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Shallow Nation

September 5th, 2008 at 11:16 am

BMI Urban Awards 2008 9-4-08

The BMI Urban Awards took place on September 4, 2008 at the Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills, California. The annual awards honor R&B, rap and hip-hop songwriters, producers and publishers.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the BMI Icon Award to music legends The Jacksons (originally known as The Jackson 5). The entire Jackson family; parents Katherine and Joe Jackson and siblings–with the exception of Michael Jackson and Jermaine Jackson–attended the ceremony.

The industry’s hottest songwriter/artist T-Pain earned the coveted Songwriter of the Year crown and shared the Producer of the Year trophy with crossover king Jonathan “J.R.” Rotem and hip-hop visionary Kanye West. Song of the Year honors went to Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable,” co-written by Ne-Yo, Amund BjAerklund (TONO) and Espen Lind (TONO), while Universal Music Publishing Group secured the Publisher of the Year title.

The night’s festivities culminated with the presentation of the prestigious BMI Icon Award to music legends The Jacksons, whose achievements were celebrated with a musical tribute. Throughout the ceremony, the audience also enjoyed live performances of many of the award-winning songs by music’s biggest stars including Rick Ross, T-Pain, Lil’ Wayne, Ray J, LLOYD, Mario, JoJo, Keri Hilson and Yung Berg.

Janet Jackson at the 2008 BMI Urban Awards, September 4, 2008

Janet Jackson

T-Pain, Jonathan “J.R.” Rotem and Kanye West shared the Producer of the Year win thanks to individually logging the most producer credits on charting songs over the past year. The BMI Top Urban Producers list also included DJ Montay, Mr. ColliPark, Polow Da Don, Rodney Jerkins, Soulja Boy Tell’em and will.i.am.
Universal Music Publishing Group earned the BMI Urban Publisher of the Year trophy by scoring the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. The publishing giant’s 20 hits on the most-performed list include “Throw Some D’s” recorded by Rich Boy featuring Polow Da Don; Song of the Year “Irreplaceable”; Flo Rida’s “Low” featuring T-Pain; “You” recorded by LLOYD featuring Lil’ Wayne and Ciara’s “Promise.”
In addition to the BMI performance awards, trade publication Billboard recognized 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 complete list of winners and photos, please visit www.bmi.com

Source: BMI Honors The Jacksons, T-Pain and Many More at Urban Awards in Los Angeles