SZA, Mike Will Made-It & More Honored at City of Hope’s ‘Songs of Hope XIV’
by Site Manager
The 14th annual Songs of Hope gala, held for the second consecutive year in producer Alex Da Kid’s sprawling Sherman Oaks compound, raised a record-breaking total more than $400,000 for the City of Hope’s cancer research initiatives.
The highlight of the night were the honorees, which included songwriter/producers Benny Blanco and Mike WILL Made-It, songwriters SZA and Sarah Aarons and composers Stephen Schwartz and James Newton Howard.
Venerable Clive Davis handed out his “Legend in Songwriting” Award to a pair of recipients in Mike WILL Made It (Michael Len Williams III) and Benny Blanco, both of whom brought their beaming moms to help them celebrate.
“It’s just dope to be in the same room with so many successful, talented, hard-working people,” said Mike WILL, who recently co-produced a pair of tracks for Eminem’s chart-topping “Kamikaze” album, including the controversial Justin Vernon collaboration, “Fall.” “The City of Hope means a great deal to me because I lost my grandmother to cancer. To be honored like this, it’s like she’s watching down over me.”
Universal Music Publishing Group Global Chairman/CEO Jody Gerson presented the first-ever “She Is the Music” Award to SZA, dedicated to “inclusivity and equality,” with a nod to Alicia Keys, one of the founders of the new initiative.
“SZA embodies the spirit of the female luminaries who are breaking glass ceilings,” said Gerson in presenting the award.