Lil Baby will be honored with the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award at the second annual Music in Action Awards Gala, hosted by the Black Music Action Coalition and taking place Sept. 22 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The ceremony will celebrate artists, executives, businesses, entrepreneurs, activists, and companies that have utilized their platforms to effect social change over the past year, according to BMAC.
Lil Baby will be honored for his contribution to racial and social justice inside and outside of the music industry. Recently, the Atlanta-born rapper hosted his third annual “Back to School Fest” at Atlanta’s West End Mall. In partnership with Goodr, the event provided over 3,000 local children with music, games, carnival rides, food, backpacks, school supplies, and haircuts. Additionally, Lil Baby worked with Atlanta restaurateur Lemont Bradley to offer 100 jobs to young adults and established the $150,000 “My Turn” scholarship program for students at his former high school. Previous recipients of this award include the Weeknd and H.E.R. who both received the award at the inaugural Music in Action Awards Gala in 2021.
Music manager David Ali will receive the inaugural BMAC Black: Future. Now. Award, and PvNew’s executive editor of music, Shirley Halperin, along with Billboard’s executive director of R&B/hip-hop, Gail Mitchell, will each be honored with the BMAC 365 Award, a new honor given “to a person, company or organization that has consistently supported social change throughout the year.”
The 2022 Music in Action Awards Gala will be co-hosted by singer and “Bel Air” actress Coco Jones and Kenny Burns and include performances from WanMor, the sons of singer Wanyá Morris of Boyz II Men, who will sing the Black national anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
The festivities will kick off on Sept. 18 with an inaugural brunch hosted by the Revels Group, together with Amazon Music, Patrón and BMAC, to honor “young Black executives, creatives and artists who are paving the way for generations to come.”
As previously announced, BMAC will also honor Jon “Big Jon” Platt, chairman and CEO of Sony Music Publishing, with the Clarence Avant Trailblazer Award. Kevin Liles, CEO of 300 Entertainment, along with Amazon Music and the Recording Academy will be honored with the BMAC Social Impact Award. Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, attorney and author Brittany K. Barnett, and Culture Creators’ Joi Brown will receive the BMAC Change Agent Award. And finally, Congresswoman Maxine Waters will receive the inaugural BMAC Icon Award.
BMAC Co-Founder and Co-Chair, Caron Veazey, said, “The BMAC Music In Action Awards are the only awards of its kind in the music industry. It is a feel-great event where we come together not to celebrate our own individual accomplishments, but to celebrate what the Honorees have given to, and done for, others. The road we have all been driving on toward racial and social justice has been long, it’s been uphill, and it definitely has not been easy. So to take an evening out to shine a light on those who have given of themselves to make a way for someone else, is a welcome rest stop on the freeway to Equality.”
For more information regarding the Black Music Action Coalition and the Music In Action Awards Gala, please visit bmacoalition.org.
