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Busta Rhymes put on a rare performance of his greatest hits after he accepted the BMI Icon Award during an epic ceremony in Miami Beach.
On Wednesday, September 7, Busta Rhymes, DJ Khaled, Pharrell Williams and other major artists attended the 2022 BMI R&B/HipHop Awards at LIV inside the Fountainbleau Hotel. The Leaders of the New School founder was praised by some of the biggest acts in the music business like Janet Jackson, Fat Joe, Missy Elliott, Lil Wayne and Mariah Carey, who all spoke in a video montage that played before Busta hit the stage. He was introduced by Pharrell, who also gave the veteran MC his flowers.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
"I can't thank all of y'all enough for this," Busta said during his lengthy acceptance speech. "I love going in the booth everyday. I go to the studio everyday... I've never shared this. I go to the studio to be therapeutically solace. Peace of mind and balanced because the muthaf**kas that take you through these emotional rollercoasters, you still got to keep in mind how you affect them when you impulsively react so you still have to find a place where you can be cool and come back and deal... I love the studio. I love to write songs. I love to perform on stage."
Busta wasn't the only one who took home an award. Other artists like Mooski, ATL Jacob, Derrick Milano, and others all received honors. The writers behind Justin Bieber's "Peaches" (Daniel Caesar, GIVĒON, Bernard “HARV” Harvey, Luis Manuel Martinez Jr. [Shndō] and Andrew Watt) won "Song of the Year" while Megan Thee Stallion and "Back In Blood" writer Christopher “YC” Pearson tied for Songwriter of the Year. Although Meg wasn't in the building, her boyfriend Pardison Fontaine attended the awards show and accepted the honor on her behalf. Gunna was also honored for his writing credits on Internet Money's "Lemonade" but his family accepted the award on his behalf. Tay Keith and DJ Khaled also received awards for their work on "Every Chance That I Get."
"It's a blessing to be able to still be able to put up scores at this point in my career for or five years later," Keith told iHeartRadio. "I won Songwriter of the Year three years ago so just to still be here again is a blessing. Shout out to my brother DJ Khaled. Without him, I don't know where I'd be at in my career."
After concluding his speech, Busta Rhymes invited his good friend Spliff Star to the stage while they performed some of the rapper's biggest hits like "Put Ya Hands Where My Eyes Can See," "I Know What You Want" and "Pass The Courvoisier" with assistance from Pharrell. His performance was preceded by opening acts Morray and Pheelz.
"It's amazing to be here," Pheelz said before his set. "It's all love man. I'm grateful to be here and in this space and this room with a lot of creatives."
See all the winners now and check out more footage from the BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards below.