Cardi B Takes ASCAP Songwriter Of The Year For 2nd Year In A Row As ASCAP Celebrates 2020 Rhythm & Soul Music Award Winners In Three-Day Social Media Event, July 15 - 17

DaBaby's "Suge" is Top R&B/Hip-Hop Song

Meek Mill's "Going Bad" feat. Drake Named Top Rap Song

Donald Lawrence's "Deliver Me (This Is My Exodus)" Lands Top Gospel Song

Universal Music Publishing Group Recognized as Publisher of the Year

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Jul 15, 2020, 10:01 ET

NEW YORK, July 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) launches its fourth virtual awards event, the 2020 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, recognizing the winners of the most performed songs of the past year in R&B, hip-hop and gospel music. Beginning today at 10:00 a.m. ET through Friday, July 17, ASCAP will share exclusive photos, videos, acceptance speeches and more from some of its top songwriters and publishers posted with the hashtag #ASCAPAwards to @ASCAPUrban on Instagram and @ASCAP on Twitter and Instagram.

This year's winners include some of the hottest stars in hip-hop, R&B and gospel. Cardi B captures Songwriter of the Year for the second year in a row; "Going Bad," Meek Mill's first #1 single on Billboard's Rhythmic Songs chart, written by Meek Mill and Westen Weiss, receives Top Rap Song; "Suge," DaBaby's first top 10 song, written by DaBaby and Tahj "jetsonmade" Morgan, takes Top R&B/Hip-Hop Song and "Deliver Me (This is my Exodus)," written by Desmond (BlackDrumHippie) Davis, Marshon Lewis and Rob "Code Lei" Woolridge, which reached #1 on Billboard's Gospel Airplay chart, wins Top Gospel Song. Universal Music Publishing Group takes Publisher of the Year for songs including "Before I Let Go" (Beyoncé), "Hot Girl Summer" (Megan Thee Stallion) and "My Type" (Saweetie).

ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams set the stage for this year's winners in a video introduction, saying, "As the world stumbles and tries to pick itself up, we must try to offer hope, and healing, and a vision for a better future. That's where your music comes in. I believe in my very core that your music has the power to lift our spirits, move hearts and minds and inspire real change. That deserves to be honored and celebrated."

The event will also include performances from winners Anthony Brown ("Blessings on Blessings") and Nicole Bus ("You"). (Bus also appeared live in discussion last night as part of @ASCAPUrban's "Real Sounds Deconstructed" streaming series.) And famed producer and previous ASCAP Founders Award winner Jermaine Dupri will host an Instagram live DJ set "after party" on @jermainedurpri on Friday, July 17 beginning at 4PM ET.

On Thursday, July 16, in support of the 2020 Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, ASCAP Experience: Home Edition will include special online programming featuring some of its 2020 award winners. "Leading Ladies of Publishing A&R" will feature executives from three of ASCAP's winning publishers: Brandra Ringo of Warner Chappell Music, Ari Gelaw of Universal Music Publishing Group and Jennifer Drake of Sony/ATV. Registration is free and more details are available here: www.ascapexperience.com.

The full list of 2020 Rhythm & Soul Awards winners can be found at www.ascap.com/rsawards20.

About ASCAP

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business - from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 750,000 members representing more than 11.5 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook.

SOURCE ASCAP