Billboard hosted its first annual R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players List Event honoring Meek Mill in New York City!
On September 27th, Billboard hosted its first annual R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players List event in New York City. This event recognizes the top 100 artists and executives that are shaping the hip-hop industry and culture today.
Billboard honored Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “Pee” Thomas, COO and CEO, respectively, of Quality Control Music as Executives of the Year with Ethiopia Habtemariam, President of Motown Record, will present the award. Cardi B, Pardi Fontaine, and Young M.A. were also in attendance, all of them talking about their new music, “Taki Taki”, “Wahlinn”, and “Backin’ it Up” respectively.
For the main event, Billboard honored Meek Mill for his strength in the face of a flawed American criminal justice system, his activism for justice reform, and his creative endeavors as a rapper. Last year, Meek Mill was sentenced to two to four years in prison for probation violations after his conviction in 2008. Being sent back to prison after minor probation violations highlights a systematically racist and flawed criminal justice system and Meek Mill has become a symbol for reform. “Well, you know, I’m just happy I got an award and people recognize my work I’ve been putting in and everything I’ve been doing” responded Meek Mill when asked how he felt about receiving the Impact Award. CNN’s Van Jones presented Meek Mill the Inaugural Impact Award for these accomplishments. Jones was asked about his thoughts about Meek Mill’s patterns of activism: “the fact is, he was mistreated by a judge and didn’t just stand up for himself, he is now trying to stand up for everybody. He’s trying to fight for real prison reform, and criminal justice reform, and sentencing reform, and making sure that people who are on probation can get off of probation.” It’s very important to recognize people’s efforts to reform our society for the better and this event was very meaningful for doing just that.
