Kendrick Lamar and “luther” Lead BMI's R&B/Hip-Hop Awards as Nas Receives Icon Honor

Nas stands at center stage with BMI executives and members of the evening's tribute presentation.

The 2026 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards produced a full night of results, not only a legacy salute. Kendrick Lamar was named R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter of the Year, “luther” earned Song of the Year, O Lil Angel received Producer of the Year and Sony Music Publishing took Publisher of the Year. Nas accepted the ceremony's highest distinction, the BMI Icon Award.

BMI honored Nas for the precision, observation and influence of a catalog that helped reset hip-hop's standard for writing. Evelyn “Champagne” King opened the tribute with “I'm in Love” and “Love Come Down,” connecting her music to the 1997 Capone-N-Noreaga and Nas collaboration “Calm Down.” Babyface and Large Professor continued the salute before Nas addressed the room.

Kendrick's songwriter award reflected six of the previous year's most-performed songs: “30 for 30,” “hey now,” “peekaboo,” “squabble up,” “tv off” and “luther.” BMI named “luther,” his collaboration with SZA, Song of the Year after its record-setting run atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The recognition covered the song's full BMI writing team, including Matthew “MTech” Bernard, Atia “INK” Boggs, Sam Dew, Roselilah, Sounwave and SZA.

Producer of the Year O Lil Angel was recognized for work connected to Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR, while D'Mile, FNZ and Jahaan Sweet were named among the evening's top producers. Sony Music Publishing's 27 represented winning songs included “Timeless,” “Like Him,” “Yukon,” “25” and “luther.” BMI also honored 63 first-time winners across its 35 most-performed R&B and hip-hop songs.

The performance lineup broadened the snapshot of the genre. Real Boston Richey, Miles Caton, Tone Stith and Tiana Major9 appeared alongside Belly Gang Kushington and YKNiece. The program also remembered the late Tay Keith, whose family accepted his previously announced 2025 songwriter honor, and introduced the BMI Foundation's first Babyface Award for emerging creators.

PowerPage's earlier preview of Nas receiving the BMI Icon Award set up the headline honor. Today's verified result is the larger story: established lyricists, current chart leaders, producers, publishers and new writers shared one scoreboard. The awards showed how R&B and hip-hop history continues to move through samples, songwriting teams, performance and ownership at the same time.