BMI Celebrates Urban Music at 2004 Awards with Top Writers, Producers, Publishers
BMI saluted the premier R&B, rap and hip-hop songwriters, producers and publishers at its 2004 BMI Urban Awards, staged tonight (8/27) at the Grand Ballroom at the Fontainebleau Hilton Resorts & Towers in Miami Beach.
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| Pictured at the 2004 BMI Urban Awards are BMI's Del Bryant and Frances Preston, Producer of the Year R. Kelly, BMI ICON honoree Al Green and BMI's Catherine Brewton |
R. Kelly won two of the evening's top honors as writer of Song of the Year, "Ignition," and as Urban Producer of the Year. Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams were proclaimed Urban Songwriters of the Year and Universal Music Publishing was named Urban Publisher of the Year. A highlight of the gala was a tribute to soul music legend Al Green, who was named a BMI ICON for "his enduring influence on generations of music makers."
| BMI Urban Awards Event Photos |
| Al Green: MusicWorld Feature | BMI Awards List |
| More on BMI and Urban Music |
The black-tie ceremony was hosted by BMI President and CEO Del Bryant. President Emeritus Frances W. Preston and Assistant Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations Catherine Brewton assisted with the presentations to the BMI-affiliated writers and publishers of the 36 most performed songs in the urban music format.
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| Al Green | R. Kelly | Busta Rhymes |
"Ignition," written by R. Kelly and published by R. Kelly Publishing, Inc. and Zomba Songs Inc., was named Urban Song of the Year for tallying the most US broadcast performances during the eligibility period. Included on Kelly's multi-platinum Jive Records album, Chocolate Factory, "Ignition" was a Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop, Hot 100 and Top 40 charts smash.
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| Mannie Fresh | Nate Dogg | Kanye West |
Kelly collected his second major award of the night when he was crowned Producer of the Year. The BMI Top Urban Producers list also included Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes, Busta Rhymes, Irv Gotti, Jazze Pha, Lil' Jon, Mannie Fresh, Nate Dogg, Kanye West, Mario Winans, and D-Roc and Kaine of the Ying Yang Twins.
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| Irv Gotti | Jazze Pha | Lil' Jon |
The BMI Urban Songwriter of the Year trophy went to the team of Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams - also known as the Neptunes - who placed five titles on the most performed list. The songs earning them the prize were "Beautiful" (recorded by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell and Uncle Charlie Wilson), "Excuse Me Miss" (by Jay-Z), "Frontin'" (Pharrell featuring Jay-Z), "Luv U Better" (LL Cool J featuring Marc Dorsey) and "When the Last Time" (The Clipse).
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| Mario Winans | Ying Yang Twins |
This is the third Urban Songwriter of the Year award for Williams; he also won in 2001 and 2002. At last year's ceremony, Williams took the BMI Urban Song of the Year honor for co-writing "Hot In Herre," and the Neptunes were named Urban Producers of the Year.
Eight songwriters were double winners, contributing two songs each to the most-performed list: Jeff I. Bass, Mary Y. Brown, Eminem, Irv Gotti, Jazze Pha, R. Kelly, Lil' Jon and Sham. Other writer/artists earning awards were Jennifer Lopez, Ja Rule, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Anthony Hamilton, Wayne Wonder and Paul Simon.
Universal Music Publishing was named BMI Urban Publisher of the Year by accumulating the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. David Renzer, Worldwide President of Universal Music Publishing Group, accepted on behalf of the publisher, which boasted 10 songs on the most-performed list (through its companies Irving Music, Songs of Universal, Inc., and Universal-Songs of PolyGram International, Inc.).
Other publishers with multiple award-winning songs were EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc. (9); Warner/Chappell Music Group (Unichappell Music, Inc./Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.) (7); Waters of Nazareth Publishing (5); Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc./Zomba Songs Inc., Ensign Music Corporation, Noontime Tunes (3); and Bubba Gee Music, D J Irv Publishing, Eight Mile Style Music, Miss Mary's Music, Nitty and Capone Publishing, R. Kelly Publishing, Inc., White Rhino Music, Inc. (2).
