June 23, 2011

Snoop Dogg to be Named BMI Icon at Annual BMI Urban Awards

Press Release

LOS ANGELES, June 23, 2011 – Snoop Dogg will be saluted as a BMI Icon at the BMI Urban Awards, slated for Friday, August 26 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. BMI President & CEO Del Bryant will share hosting duties with Catherine Brewton, Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations, Atlanta, as the entertainment community gathers to celebrate the most-performed urban songs, songwriters and producers of the previous year.

The evening will include an all-star musical tribute to Snoop Dogg, as well as the presentation of the Urban Songwriter, Song, Producer and Publisher of the Year crystals.

BMI Icons are selected because of their “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” As a BMI Icon, Snoop Dogg will join ranks that include George Clinton, The Jacksons, James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, The Bee Gees, Willie Nelson and Carlos Santana, to name a few.

As Snoop Dogg approaches his 20th year in the entertainment industry, he remains a visionary mc with sharp instinct and velvet delivery. Since his culture-shaking 1992 debut, Doggystyle, his sound has engrossed listeners—those who recognize their own lives in his songs, and others simply drawn to Snoop Dogg’s authenticity. He is a fiercely imaginative songwriter, capable of cutting rhymes and wry wordplay. Twelve BMI Awards spanning urban and pop point to his prominent role in hip-hop’s seduction of the mainstream. Songs including “Next Episode,” “Gin and Juice,” “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” “Beautiful,” “Sexual Eruption,” “Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang,” and so many more created the soundtrack of a generation. He has been honored by the American Music Awards, Source Awards, BET Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and many others, and has also garnered innumerable Grammy nominations. He has also appeared in countless films and TV series, including Training Day, Old School, Starsky & Hutch, Brüno, Futurama, Weeds, and more, which, when coupled with his music, ensure that Snoop Dogg will be forever ingrained in pop culture’s collective consciousness.

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Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI), a global leader in rights management, is an American performing right organization that represents more than 475,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music and more than 6.5 million works. BMI has represented the most popular and beloved music from around the world for 70 years. The U.S. corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents. BMI songwriters and composers were the most celebrated creative voices in awards presentations and on the charts during the past year, accounting for almost two-thirds of the Grammy Awards and dominating other key awards and honors presentations across all genres of music.
www.bmi.com

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CONTACTS:

Marlene Meraz / BMI Los Angeles
310.289.6325 / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Jamil Walker / BMI New York
212.220.3143 / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)