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 BMI held their Urban Awards ceremony in Las Vegas on Friday (September 7), honoring the likes of T.I., Ne-Yo, Mr. Collipark and Pharrell Williams among others.
The ceremony, held at the Zumanity Theatre at New York-New York Hotel and Casino, attracted some of music's biggest stars in town for MTV's Video Music Awards.
Some of the nights honorees included T.I., Ne-Yo and Mr. ColliPark who each earned Songwriter of the Year titles. They each composed four songs on BMI's most-performed list. T.I. co-wrote hits "My Love" and "What You Know," along with Lil' C's "Shoulder Lean" and Nelly's "Grillz"; Ne-Yo co-penned Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" and his own "Sexy Love," "So Sick" and "When You're Mad"; and producer Mr. ColliPark co-wrote the Ying Yang Twins' "Badd," Diddy's "Come to Me," Bubba Sparxxx's "Ms. New Booty" and David Banner's "Play."
"Check On It" secured Song of the Year honors for co-writers Slim Thug and Sean Garrett, and a special presentation officially recognized legendary MC, Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons of Run DMC, as the newest BMI Icon.
As one third of Run-DMC, Rev Run helped change the sound of rap by simultaneously being more street and rock & roll than his contemporaries. From the classic single "Sucker MCs" (1983) to their standard-setting discs Run-DMC, King of Rock, Raising Hell and Tougher Than Leather, Run-DMC helped take hip-hop, and music in general, to a whole new level. They stayed at the top of the pop charts for most of the 80s and knocked open the doors to commercial freedom for the hip-hop generation.
The night's other big winners included Pharrell Williams, who earned the Producer of the Year title; EMI Music Publishing, named Urban Publisher of the Year; and T-Pain's "I'm N Luv (Wit A Stripper)," which nabbed the BMI Urban Ringtone Award. Executives from music trade magazine Billboard were also on hand to give out No. 1 Awards to the BMI songs that reached the top spot on its urban music charts during the past year.
In addition to the BMI awards, Billboard was on hand to recognize the BMI-affiliated writers whose songs reached no. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Rap Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Hot 100 charts during the past year.
For a full list of the night's winners, visit BMI.com.
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