catherine Brewton, who presented awards to the 70 songwriters of the 35 most performed songs of 2004 in the urban music format.

Sean Garrett	Patrick "j.Que" Smith	Kanye West

Lil Jon, who was honored with three major BMI awards - Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year and Urban Ringtone of the Year - was also named one of BMI's top songwriter/producers of the year. He placed four songs on the most-performed song list, including "Freek-A-Leek," "Goodies," "Salt Shaker" and Song of the Year "Yeah!" Lil Jon was also named Songwriter of the Year at BMI's Pop Awards held in May, marking the first time a songwriter earned both Pop and Urban Songwriter of the Year honors in the same year.

Craig D. Love	Cool & Dre	Fat Joe

R. Kelly received his second BMI Crystal as Urban Songwriter of the Year (he also won in 2002) with four songs on the most-performed list - "Gigolo," "Hotel," "Step in the Name of Love" and "Thoia Thoing" - and was also named one of BMI's top songwriter/producers. His latest CD, TP.3 Reloaded, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 the week of its release, instantly becoming his fifth #1 album.

Jazze Pha	John Legend	Mannie Fresh

"Yeah!," recorded by Usher featuring Ludacris and Lil Jon, was named Urban Song of the Year for tallying the most U.S. broadcast performances in 2004. The #1 Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop song earned awards for songwriters Sean Garrett, Lil Jon and Patrick "j.Que" Smith, and music publishers Christopher Matthew Music, Hitco Music and White Rhino Music, Inc.

BMI Producer of the Year honors went to Kanye West for logging the most producer credits on charting songs. The BMI Top Urban Producers list also included Cool & Dre, Eminem, Fat Joe, Jazze Pha, R. Kelly, John Legend, Lil Jon, Mannie Fresh and The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo).

On the list of BMI's 35 most-performed urban songs, four songwriters contributed three songs each: Eminem, Sean Garrett, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. Other writers earning multiple awards were Miri Ben-Ari, Chad Hugo, Lil Flip, Harold Spencer Lilly, Jr., Craig D. Love and Sham.

EMI Music Publishing was named BMI Urban Publisher of the Year by accumulating the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. Big Jon Platt, Executive Vice President, Urban Music, U.S., accepted on behalf of the publisher, which boasted 17 songs on the most-performed list (through its companies EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc., EMI-Hastings Catalog, Inc., EMI-Stone Diamond Music Corporation, and Screen Gems-EMI Music, Inc.).

Other publishers with multiple award-winning songs were Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc./Zomba Songs Inc. (8 awards); Universal Music Publishing (Irving Music/Songs of Universal, Inc.) (6); Warner/Chappell Music Group (Foster Frees Music, Inc./Rick's Music, Inc./Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.) (5); R. Kelly Publishing, Inc. and White Rhino Music, Inc. (4 each); Eight Mile Style Music and Waters of Nazareth Publishing (3 each); C'Amore Music, Clover G Music, Embassy Music Corporation, Ensign Music Corporation, Mirimode Music, Please Gimme My Publishing, Inc., Raynchaser Music, Swizole Music and Uncle Bobby Music (2 each).

The evening culminated with Charlie Wilson and The GAP Band being honored as BMI Icons. One of the most influential groups in the history of r&b, Charlie and his brothers Robert and Ronnie Wilson, who got their name from the streets in the black business hub of their native Tulsa, Oklahoma (Greenwood, Archer, Pine), dominated the r&b charts with their hard-driving funk grooves from the late '70s to early '80s. Four of the band's nine albums were certified Platinum plus (The GAP Band II, The GAP Band III, The GAP Band IV and GAP Band V - Jammin') and featured 15 Top Ten and four #1 r&b hits, including "You Dropped a Bomb On Me," "Party Train," "Burn Rubber," "Outstanding," "Oops Upside Your Head," "Early in the Morning," and the smooth love song, "Yearning for Your Love." "Outstanding" alone remains one of the most sampled songs in history and has, astonishingly, been used by over 150 artists.

Prior to being named BMI Icons, Wilson and The GAP Band were saluted with an all-star musical tribute that included performances by 112 and Guy. BMI President and CEO Del Bryant, along with Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dogg and will.i.am (of the Black Eyed Peas), presented the award to the group.

In addition to the BMI performance awards, music trade magazine Billboard recognized the BMI-affiliated writers who had #1 songs on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Hot 100 charts during the past year. Chad Hugo, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams led with "Drop It Like It's Hot," which topped all four lists.

With The Emancipation of Mimi , Mariah Carey repudiates the rumor mills, negates the naysayers and opens up Her voice and soul to blaze a sensational return to the pinnacle of the charts. Co-writing all 14 tracks, Carey has created a lustrous suite of songs to celebrate her spiritual and professional renewal. Audiences are clearly primed, as the long awaited project is a resounding, out-of-thebox success.

