Photo Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BMI
Broadcast Music Inc. celebrated the songwriters and publishers of the year for the first time in Atlanta last night during the 2016 BMI R&B & Hip Hop Awards.
The award show was held at the swanky Woodruff Arts Center’s Symphony Hall and saw performances from DJ Khaled, Ludacris, Kent Jones, Rich Homie Quan, and Rae Sremmurd.
The top honors of the evening went to Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa for “See You Again” (Song of the Year), Universal Music Publishing Group, (Publisher of the Year), and Metro Boomin (Producer of the Year).
The legend, the icon, Grammy Award-winner, Toni Braxton, took home the night’s most prestigious honor when she was presented with the BMI President’s Award in recognition of her unparalleled musical career, contributions to and impact on popular music as a whole. The R&B diva has had an incredibly successful music career for 25 years!
Before Toni Braxton took the stage to accept her BMI President’s award the songstress was serenaded by a tribute that included Donald Lawrence & Company, her sisters The Braxtons, Ledisi, and Yolanda Adams.
Donald Lawrence & Company sung “You Mean the World to Me”, The Braxtons; “Breathe Again”, Ledisi; “Seven Whole Days,” Yolanda Adams; “Un-break My Heart, and Toni took the stage to perform her hit “He Wasn’t Man Enough For Me” after accepting her award from the legendary music executive L.A. Reid.
The evening was hosted by actor and comedian Chris Tucker alongside BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations, Catherine Brewton
Chris Tucker certainly brought the funny by imitating some of your favorite artists and cracking jokes on those in attendance. DJ Khaled and Ludacris turned the energy up a notch when they performed “All I Do Is Win.” Kent Jones rocked the stage with his hit “Don’t Mind,” and Rae Sremmurd surely turned up the evening as people danced to their performance of “No Type” Rich Homie performed “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)” as well as received a BMI Award for the single.
Check out more photos from the evening. Photo credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BMI.
