{"id":46944,"date":"2025-09-06T08:22:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T08:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/46944\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T08:22:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T08:22:12","slug":"cardi-b-more-at-billboard-rb-hip-hop-power-players-event-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/46944\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardi B & More at Billboard R&B\/Hip-Hop Power Players Event: Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cardi B<\/a>, Leon Thomas<\/a>, Wu-Tang Clan<\/a> and more were honored at\u00a0Billboard\u2018s 2025 R&B\/Hip-Hop Power Players event Thursday night (Sept. 4) at Unveiled in New York.<\/p>\n

Billboard\u00a0cover stars Cardi B and Leon Thomas received the Impact of the Year Award and Breakthrough of the Year Award, respectively. After Billboard\u2018s executive director of R&B\/hip-hop, Gail Mitchell introduced \u201ceveryone\u2019s favorite mutt,\u201d the \u201cMutt\u201d hitmaker thanked God for helping him throughout his 22-year musical journey as well as Ty Dolla $ign<\/a>, whose EZMNY Records Thomas is signed to, among others. \u201cR&B still matters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cardi also expressed love for her genre. \u201cNew York is the home of hip-hop\u2026. Hip-hop is a feeling. When I was growing up, I didn\u2019t want to be the Shakiras and the J-Los and the R&B artists; I wanted to be like Trina and Lil Kim. I wanted to be like them,\u201d she said before getting the party started by hollering, \u201cLet\u2019s play some hip-hop\u201d and playing her latest single \u201cImaginary Playerz,\u201d which samples Jay-Z\u2019s 1997 track of the same name.<\/p>\n

Joined by Raekwon The Chef<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Cappadonna<\/a> on stage, RZA<\/a> thanked \u201cthe entire\u00a0Billboard\u00a0staff for thinking about us, appreciating our contribution to the culture\u201d while being inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful validation. We came out in 1993, and since then, and Raekwon can tell you, I used to look at\u00a0Billboard\u00a0every week, right? We had dozens of songs and albums on that chart, and it made us feel special,\u201d said RZA.<\/p>\n

TDE CEO Anthony \u201cTop Dawg\u201d Tiffith was accompanied by the label\u2019s co-presidents Anthony \u201cMoosa\u201d Tiffith Jr. and Terrence \u201cPunch\u201d Henderson while accepting the Executive of the Year Award. The room erupted when Tiffith claimed, \u201cI feel like I should\u2019ve won this three, four, five times.\u201d And another trio took the stage shortly after, as Ravyn Lenae<\/a>, GELO<\/a> and Odeal<\/a> won the R&B, Hip-Hop and African Rookie of the Year Awards, respectively.<\/p>\n