Longtime fans of Carey’s signature, multi-octave balladry will delight in the glossy “We Belong Together,” as her lyrics reference listening to Bobby Womack and Babyface on the midnight radio. The retrovinyl crackle on “Mine Again” extends the legacy of classic soul that ignites with the sheer aural sensuality of “Joy Ride.”

It’s not all smooth silk and ballads, however; raising the temperature substantially, a hit-making host of hip-hop purveyors accompanies Carey squarely into the urban zone. Collaborating with Grammy-winning producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo — The Neptunes — on “Say Somethin,’” she and her duet partner, Snoop Dogg, smolder in tandem with a club-heavy groove. Keeping it equally authentic, Jermaine Dupri, Twista and Nelly all individually join Carey on subsequent tracks. Bolstered by a sample of Thom Bell and Linda Creed’s “Betcha By Golly Wow” as recorded by The Ramsey Lewis Trio, “Stay the Night,” a track produced by Kanye West, perfectly epitomizes Carey’s enduring appeal: timeless soul amped up with nouveau hip-hop flourishes, sparkling with radiant star power. The cover photo says it best, portraying a voluptuous, wind blown Carey posing like a latter-day Greek goddess.

The daughter of a former opera singer and vocal coach — and even named for a song, “They Call the Wind Mariah,” from the Lerner and Loewe musical Paint Your Wagon , Carey, born on Long Island, New York, began vocalizing at the age of four, and was writing her own songs by the time she was attending Oldfield Middle School. The day after graduation from high school, she moved into Manhattan, where she sang backing vocals for a succession of artists, including Brenda K. Starr, who passed her demo on to Sony Music Entertainment chief Tommy Mottola at a party. As legend has it, when Mottola listened to the demo on his ride home, he subsequently commanded his driver to spin the limo around and return to the party so that he could meet the young singer. Soon afterwards, Mottola signed Carey to a Columbia Records contract, where he oversaw her meteoric rise, and eventually married her.

The Emancipation of Mimi, which Carey co-executive produced with her new label chief, Island/Def Jam’s Antonio “LA” Reid, continues an unprecedented lineage of hitmaking that began with her self-titled 1990 debut and four successive hit singles, “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time,” “Someday,” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” Her follow up, Music Box , continued her chart domination, selling an astounding 10 times platinum. Since these auspicious introductions, Mariah Carey has become the best-selling female performer of all time, with 16 number one singles capped by two Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, Billboard’s “Artist of the Decade” Award and the World Music Award for “World’s Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium.” The only artist to top the charts in each year of the 1990s, with the single “Heartbreaker,” she even pushed ahead of The Beatles as the artist with the most cumulative weeks spent atop Billboard ’s Hot 100 Singles chart.

“Mimi” is a nickname that those close to Carey use to address her. This new found freedom, or “emancipation” as evidenced in the title, is given an emphatic dictionary definition on the CD booklet, “To free from the restraint, control, oppression, or power of another.” As she nails a door shut on the past, her lyrics proclaim the autonomy of her new life. “I was in a beautiful house, surrounded by beautiful things, but I couldn’t be who I really was,” she told a British magazine. Soon after her marital split came the movie Glitter , released the week after 9/11, that starred Carey in an acting role. Carey told the New York Post , “The problem was (that) Glitter was about a diva moment. It was too close to my life.” A well-publicized break from her next record label, Virgin, and recovery from exhaustion kept Carey in the trades and tabloids, if not on the charts, but even her record sale doldrums were relative. Both the soundtrack to Glitter and the follow-up, Charmbraclet , moved over a million copies in the U.S. alone.

Now, with her creativity renewed, Carey plans to pen a series of illustrated children’s tales following the life of a bi-racial orphan girl. The series will be based on experiences from the singer’s own childhood, growing up in a mixed-race family. She’s also hoping to translate an earlier album, her 1994 Merry Christmas, into a family-friendly Broadway show. She told MTV, “I get a chance to live out my Christmastime fantasies vicariously through the show. I think it’s going to be fun and something families can go to see.”

On “Fly Like a Bird,” the concluding track to The Emancipation of Mimi , Mariah takes it to church with the jubilant backing of a gospel choir as a disembodied voice intros the song with this quotation from Psalms, Chapter 30, verse five: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” As she celebrates her liberation, like the bird she describes in song, Mariah Carey soars higher in a stratospheric arc of ever-ascending artistry.

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Shown before the panel are BMI's Phil Graham, Senior Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations; BMI songwriters Randy Sharp, Sean Garrett, Lauren Christy and Chad Hugo; journalist/moderator Dan Kimpel; and BMI's Barbara Cane, Vice President and General Manager, Writer/Publisher Relations, Los Angeles. Photo by Lester Cohen