Cardi B Stresses ‘Music Is a Collaboration’ While Accepting 2025 ASCAP Voice of the Culture Award

Just one day before the 2025 BET Awards are set to take over Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on Monday night (June 9), a slew of the most prolific songwriters and producers across R&B and hip-hop convened at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons for the 2025 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards on Sunday (June 8).

Decked out in a floor-length, figure-hugging brown dress, Cardi B graciously accepted the Voice of the Culture Award as her fellow songwriters and artists looked on.

“My voice has always been a reflection of what I live and what I’m living, which I feel is a true reflection of the people, the culture, my friends, my family, and the environment that I grew up in,” the Grammy-winning rapper said while accepting her “big girl” award from ASCAP executive vice president & head of creative membership, Nicole George-Middleton. “I like to put that in my music — my joys, my pains, my drama, everything.”

With Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers like “Bodak Yellow,” “I Like It,” “WAP” and “Up,” to her name, Cardi B has helped keep female rap at the top of the Billboard charts ever since she first broke through in 2017. Her resounding commercial success and cultural impact make her a natural successor to Usher, who received the same award last year. The Voice of the Culture Award is presented to ASCAP members who have had a major influence on music and culture, recognizing their success as creators and changemakers. Additional past recipients of the award include Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, D-Nice and T.I.

“I hate the idea that if you don’t write every line on your own, it makes what you have to say not real. Music is a collaboration, it has always been. The biggest hits [and] the greatest records come from teamwork,” Cardi continued. “They come from sharing experiences, energy, pain and joy. It’s not about ego, it’s about impact. I write, I co-write, I rewrite. I speak to what’s true to me. My pen, my mind and my feelings are in every verse and in every hook. I respect every writer who brings their magic to the table. This award is not just for me, it’s for the culture.”

Cardi, who also picked up an ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Award for her 2024 Hot 100 top 10 hit “Enough (Miami),” made history in 2020 as the first woman to receive the esteemed ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Songwriter of the Year Award two years in a row. She has earned eight ASCAP Pop Music Awards and 23 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards. At Monday night’s BET Awards, Cardi will be vying for her third consecutive win for best female hip-hop artist, which would mark her first victory in that category this decade. Last week, the rapper dominated headlines after making her relationship with New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs Instagram-official.

Kendrick Lamar’s cultural juggernaut “Not Like Us” was named ASCAP R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap Song of the Year. Co-written by Mustard, the searing Drake diss spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, swept all five of its Grammy nominations, and became the first-ever rap song to spend 52 consecutive weeks on Billboard’s marquee singles chart.

Lamar leads this year’s BET Awards with 10 nominations, including album of the year (GNX), video of the year (“Not Like Us”) and best male hip-hop artist.

Swiss songwriter OZ earned this year’s ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Songwriter of the Year honor, commemorating his contributions to hits like Drake and J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter,” Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” and Travis Scott’s “I Know?” Cece Winans’ “That’s My King,” co-written by Taylor Agan and Kellie Besch, earned the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Gospel Song of the Year title, and Sony Music Publishing was named ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Publisher of the Year.

Some of Sony’s biggest 2024 hits included Hot 100 chart-toppers like Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” as well as year-defining tracks like Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby,” SZA’s “Saturn,” Sexyy Red’s “Get It Sexyy,” Muni Long’s “Made for Me,” Chris Brown’s “Residuals” and “Sensational,” Lil Baby and Central Cee’s “Band4Band,” Cardi B’s “Enough” and GloRilla’s “Yeah Glo!”

Additional 2025 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Award-winning songwriters include 21 Savage (“Prove It,” “Redrum,” “Surround Sound”), Offset (“Worth It”), Lil Uzi Vert (“Everybody”), Tee Grizzley (“IDGAF”), Playboi Carti (“Carnival,” “FE!N,” “Timeless”), Tasha Cobbs Leonard (“In the Room”), and Tye Tribbett (“Only One Night Tho”).

The ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards recognize the songwriters and publishers of the most-performed songs of the past year based on Luminate data for terrestrial and satellite radio and streaming services, as specified by the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards rules.