George Clinton Honored at BMI Urban Awards

Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) saluted the best of the year in urban music on Thursday night at Frederick P. Rose Hall in Lincoln Center at its annual Urban Awards. The big winners were T-Pain and Lil Wayne who shared the Songwriter of the Year and Polow Da Don and Kanye West who both received Producer of the Year. Song of the Year went to No Air by Erik Griggs, recorded by Jordan Sparks and Chris Brown.

The big event of the night was the presentation of the BMI Icon Award to George Clinton as a songwriter who has had a “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” The salute included performances of some of Clinton's best, including One Nation Under a Groove (performed by Cee-Lo Green), Atomic Dog (Nikka Costa and Bootsy Collins), Flashlight (Janelle Monáe and Gym Class Hero’s Travis McCoy) and a medley of (Not Just) Knee Deep, Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk) and Up the Down Store (Dallas Austin, Big Gipp and Big Boi).

The only veteran artist receiving a Most Performed Awards was Janet Jackson for Bust It Baby, Part 2 written with Plies and J.R. Rotem.