Nas opened his BMI Icon acceptance speech by admitting he never thought he’d be standing there. “Never in a million years did I think I would be partners with BMI,” he told the crowd at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Beverly Hills on August 26. “It just shows you that the things you dream about could really happen.”
The moment landed even harder given who handed him the award. Babyface, himself a former BMI Icon honoree, introduced Nas with a line that cut straight to it: “He’s not an ordinary rapper. He’s a poet and a philosopher.”
That framing says a lot about how the industry sees Nas at this point in his career, not just as a hitmaker but as someone whose writing has held up across decades.
Before the icon presentation, the room had already been warmed up by Evelyn “Champagne” King, who got the entire ballroom on its feet with her ’80s Hot 100 hits “I’m In Love” and “Love Come Down.”
The second song carries its own hip-hop history, having been sampled on Capone-N-Noreaga’s 1997 track “Calm Down,” which featured Nas. Seeing him smile and dance along to it was one of those full-circle moments the night seemed built around.
Kendrick Lamar took home R&B/hip-hop songwriter of the year after co-writing six of 2025’s most-performed songs, including “Squabble Up,” “30 for 30,” and “Luther.”
That last one spent 23 weeks at the top of Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was also named BMI’s R&B/hip-hop song of the year, making it a double win for Kendrick’s pen in a single evening.
Producer O Lil Angel picked up R&B/hip-hop producer of the year on the back of his work with Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR, with credits spanning the albums Habibti, Made of Honour, and Iceman alongside standout singles like “Spider-Man Superman” and “Somebody Loves Me.”
It’s a producer credit list that reflects just how central he’s been to one of the most commercially dominant camps in the genre over the past year.
Sony Music Publishing was named R&B/hip-hop publisher of the year, with representation across 27 of last year’s most-performed songs.
That catalog includes “Luther,” “Timeless,” “Like Him,” “Yukon,” and “25,” which gives you a sense of how wide their footprint actually was across the genre in 2025.
One of the quieter but more meaningful moments of the night came when the late Tay Keith was remembered. His sister and uncle accepted his 2025 BMI R&B/hip-hop songwriter of the year award, which had been announced at last year’s ceremony but never collected. It was a brief pause in an otherwise celebratory evening, and the room felt it.
The night also marked the first-ever BMI Foundation Babyface Award, a competitive grant and mentorship program for emerging songwriters and composers working in R&B, hip-hop, soul, and music of the African diaspora.
Songwriter and producer Rijah Banerjee took home the inaugural honor. Large Professor closed out the ceremony with a DJ set built entirely from Nas’ catalog, which felt like the right way to send everyone home.
The 2026 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards recognized 63 first-time winners across its top producer and songwriter categories, which suggests the pipeline behind the genre’s biggest names is far from running dry.
