“Every journey has a beginning, a middle and an end … Don’t let anyone dictate your time or how fast you get to the finish line. Let yourself be your own time measurement.” So noted an ebullient T-Pain, who drew boisterous cheers and applause while accepting the prestigious BMI President’s Award at the organization’s 2025 R&B/Hip-Hop Awards last evening (8/28).

Before a packed ballroom inside Los Angeles’ Fairmont Century Plaza, GloRilla received BMI’s other special honor, the Impact Award. “Keep your foot on the gas,” she remarked before adding, “Don’t let anyone tell y’all what you can’t do because a lot of people told me what I can’t do.”

GloRilla was also named BMI’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter of the Year in a three-way tie with Tay Keith and Mike Dean. Each of them co-wrote three of BMI

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