Nas will obtain the BMI Icon Award on the 2026 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards.
The legendary Grammy-winning rapper will likely be honored on the non-public ceremony in Los Angeles on August 26.
BMI mentioned on Wednesday (July 29) that Nas is being acknowledged for his songwriting and his affect on hip-hop.
The night will likely be hosted by BMI CEO Mike O’Neill, EVP, Chief Income & Inventive Officer Mike Steinberg, and VP, Inventive, Atlanta Catherine Brewton.
BMI can even honor the songwriters, producers and publishers behind the previous 12 months’s 35 most-performed R&B/Hip-Hop songs from its repertoire of greater than 25 million works.
Its R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriter, Track, Producer and Writer of the Yr, together with its High Producers, will likely be named throughout the ceremony.
“Nas has each outlined and elevated hip-hop by means of his groundbreaking storytelling, lyrical excellence and an enduring dedication to creative innovation,” mentioned Brewton.
“From his earliest works to the music mogul that he’s at the moment, Nas is a real icon whose legacy continues to encourage artists, affect tradition and form the sound of hip-hop for generations.”
“We’re additionally wanting ahead to honoring all this 12 months’s award-winning songwriters, producers, and publishers,” Brewton added. “It’s going to be an evening to recollect.”
Born Nasir Jones, Nas grew up within the Queensbridge housing undertaking in New York Metropolis.
“Nas has each outlined and elevated hip-hop by means of his groundbreaking storytelling, lyrical excellence and an enduring dedication to creative innovation”
Catherine Brewton
He launched his debut album, Illmatic, in 1994.
The document featured manufacturing from DJ Premier, Giant Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip and L.E.S.
It was inducted into the Library of Congress‘ Nationwide Recording Registry in 2021.
Nas has since launched 17 studio albums and offered greater than 35 million data worldwide.
He received his first GRAMMY Award in 2021, when King’s Illness was named Finest Rap Album.
The album was produced by Hit-Boy, who has helmed a number of of the rapper’s subsequent releases.
In line with BMI, Nas has acquired 17 GRAMMY nominations throughout his profession.
Away from music, Nas has backed know-how firms by means of QueensBridge Enterprise Companions, the enterprise capital agency he co-founded in 2014.
Its early investments included Coinbase, Lyft, Dropbox, Ring, Robinhood and Pluto TV.
He’s additionally co-owner of Mass Enchantment, the award-winning media firm and document label that has advanced into a number one pressure in music, movie, tv, publishing, and reside experiences.
Common Music Group took a stake within the firm by means of a $6 million funding spherical in 2017.
Mass Enchantment signed a world distribution take care of Common Music Group in 2018.
The label has since expanded into markets together with India and Pakistan.
In changing into a BMI Icon, Nas joins previous recipients together with James Brown, Al Inexperienced, Isaac Hayes, Janet Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne and Babyface.
Babyface acquired the honour on the 2024 R&B/Hip-Hop Awards, and Lil Wayne was named a BMI Icon on the 2023 version.
BMI represents the general public efficiency rights in additional than 25 million works from over 1.5 million songwriters, composers and publishers.
The performing rights group was acquired by a gaggle led by New Mountain Capital in a deal that closed in February 2024.Music Enterprise Worldwide
