August 20th was a star studded night in Los Angeles. ASCAP honored some of the industries best and brightest songwriters for their biggest hits. Everyone from City Girls, to Migos, Cardi B and more were in the building, and The Knockturnal was live on the scene as A-listers shared their excitement for tonight’s award. Catch the exclusive below:
Thte Knockturnal: Tonight you are presenting T.I with the first of its kind inaugural “Voice of the Culture Award.” It’s so important that we honor those who are really shifting the culture forward, and you’ve done an amazing job at shaping the culture in terms of representation for black women in media:
Angela Rye CNN: “Thank you, I really believe it’s important for us to understand that one black woman representative isn’t sufficient. We’re definitely not monolithic there are so many layers to us and so many perspectives that we have whether it’s how we grew up that maybe different or what we majored in,and how we see the world maybe very different. That’s why I think it’s so important when one of us gets there we hold that door open for the other young sisters.”
The Knockturnal: So true, it’s important that we hold the door open for each other. Speaking of, there was a hearing that just happened recently where Ta-nehssi Coates argued on behalf of reparations. As a political pundit what is your take on this?
Angela Rye CNN: “The hearing yesterday which was on a bill that congresswoman sheila jackson re-introduced was on a bill HR 40. HR40 hasn’t had a hearing since 2007. We have to get beyond debating reparations and figure out how we’re going to implement reparations. It shouldn’t happen on a federal level it should happen on a local level. There was an amazing piece on how many local.”
The Knockturnal: Thank you for joining us, How’s it feel that the whole team is out tonight and Quality Control is nominated for publisher of the year?
Yung Miami of City Girls: “It feels good. You know quality control they’re just nominated for everything right now. We on top so it feel real good.”
The Knockturnal: As a woman in hip-hop what does it feel to be one of the top selling artists right now?
Yung Miami of City Girls: “Just to see everything that we done did within these past two years as new artist feels so amazing. You know “Act up” been number one on the charts and then going platinum with “Twerk” it just feel good right now. So I’m just on a high horse right now and tonight I’m excited for Quality Control.”
The Knockturnal: Congratulations on your ASCAP Award nomination for Taste. That song took over air waves and you are known for creating the most legendary songs and anthems of the summer. Walk me through your creative process:
DA Got Dat Dope: “I’m always trying to create the hottest possible music and I always want it to be unique to me because I have my own sound. So it’s more of an intuitive type of thing. So in terms of thought process it’s more about let me make this as hot as possible.”
The Knockturnal: Also T.I is being nominated for a legendary voice of the culture award. How important is an award like this, in today’s day and age?
DA Got Dat Dope: “Super important. TI obviously made a huge impact on hip-hop. A lot of people credit him with starting trap- it’s between him and Gucci. So it’s super important and I appreciate ASCAP honoring us.”
The Knockturnal: Congrats on winning an award for your song, ‘A Great Work”, you have created such legendary spiritual songs for the culture. Tonight seems to be very much about celebrating artists who have immense social impact attached to their music.
Brian Courtney Wilson: “Yes, I always believe, if it doesn’t intersect with culture it doesn’t matter. And we need music that not just intersects with culture but enhance the culture, nourish the culture, lift the culture up, keep us looking forward to bigger and better things.”
The Knockturnal: Congratulations on your nomination tonight, it feels so good to see you receive this award because I’ve seen the work you’ve put into creating legendary tracks for greats for Big Sean, Chris Brown, and more. How does it feel to be nominated for tonight?
Yung Berg: “It feels great to be here. I’m here with my family, my dad and my brother PC.”
The Knockturnal: Yes, and I know you and PC have a really great collaborative effort in creating most of your tracks,walk me through that collaborative effort:
Yung Berg: He is the goat of all melodies, and we just sit down in the studio and we have that vibe. So whatever we cook up really comes from having that vibe, and I’m just happy to be awarded for it.”
