T-Pain and GloRilla were presented with special honors at the 2025 R&B/Hip-Hop Awards, presented by the performing rights organization BMI Thursday in LA.
T-Pain received the BMI President’s Award in recognition of his career and his global impact: He’s sold over 50 million singles and has scored a string of #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Over the years, he’s won 28 BMI Awards. He follows past President’s Award winners Taylor Swift, Pink, Benny Blanco and more.
Accepting the award, T-Pain noted, “Enjoy these moments but don’t let these define you. Make sure you find your own happiness; make sure you find what you have already inside you.” He added, “Every journey has a beginning, a middle and an end. … Don’t let anybody dictate your time and how fast you get to the finish line. Let yourself be your own time measurement.”
He also thanked his team, his mom and everyone “who’s had to deal with my s*** for the last 20 years.”
GloRilla received the BMI Impact Award for being a “transformative force in hip-hop.” Accepting the honor, she said, “Keep y’all’s foot on the gas. Don’t let nobody tell y’all what y’all can’t do. Because it’s a lot of people that tell me what I can’t do and” — she then stopped talking and struck a pose on the stage while the audience cheered.
Glo was also named BMI’s R&B/Hip-Hop songwriter of the year, thanks to her hits “TGIF,” “Wanna Be” and “Yeah Glo!” Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” was named song of the year.
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