Thursday (June 26) evening was certainly a night to remember for Atlanta producer Mike Will Made It and Warner/Chappell Music.
According to Billboard, he was named songwriter of the year and his publishing firm was crowned publisher of the year at the 27th annual ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards.
The ceremony also featured special presentations honoring artist/songwriter/producer Jermaine Dupri and singer/songwriter/producer Ne-Yo. The two were recipients of ASCAP's prestigious Founders Award and Golden Note Award, respectively.
The presentation of the Founders Award to Dupri featured a surprise performance by Bow Wow and Usher.
During his performance, Usher praised Dupri saying he "puts his heart and time into his songs; they're real. Without JD, I would never have become a writer my damn self."
It has been 3 years since Warner/Chappell won the Rhythm & Soul publisher award. It also marks the first year the company has claimed that award at three ASCAP ceremonies: Rhythm & Soul, Country and Pop.
As a collective, WCM songwriters took home 21 Most Performed Songs awards at the ceremony.
Mike Will Made It wrote seven of those songs, including "Bandz a Make Her Dance," "Love Me," "Pour It Up" and "Body Party." Kendrick Lamar followed with five, including "Poetic Justice" and "Swimming Pools (Drank)."
Jay Z wrote four including Top Rap Song honoree "Holy Grail," which No ID, Justin Timberlake, The-Dream and Timbaland pitched in for.
Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke and T.I. took home the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Song award for "Blurred Lines." Singer Anthony Brown nabbed the award for the top most-performed song for "Testimony."
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