Lil Baby, Taylor Swift winners in second Apple Music Awards

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2020 Apple Music Awards Lil Baby
Lil Baby has been named Apple Music's Artist of the Year.
Photo: Apple

Apple has confirmed the winners of its second annual Apple Music Awards. Lil Baby, Taylor Swift, Megan Thee Stallion, and others have been honored for their achievements across five different categories.

A celebration kicks off on Monday, December 14, with a week of special performances, fan events, interviews, and more.

“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,” said Oliver Schusser, VP of Apple Music and Beats.

Last year’s winners included Billie Eilish, Lizzo, and Lil Nas X. Apple celebrated by hosting a special performance by Eilish in the Steve Jobs Theater inside Apple Park. This year, there’s even more to enjoy.

And the winners are …

Lil Baby, now one of the hottest names in hip-hop, has been named the Apple Music Artist of the Year. This follows billions of global streams for multiple tracks from the album My Turn.

“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,” Lil Baby said. “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.”

2020 Apple Music Awards
The Apple Music Award.
Photo: Apple

Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion has been named Apple Music’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year. Her collaboration with Cardi B on WAP and with Beyoncé on Savage have been played more than 300 million times on Apple Music so far.

“I am so excited to be the Breakthrough Artist of the Year. This is a really big accomplishment for me,” Megan Thee Stallion said. “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 ya’ll as much as ya’ll love me.”

Swift is Songwriter of the Year

Taylor Swift, whose newest album Folklore instantly topped the Apple Music album chart, has been named Songwriter of the Year.

“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,” Swift said.

“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.”

2020 Apple Music Awards Roddy Ricch
Roddy Ricch takes Top Song and Top Album.
Photo: Apple

Finally, Roddy Ricch was awarded Top Song of the Year for The Box, which has accumulated more than 460 million streams to date. He also claimed Top Album of the Year for Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial, which has more than 1.5 billion streams.

“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,” Ricch said. “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.”

Don’t miss the celebration

You can enjoy the Apple Music Awards celebrations starting on December 14. Apple promises a week of special performances, fan events, interviews, and more — all of which will be streamed worldwide on Apple Music, Apple Music TV, and the Apple TV app.

A three-month free trial to Apple Music is available to new subscribers.

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