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5th Annual Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Awards Announces 2005 Finalists; Lil Jon, 50 Cent and Alicia Keys Lead the Pack


WEBWIRE

NEW YORK, June 3 -- The 2005 finalists for the 5th annual Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Awards were announced today. Lil Jon, both as a member of The East Side Boyz and as a producer/songwriter earned a total of 7 nominations. Close behind were 50 Cent and Alicia Keys who tied with 6 nominations apiece. Usher also earned 5 nominations. The complete list of categories and nominees is listed below.

“Billboard is once again pleased to honor the best and brightest that R&B and Hip-Hop has to offer,” says Gail Mitchell, senior R&B editor for Billboard. “From Lil Jon and 50 Cent to Alicia Keys and others, these artists have offered some of music’s biggest hits.”

The star-studded event honoring the best of R&B and Hip-Hop music will mark the fifth annual Billboard awards show dedicated to these genres. The ceremony will be held on Friday, Aug. 5, and will conclude the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Conference. Now in its sixth year, the conference which runs from August 3-5 at the Hotel InterContinental in Atlanta, is the most high-powered networking R&B Hip-Hop gathering of the year.

The Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards honor the genres’ most popular albums, songs, artists, and contributors, as determined by the actual sales and radio airplay data that informs Billboard’s weekly charts. Finalists and winners reflect performance of recordings on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts, during the one-year period from the May 29, 2004 issue of Billboard through the May 21, 2005 issue of Billboard. A new artist is considered any artist who has not appeared on a Billboard album chart prior to the March 27, 2004, issue or has not been a new artist finalist in the past.

2005 Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Awards Finalists:

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums:

The Massacre -- 50 Cent (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

Destiny Fulfilled -- Destiny’s Child (Columbia/Sony Music)

Encore -- Eminem (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

Confessions -- Usher (LaFace/Zomba)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles:

Diary -- Alicia Keys feat. Tony! Toni! Tone! (J/RMG)

Let Me Love You -- Mario (3rd Street/J/RMG)

Drop It Like It’s Hot -- Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell (Doggystyle/Geffen/Interscope)

Lean Back -- Terror Squad (SRC/Universal/UMRG)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists:

50 Cent (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

Destiny’s Child (Columbia /Sony Music)

Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz (BME/TVT)

Usher (LaFace/Zomba)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists (MALE):

50 Cent (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

The Game (Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope)

T.I. (Grand Hustle/Atlantic/AG)

Usher (LaFace/Zomba)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists (FEMALE):

Mariah Carey (Island/IDJMG)

Ciara (Sho’nuff-MusicLine/LaFace/Zomba)

Fantasia (J/RMG)

Alicia Keys (J/RMG)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists (DUO or GROUP):

Destiny’s Child (Columbia/Sony Music)

Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz (BME/TVT)

Terror Squad (SRC/Universal/UMRG)

Ying Yang Twins (ColliPark/TVT)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists (NEW):

Ciara (Sho’nuff-MusicLine/LaFace/Zomba)

Fantasia (J/RMG)

The Game (Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope)

John Legend (G.O.O.D./Columbia/Sony Music)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist:

50 Cent (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

Alicia Keys (J/RMG)

T.I. (Grand Hustle/Atlantic)

Usher (LaFace/Zomba)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Artist:

50 Cent (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

Eminem (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz (BME/TVT)

Usher (LaFace/Zomba)

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Top Rap Albums:

The Massacre -- 50 Cent (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

Encore -- Eminem (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

The Documentary -- The Game (Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope)

Crunk Juice -- Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz (BME/TVT)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles (SALES):

Naughty Girl -- Beyonce (Columbia/SUM)

Lose My Breath -- Destiny’s Child (Columbia/SUM)

I Believe -- Fantasia (J/RMG)

Gotta Go Solo -- Patti LaBelle feat. Ron Isley (Def Soul Classics/IDJMG)

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Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles (AIRPLAY):

Diary -- Alicia Keys feat. Tony! Toni! Tone! (J/RMG)

Let Me Love You -- Mario (3rd Street/J/RMG)

Drop It Like It’s Hot -- Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell (Doggystyle/Geffen/Interscope)

Lean Back -- Terror Squad (SRC/Universal/UMRG)

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Hot Rap Tracks:

Slow Motion -- Juvenile feat. Soulja Slim (Cash Money/UMRG)

Lovers and Friends -- Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz feat. Usher & Ludacris (BME/TVT)

Drop It Like It’s Hot -- Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell (Doggystyle/Geffen/Interscope)

Lean Back -- Terror Squad (SRC/Universal/UMRG)

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Top Songwriters:

Robert Kelly

Alicia Keys

Jonathan H. “Lil’ Jon” Smith

Scott Storch

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Top Producers:

Alicia Keys

Jonathan H. “Lil’ Jon” Smith

Scott Storch

Kanye West

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Top Major Label:

Interscope

Island Def Jam Music Group

Universal Motown Records Group

Zomba

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Top Independent Label:

Image

Koch

Ruthless

TVT

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For more information on the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Conference & Awards, visit http://www.billboardevents.com or contact Michele Jacangelo at 646-654-4660. For information on registration and group discounts, contact Kelly Peppers at 646-654-4643. For sponsorship information, contact Karl Vontz at 415-738-0745. For hotel information, contact the InterContinental at 404-946-9000. For press credentials, please contact Arlyn Davich at 212-255-8455.

About Billboard:

Now in its 111th year, Billboard is the world’s premier music publication and a diverse digital, events and brand-licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video and digital entertainment issues and trends. Billboard is the flagship property for the Billboard Information Group, which also consists of Billboard.biz, Billboard.com, Entertainment Law Weekly, Billboard Chart Alert, Billboard Information Network (BIN), Billboard Directories, Billboard Licensing & Events and Billboard Radio Monitor. Billboard’s many strategic partners include Fox-TV, Microsoft, mForma, Reuters, Sirius Satellite Radio, Telemundo, Univision Radio, ABC Radio Networks, Azteca America and Billboard sister companies Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. These partnerships leverage Billboard’s proprietary data, charts and information resources to develop broadcast entertainment, digital and mobile platforms and contextual commerce applications that expand Billboard’s franchise and consumer reach.

Billboard is headquartered in New York with bureaus in Boston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville and Washington D.C. The Group is a unit of VNU Business Media, a worldwide media company that provides specialized publications, electronically delivered data, expositions and marketing services and is owned by VNU Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Netherlands-based VNU, an international publishing and information company.



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