New York, NY, June 26, 2007: Over 500 songwriters, recording artists and music industry leaders gathered at the
20th Anniversary ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Awards, held June 25th at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, CA, to salute the top songwriters and publishers behind the most popular music of 2006. A special highlight of the evening was the presentation of the
ASCAP Voice of Music Award to "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul"
Mary J. Blige.
Marilyn Bergman, ASCAP President and Chairman , hosted the all-star gathering, which included special guest presenters
Akon, Keri Hilson, MC Lyte, The Underdogs, Ted Winn and others, plus live performances by some of today's hottest stars and emerging artists, including
Keyshia Cole, Biz Markie, Wynter Gordon, Rock City, Karen Clark Sheard and
Ne-Yo.
With three award-winning songs apiece,
Mary J. Blige, Johntá Austin and
Jermaine "JD" Dupri shared
the coveted
Songwriter of the Year title.
This past year was a huge one for
Mary J. Blige – her album
The Breakthrough hit big, winning her critical praise and selling nearly seven million copies worldwide. The album swept the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and the Grammys, and set the stage for her career retrospective
Reflections, released at the end of 2006. Blige earned her first ASCAP Songwriter of the Year award for two of the blockbuster hits from
The Breakthrough, "Be Without You" and "Enough Cryin," and for her collaboration with Busta Rhymes, "Touch It (Remix)."
Johntá Austin has quickly risen through the ranks to join the songwriting elite. Earlier this year, he was named ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year along with Jermaine "JD" Dupri. He was honored last night for co-writing the Mary J. Blige hit "Be Without You," Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us," and "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" for Chris Brown.
From the soulful R&B of Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us" to the Chingy and Tyrese hip-hop ballad "Pullin' Me Back" to the hot club track "Grillz," the winning songs that
Jermaine "JD" Dupri penned in 2006 show the versatility of this amazing songwriter and producer. This is his sixth time being named ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Songwriter of the Year and his third consecutive win. In 2005, Dupri earned the prestigious ASCAP Golden Note Award, and earlier this year, he was named ASCAP's Pop Songwriter of the Year.
"Be Without You" also earned Austin and Blige this year's
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Song award.
"Grillz" claimed the
Top Ringtone of the Year award and was also recognized in the Rap and R&B/Hip-Hop categories.
EMI Music Publishing was named
Publisher of the Year for their 16 award-winning songs. This is the 13th consecutive win for EMI and the 15 th time in the 20-year history of the awards show that they have received this honor.
The evening was highlighted with a special tribute to
Mary J. Blige who was presented with the
ASCAP Voice of Music Award. This award is given to recognize artists and songwriters whose music illuminates people's lives through song. Previous recipients include Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Diane Warren and Jimmy Webb, among others. Many friends and collaborators were on hand to pay tribute to Blige:
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis introduced a tribute video celebrating her 15-year career;
Jimmy Iovine, Chairman, Interscope, Geffen & A&M Records and
Ron Fair, Chairman, Geffen Records, joined
Marilyn Bergman onstage to present the award, and
Keyshia Cole, Wynter Gordon and
Karen Clark Sheard – accompanied by the Rhythm & Soul House Band under the direction of
Nisan Stewart – capped off the tribute with stunning performances of some of Blige's songs.
Top Soundtrack Song of the Year honors went to
"Check On It" from
The Pink Panther . Co-written by Angela Beyince, Beyoncé, Sean Garrett and Swizz Beatz, with the original theme music by the late Henry Mancini, the song was also recognized in the R&B/Hip-Hop category.
Sean Paul was named
Reggae Artist of the Year for the fourth consecutive year and also earned two awards in the Rap category for "Temperature" and "(When You Gonna) Give it Up To Me."
Yung Joc's
"It's Goin' Down," written by
Nitti, was named
Top Rap Song and also earned an award in the R&B/Hip-Hop category. The song reached #1 on
Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart and received a 2006 Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song.
"Looking For You," written by Sheree Brown, Charles Mims and Patrice Rushen, was named
Top Gospel Song. Performed by Kirk Franklin, the song remained on
Billboard's Top Gospel Songs chart for 49 weeks peaking at the #1 spot.
Among the songwriters with multiple award-winning songs were:
Mary J. Blige, Johntá Austin and
Jermaine "JD" Dupri with three each, and
Beyoncé, Keyshia Cole, LRoc, Ludacris, Stargate's Mikkel Eriksen (PRS) and
Tor Hermansen (PRS)
, Sean Garrett and
Sean Paul with two each.
Honorees and notables in attendance included:
Mary J. Blige, Johntá Austin, Jermaine "JD" Dupri, Akon, Chingy, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Alicia Keys, Biz Markie, Kandi Burruss, Chamillionaire, Keyshia Cole, Dem Franchize Boyz, Dre & Vidal, Ron Fair, Dave "Jam" Hall, Andre Harrell, Lalah Hathaway, Keri Hilson, Jimmy Iovine, Krayzie Bone, L.A. Reid, Letoya, LRoc, Lyfe Jennings, Mary Mary, MC Lyte, Ne-Yo, Papoose, Play N Skillz, Polow Da Don, Rah Digga, Sylvia Rhone, Rock City, Patrice Rushen, Karen Clark Sheard, American Idol's Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis, Lakisha Jones and
Melinda Doolittle, Stargate,Swizz Beatz, Tank, T.I., The Underdogs, Narada Michael Walden, Ted Winn and
Young Dro, among others.
For the complete list of winners, click here.
MEDIA, PLEASE NOTE: High-resolution photos of the 2007 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards will be available for downloading from ASCAP's Press Room:
http://www.ascap.com/press/pressroom/rhythmsoulawards/
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 295,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher members. ASCAP also represents the repertories created by the international affiliates of 90 foreign performing rights organizations. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American Performing Rights Organization owned and governed by its writer and publisher members.
www.ascap.com
