Lil Baby will be crowned ASCAP songwriter of the year for the second year in a row at the 35th annual ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, which are set to take place from Tuesday, June 21 through Friday June 24 on @ASCAP and @ASCAPUrban’s social media channels.
Lil Baby co-wrote hits on which he sang lead and others on which he was featured behind such artists as DJ Khaled, Rod Wave and Drake. They include “On Me,” “Every Chance I Get,” “Rags2Riches 2,” “Girls Want Girls” and “Wants and Needs.”
Lil Baby won his first Grammy in April as a featured artist on Kanye West’s “Hurricane,” which won best melodic rap performance. His third studio album is due this summer.
Celebrating the songwriters and publishers behind this year’s biggest hits in hip-hop, R&B and gospel, ASCAP’s Rhythm & Soul Music Awards return in a virtual format. Fans can participate by tuning in to @ASCAPUrban on Instagram and @ASCAP on Instagram and Twitter, and using the hashtag #ASCAPAwards.
Sony Music Publishing won the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul publisher of the year award. This is the company’s third win at an ASCAP event in the past year, following their awards for pop music publisher of the year and Latin music publisher of the year.
Upon accepting the award, Walter Jones, Sony Music Publishing executive vice president, head of A&R, said, “None of this is possible without our songwriters – they are the cornerstone of the music business and we appreciate the effort they put in day in and day out to write today’s biggest hits.”
The R&B/hip-hop and rap song of the year award is presented to ASCAP songwriters Orville “Buggs Can Can” Hall and Phillip Triggerman Price (a.k.a. The Showboys), Dion “Devious” Norman, Trè Samuels and Dave Welcome for “Go Crazy,” performed by Chris Brown and Young Thug. The smash topped Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart for two weeks and headed R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart for 29 weeks. The publishers are Beat Product, Protoons Inc, Scarred Life, Thou Art The Hunger, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music.
The gospel song of the year goes to co-writers Johntá Austin and Jeremy “TryBishop” Hicks for “Speak to Me,” performed by Koryn Hawthorne. “Speak to Me” became Hawthorne’s second No. 1 single on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart. The publishers are Naked Under My Clothes Music, Sony Music Publishing and J.C.H. Productions.
On Friday at 3 p.m. ET, the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards will wrap up with “Deconstructed: Ashanti Breaks Down Her Hits,” a special ASCAP Experience conversation. Ashanti will speak with VIBE editor-in-chief Datwon Thomas about the 20-year anniversary of her debut album, Ashanti, and delve into the creation of some of her greatest hits. The album topped the Billboard 200 for three weeks and won a Grammy for best contemporary R&B album. The event will be broadcast on ASCAP’s YouTube channel. More information is available here.
Other expected highlights this week include videos from award winners Felisha King Harvey, Brian Warfield and production duo Blaq Tuxedo (Darius and Dominique Logan) breaking down their winning songs in a special Rhythm & Soul Awards edition of ASCAP Urban’s “Deconstructed” series.
Check out the complete list of winners at the official ASCAP website.