Mannie Fresh (@manniefresh) is known to fans and throughout the music industry as an artist, entertainer and former in-house producer for Cash Money Records, but he started out as one of the best DJs in New Orleans and is now returning to his musical roots. The multiplatinum, GRAMMY-nominated producer responsible… Read more...
Celebrities, media and music industry tastemakers converged at the Manhattan Center’s Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on August 22 to watch Broadcast Music, Inc. present the BMI Icon Award to Cash Money Records' Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams at the 2013 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards. The star-studded event,… Read more...
Mysterious as he is prolific, Lil Wayne has morphed in the last few years from underground phenomenon to living legend. His controversies only seem to strengthen his mythology; strip away the tabloid fodder and there is only one reason Lil Wayne has become the most buzzed about rapper since Jay-Z:… Read more...
Some hip-hop producers are ubiquitous fixtures on radio, magazine covers and red carpets. Others move a bit more quietly, orchestrating cultural movements with the tap of a few keys. Mannie Fresh belongs in the latter camp. He is not quite a household name like some mixmasters, yet he is nonetheless… Read more...
The spotlight that has shined on urban centers ranging from New York to Los Angeles to Atlanta, where some of today’s hottest r&b and rap songs have been produced, is now focused on Miami, where two of today’s hottest producers — Marcello Valenzano and Andre Lyon, better known as Cool… Read more...
Atlantic Records recording artist Trey Songz and hit producer Troy Taylor have joined BMI for performing rights representation. The newest members of the BMI family have just finished working together on 20-year-old Trey’s debut release I Gotta Make It, an 11-entry diary about a… Read more...
Rapper/producer Kanyé West leads the list of BMI nominees for the 32nd annual American Music Awards, which were revealed on September 14. West, who was named a Top Ten producer at the recent BMI Urban Awards, earned three AMA nominations, including two in the rap/hip-hop category… Read more...
Fusing brassy regional Mexican Banda music to the urban beats of hip-hop, Mexican-born, Los Angeles-raised brothers Sergio and Francisco Gomez — Akwid — debuted with the Grammy-nominated Proyecto Akwid , selling over 350,000 units and winning top honors for Latin Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year and… Read more...
Cash Money, the camp that that brought the term “bling-bling” to the masses, is gearing up to close out the second half of the year with a slew of new releases. Coming this summer are two new Cash Money signees: r&b/hip-hop singer TQ and R. Kelly protégés Boo &… Read more...
BMI has announced the first confirmed attendees to its Urban Awards 2002, scheduled for August 6 at Club Tropigala at the Fountainebleau Hilton Resorts & Towers in Miami Beach. Among the urban songwriters and publishers to be recognized and on hand at the first-ever ceremony are rappers N.O.R.E., Cam’Ron,… Read more...
Captured at BMI Urban Awards 2004