The evening culminated in the ICON tribute to Al Green, who was honored during the dinner with performances by BMI artists Kanye West, Pharrell, Sleepy Brown, Claudette Ortiz and Lloyd. Born in Forest City, Ark., Green blends southern gospel, Philadelphia soul, and a soaring, sensual voice to create music that has rocked our world for four decades. Ranked by many as the world's greatest living soul artist, he became an international superstar through such self-written hits as "Let's Stay Together," "I'm Still in Love With You," "Call Me," "Love and Happiness," "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" and "Tired of Being Alone." Green is in the midst of a remarkable comeback, thanks to his current Blue Note album, I Can't Stop, which reunites him with producer/arranger/songwriting collaborator Willie Mitchell, who first signed Green to the Memphis-based Hi label and oversaw the singer's seminal string of '70s smashes.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer joins an impressive list of previous ICON honorees including country songwriter/artists Bill Anderson and Dolly Parton; R&B legends James Brown, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley; "Soul Man" Isaac Hayes; Motown songwriting trio Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland; and pop songwriting master Brian Wilson.
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 Singles and Rap Tracks charts during the past year; Kanye West led with four songs, two of which topped both lists.
BMI annually honors the songwriters and music publishers of the most performed songs on American radio in the urban, pop, country, Latin and Christian genres.
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| Delta is the official airline of BMI's 2004 Urban Awards. | ||
Below is the complete list of 2004 BMI Urban Awards winners:
'03 BONNIE & CLYDE
Ricky Rouse
Gypsy Man Music
Jay-Z featuring Beyoncé
Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
ALL I HAVE
Ronald Bowser
Jennifer Lopez
David McPherson
Curtis Richardson
David McPhersongs
Eagle Note Publishing
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Nuyorican Publishing
Ron G Music
Jennifer Lopez with LL Cool J
Epic Records
BABY BOY
Ini Kamoze
Hottis, We Do Hits
Irving Music
Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul
Columbia Records
BEAUTIFUL
Chad Hugo
Snoop Dogg
Pharrell Williams
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
My Own Chit Publishing
Waters of Nazareth Publishing
Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell & Uncle Charlie Wilson
Doggystyle/Prority/Capitol
BUMP, BUMP, BUMP
R. Kelly
R. Kelly Publishing, Inc.
Zomba Songs Inc.
B2K featuring P. Diddy
Epic Records
CRAZY IN LOVE
Rich Harrison
Eugene Record
Dam Rich Music
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Unichappell Music, Inc.
Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z
Columbia Records
DAMN!
Bo Hagon
Lil' Jon
White Rhino Music, Inc.
YoungBloodZ featuring Lil' Jon
Arista Records
DO THAT...
Jazze Pha
Mannie Fresh
Bryan "Baby" Williams
Bubba Gee Music
Money Mack Music
Noontime Tunes
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Baby featuring P. Diddy
Cash Money/Universal Records
EXCUSE ME MISS
Chad Hugo
Pharrell Williams
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Waters of Nazareth Publishing
Jay-Z
Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
FABULOUS
Mary Y. Brown
Victor Carstarphen
Gene McFadden
John Whitehead
Ms. Mary's Music
Nitty and Capone Publishing
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Jaheim featuring Tha' Rayne
Divine Mill/Warner Bros.
FRONTIN'
Chad Hugo
Pharrell Williams
Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc.
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Raynchaser Music
Waters of Nazareth Publishing
Pharrell featuring Jay-Z
Star Trak/Arista
GET LOW
D-Roc (Ying Yang Twins)
Kaine (Ying Yang Twins)
Lil' Jon
Collipark Music
Da Crippler Publishing
E W C Publishing Co.
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
White Rhino Music, Inc.
