August 6, 2002
Press Release
MIAMI, August 7, 2002 – Performing rights organization BMI saluted the top R&B, rap and hip-hop songwriters, producers and publishers at its 2002 Urban Awards, staged last night at Club Tropigala at the Fontainebleau Hilton Resorts & Towers in Miami. The black-tie ceremony, hosted by BMI President and CEO Frances W. Preston, with Senior Vice President Performing Rights-Writer/Publisher Relations Del Bryant and Assistant Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations Catherine Brewton, saw a record six songwriters tie for the Songwriter of the Year trophy. Irv Gotti, Ja Rule, Jay-Z, R. Kelly, Pharrell Williams and Mario Winans each placed two songs on the most performed list to take home the coveted prize. Janet Jackson’s hit, “All For You,” was named Song of the Year and EMI Music Publishing earned its second consecutive Urban Publisher of the Year award.
A special highlight of the gala evening featured the presentation of the BMI ICON Award to “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown in recognition of his contributions to music and the music business. He was honored during the dinner with an all-star musical tribute produced by Dallas Austin, Rodney Jerkins and Pharrell Williams that featured Angie Stone and Betty Wright, among others. With songs like “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and “Please Please Please,” Brown has more honors attached to his name than any other performer in music history. His BMI accolades include an impressive ten R&B Awards, six Pop Awards and three “Million-Air” awards, denoting one million or more performances.
The Songwriter of the Year trophy, shared this year by six, is given to the writer having the most songs on the BMI awards list for the evening. They are: Irv Gotti and Ja Rule for “I’m Real” (Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule) and “Put It On Me” (Ja Rule featuring Lil’ Mo and Vita), Jay-Z for his song “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” and “Fiesta” (R. Kelly featuring Jay-Z), R. Kelly also for “Fiesta” and “Contagious” (Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley), Pharrell Williams for “Danger (Been So Long)” (Mystikal featuring Nivea) and “Southern Hospitality” (Ludacris) and Mario Winans for “Emotional” (Carl Thomas) and “Peaches & Cream” (112).
Famed Neptunes’ producer Pharrell Williams, who took home his second Songwriter of the Year award, was also honored as Songwriter/Producer of the Year. Rapper N.O.R.E. performed in his honor. Other Top Producer awards went to fellow Songwriters of the Year Irv Gotti, R. Kelly and Mario Winans, as well as to Mike City, Steve Huff, Mannie Fresh, Organized Noize (Pat “Sleepy” Brown, Ray Murray and Rico Wade), Poke and Cory Rooney.
Song of the Year “All For You,” written and performed by Janet Jackson and published by Black Ice Publishing, is from the pop diva’s Grammy Award-winning album of the same name. Released in the spring of 2001, the title track went straight to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, bringing Jackson’s total career #1 hits to ten.
EMI Music Publishing, which had the highest percentage of ownership in award-winning songs, picked up its second consecutive Urban Publisher of the Year award. This is the twelfth top BMI Publisher honor awarded to EMI since 1989 in all genres of music. Other multiple award-winning publishers included Zomba Songs Inc. with three songs, and D J Irv Publishing, Ensign Music Corporation, Lil Lu Lu Publishing, R. Kelly Publishing, Inc., Slavery Music, Songs of Universal, Inc. and Waters of Nazareth Publishing with two songs each.
In addition to the song and publisher awards, music trade magazine Billboard announced the names of the BMI-affiliated writers who had #1 songs on the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts during the past year. Rapper CAM’RON was among the double winners, as were two of the evening’s top honorees, Irv Gotti and Pharrell Williams.
Founded in 1940, BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music. Through its music performance and reciprocal agreements, it grants businesses and media access to its repertoire of approximately 4.5 million musical works from around the world. 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.
For a complete list of award-winning songs and to download high-resolution photos from the event, please visit the BMI Media Relations press web site at press.bmi.com.
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