Last year, Apple handed out its inaugural Apple Music Awards, which takes a different approach than the major award shows. Instead of having a long list of honors, Apple does things in a more meat-and-potatoes way, only handing out five awards. Now they have announced their 2020 honorees, and it’s a strong list.
Lil Baby won Artist Of The Year, Megan Thee Stallion was named Breakthrough Artist Of The Year, Taylor Swift got Songwriter Of The Year, and Roddy Ricch earned a couple of honors: “The Box” was Top Song Of The Year and Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial was Top Album Of The Year.
Each artist offered a statement about their wins. Swift said:
“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.”
Meg:
“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 y’all as much as y’all love me.”
Lil Baby:
“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.”
And Ricch:
“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.”
Apple also offered a statement about the awards, with Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, saying, “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. We have an exciting week of music planned in December and are very much looking forward to celebrating together with these artists and their fans.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