Lil' Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring/Ying Yang Twins
BME/TVT Records
GOSSIP FOLKS
William A. Bloom
Franklyn Leon Smith
Supermarket Music
Zella Music
Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott featuring Ludacris
The Gold Mind/Elektra
HOLIDAE IN
Sham
Irving Music
Chingy featuring Snoop Dogg and Ludacris
DTP/Capitol
I CARE 4 U
Homer Banks
Carl M. Hampton
Irving Music
Aaliyah
Blackground Records
I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
Rampage
Busta Rhymes
Ensign Music Corporation
Ramp Music
Tziah Music
Busta Rhymes featuring Mariah Carey & the Flipmode Squad
J Records
IGNITION
R. Kelly
R. Kelly Publishing, Inc.
Zomba Songs Inc.
R. Kelly
Jive Records
INTO YOU
DJ Clue
Ken "Duro" Ifill
Tim Kelley
Bob Robinson
Duro Music
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Mr. Manatti Music
Songs of DreamWorks
Time for Flytes Music
Fabolous featuring Ashanti
Elektra Records
LIKE GLUE
Tony "CD" Kelly
Tony Kelly Music
Universal-Songs of PolyGram International, Inc.
Sean Paul
VP/Atlantic
LOSE YOURSELF
Jeff I. Bass
Eminem
Eight Mile Style Music
Eminem
Shady Records
LOVE OF MY LIFE (AN ODE TO HIP HOP)
COMMON
Fox Film Music Corporation
Senseless Music
Songs of Universal, Inc.
Erykah Badu featuring COMMON
Fox/MCA
LUV U BETTER
Chad Hugo
Pharrell Williams
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Waters of Nazareth Publishing
LL Cool J featuring Marc Dorsey
Def Jam Records
MESMERIZE
Thom Bell
Linda Creed
Irv Gotti
Ja Rule
D J Irv Publishing
Ensign Music Corporation
Slavery Music
Songs of Universal, Inc.
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Ja Rule featuring Ashanti
The Inc.
MISS YOU
Teddy Bishop
Noontime Tunes
October Eighth Music, Incorporated
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Aaliyah
Blackground Records
NO LETTING GO
Wayne Wonder
Singso WW Music
Wayne Wonder
Greensleeves
PUT THAT WOMAN FIRST
William Bell
Mary Y. Brown
Booker T. Jones
Irving Music
Ms. Mary's Music
Nitty and Capone Publishing
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Jaheim
Divine Mill/Warner Bros.
RIGHT THURR
Sham
Irving Music
Chingy
Disturbing Tha Peace
ROCK WIT U (AWWW BABY)
Irv Gotti
D J Irv Publishing
Ensign Music Corporation
Ashanti
The Inc.
SICK OF BEING LONELY
Kevin R. Cannon
Duane LaRue Covert
Daniel
Jazze Pha
Sid "Uncle Jamz" Johnson
Toney Ricardo Mosley
Shawn J
Smoke aka Chevy P
Black Toney Montana Music
Bubba Gee Music
Kuntry Slim Music
Noontime Tunes
Notting Hill Music, Inc.
Pride and Joy Songs Publishing
Two Four Fifteen Publishing
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Field Mob
MCA Records
SO GONE
William H. Allen
Walter M. Booker, Jr.
Alfonso J. Cervantes
Charles Stepney
Brainfood Music Company
Eibur Music
Orange Skies Music
Upam Music Co.
Monica
J Records
SUGA SUGA
Baby Bash
Frankie J
Jumping Bean Songs LLC
Latino Velvet Music
Songs of Universal, Inc.
Soulsick Muzik
Baby Bash featuring Frankie J
Universal Records
SUPERMAN
Jeff I. Bass
Eminem
Steve King
Eight Mile Style Music
Eminem
Shady/Aftermath
THUGZ MANSION
Anthony Hamilton
Songs of Universal, Inc.
Tappy Whyte's Music
2Pac
Amaru/Death Row Records
THE WAY YOU MOVE
Patrick "Sleepy" Brown
Carlton "Carl Mo" Mahone, Jr.
Carl Mo Music
Hitco Music
Organized Noize Music
OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown
Arista Records
WHEN THE LAST TIME
Chad Hugo
Pharrell Williams
EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc.
Waters of Nazareth Publishing
The Clipse
Star Trak/Arista
WORK IT
Paul Simon
Paul Simon Music
Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott
The Gold Mind
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