Lil Baby
Apple today announced the winners of the second annual Apple Music Awards. Unlike most other awards, there are no nominees announced in advance, just the actual winners in the five categories. According to Apple, “winners are chosen through a process that reflects both Apple Music’s editorial perspective and what customers around the world are loving most.” The winners for global Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and Breakthrough Artist of the Year were hand-selected by Apple Music’s global editorial team and the awards for Top Song of the Year and Top Album of the Year are based on streaming data that is reflective of what Apple Music subscribers have been listening to this year.
Lil Baby won the biggest prize as Artist of the Year and commented, “This year has changed me a lot. Now that I’m an artist, I feel like my voice can get heard through my music and I needed to say something. And my fans listened. So thank you to my fans and thank you to Apple Music for giving me a special way to connect to my fans.”
Breakthrough Artist of the Year went to Megan Thee Stallion, who said, “I am so excited to be the Breakthrough Artist of the Year. This is a really big accomplishment for me. Apple Music has been rocking with me for so long, even before making me an Up Next artist, and I am just very appreciative and very grateful. I will forever love ya’ll as much as ya’ll love me.”
Taylor Swift was named Songwriter of the Year and commented, “Winning Songwriter of the Year in any capacity in any year would be so exciting, but I think it’s really special this particular year because songwriting was the one thing that kept me connected to my fans. It means a lot to me because the way that fans respond to the songs I write, and the emotional exchange, is what has really kept me going this year. So I really want to say thank you to the fans for that, and to everyone at Apple Music, thank you for everything that you do.”
“The Box” from Roddy Ricch was named Top Song of the Year and Ricch’s album Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial also won as Top Album of the Year. The rapper said, “My first phone was the iPhone. It’s crazy making music could get me to the point where a platform like Apple could honor me or put me on a pedestal. I just appreciate Apple Music to the farthest extent. Winning this award motivates me to work even harder. This is confirmation that I am on the right track and doing what I gotta do to be the greatest in my own right.”
“The Apple Music Awards is our opportunity to recognize and honor the incredible artists who we feel have deeply impacted and inspired the world and our customers, and helped us feel connected through music this year,” said Oliver Schusser, VP of Apple Music and Beats.
