Young Money hitmaker Lil Wayne continues to maintain a strong presence in the music world by collecting the BMI Urban Award for urban songwriter of the year award for the second year in a row.
The rapper, who is currently serving a year in prison after pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon, was recognized Friday (September 10th) for writing six hit songs during the past year, including Drake’s “Best I Ever Had” and R&B singer Keri Hilson’s “Turnin’ Me On.”
In addition to Lil Wayne, the BMI Urban Awards honored Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am. with its Presidents Award for as well as urban song of the year for his group’s popular song, “Boom Boom Pow.”
The rapper/producer received the President’s Award for his work as an artist, producer and humanitarian.
Other award winners included Polow da Don for urban producer of the year and EMI Music Publishing, which earned the award for urban publisher of the year.
Kanye West and R. Kelly were among those named as top urban producers by BMI, which also highlighted Sean Garrett, Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford, L.O.S., Daniel "Kane Beatz" Johnson and Da Mystro.
The BMI Urban Music Awards, which were held at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, honors the songwriters, producers and music publishers of the most-performed R&B, rap and Hip-Hop songs from last year.
Songwriters for No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Rap Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts were acknowledged before the annual event as the BMI/SunTrust #1 Show honored Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind," Katy Perry's "California Gurls," B.o.B's "Nothin' on You" and Eminem's "Not Afraid."
