BMI recently announced the first confirmed attendees
to its Urban Awards 2002, which are scheduled to take place August 6th at Club
Tropigala at the Fountainebleau Hilton Resorts & Towers in Miami Beach,
Florida.
The first annual Urban Awards will recognize
such Urban songwriters and publishers as Cam’ron,
NORE, Big Tymers, Juvenile, the Neptunes, Rockwilder and others.
Songwriting wizards Dallas Austin, Rodney Jerkins
and the Neptunes Pharrell Williams will produce a musical tribute to the evenings
BMI ICON, James The Godfather Of Soul" Brown. Brown is being recognized
for his innovations and contributions to music and the music business. The first
ICON Awards were presented in May to fellow pioneers Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley
and Little Richard.
The BMI Urban Awards will recognize the songwriters
and publishers of the most-played Urban songs on the U.S. radio and television.
An Urban Song of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Publisher of the Year
will be named that night. In addition to the song awards, BMI will also honor
the Top Producers of 2001-2002 and the BMI writers whose songs hit #1 spot on
the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Charts.
The black-tie, invitation-only event will be
held to coincide with Billboard’s R&B/Hip Hop Conference & Awards, also
in Miami Beach.
The 2001 Urban Awards presentation, scheduled
for October 3rd last year, was canceled due to the events of 9/11, although
the actual awards were later distributed to the winners. BMI honored its Latin
music songwriters and publishers May 8th with the 9th Annual Latin Awards in
Hollywood, Florida.