Soul Train Awards 2016 Announced; Beyonce Leads Winners

Beyoncé, Chance the Rapper, and Fat Joe & Remy Ma Take Home the Night’s Top Honors at the SOUL TRAIN AWARDS 2016

Hosted by Erykah Badu, the award show featured electrifying performances including medleys from the night’s Legend Award recipient Teddy Riley and Lady of Soul winner, Brandy

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SOUL TRAIN AWARDS 2016 celebrated the best in Soul, R&B and Hip-Hop by highlighting both returning legends and breakout stars with unrivaled musical moments and titillating performances. The awards show, which aired tonight on CENTRIC and BET, was hosted once again by the funkadelic Godmother of neo-soul, Erykah Badu, who also served as Executive Producer.

Beyoncé led the night’s winners dominating in top categories including Video of the Year, Album/Mixtape of the Year, Best R&B/Soul Female Artist, and Song of the Year. Fat Joe and Remy Ma featuring French Montana and Infared took home two awards of their own, Rhythm & Bars Award (Formerly Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year) and Best Collaboration, for their smash hit “All the Way Up.” Artists were honored across 12 different categories and additional winners included Kanye West featuring Teyana Taylor for Best Dance Performance for “Fade,” Chance the Rapper (Best New Artist), Anderson .Paak (Centric Certified Award), Andra Day “Rise Up” (The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award), Maxwell (Best R&B/Soul Male Artist), and Kirk Franklin “123 Victory” (Best Gospel/Inspirational Song.)

The evening marked the inaugural Soul Train Awards since BET Networks officially acquired Soul Train earlier this year and it did not disappoint. The night featured crowd-loving classics and current favorites from the best Soul artists of yesterday and today. Dru Hill kicked off the Soul Train Awards 2016 with the ultimate throwback of their 90s R&B jams including “Tell Me,” “In My Bed,” and “Beauty.” Dru Hill lead singer Sisqó then took the stage solo to perform his late 90’s mega-hit “Thong Song.” An endearing and inspired Jill Scott presented Brandy with the second annual Lady of Soul Award, who went on to blow the crowd away with a full dance and stunning vocal performance of her most beloved hits including “Almost Doesn’t Count,” “What About Us,” “Full Moon,” “I Wanna Be Down,” “The Boy Is Mine,” “Talk About Our Love,” “Have You Ever,” and “Sitting On Top Of The World,” joined by MA$E. Soulful newcomers Anderson .Paak and BJ the Chicago Kid performed “Waters” and “Cha Cha” singer D.R.A.M. joined Badu on stage for their recently released single, “WiFi.”

The awards ended on a high note with Teddy Riley pulling out all the stops for an unforgettable showcase following his receiving of the night’s highest honor, the Legend Award. Riley brought out retro hitmakers and past collaborators including Doug E. Fresh, Bobby Brown, Tito Jackson, Wreckx-N-Effect and Guy for a medley of classics including “My Prerogative,” “Remember the Time,” “Rump Shaker,” and more.

Alongside the amazing performances, the second annual Soul Cypher, featuring Erykah Badu, Tyrese, Ne-Yo, Angie Stone and the incomparable Gladys Knight was another musical moment not to be forgotten.

SOUL TRAIN AWARDS 2016 WINNERS:

Best New Artist – Chance the Rapper

Best R&B/Soul Male Artist – Maxwell

Centric Certified Award – Anderson .Paak

Video of the Year – Beyoncé – “Formation”

Best Gospel/Inspirational Song – Kirk Franklin – “123 Victory”

Album/Mixtape of the Year – Beyoncé – “Lemonade”

Rhythm & Bars Award (Formerly Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year) – Fat Joe & Remy Ma featuring French Montana & Infared – “All the Way Up”

Best R&B/Soul Female Artist – Beyoncé

Song of the Year – Beyoncé

The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award – “Rise Up” – Written by Andra Day and Jennifer Decilveo (Andra Day)

Best Dance Performance – Kanye West (Dance Performance featuring Teyana Taylor) – “Fade”

Best Collaboration – Fat Joe & Remy Ma featuring French Montana & Infared – “All the Way Up”

The SOUL TRAIN AWARDS 2016 are produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment. Executive Producers of the network telecast are as follows: Debra Lee, Stephen G. Hill and Connie Orlando from BET; and Jesse Collins for Jesse Collins Entertainment.

For show information, please visit BET.com/SoulTrain, the official site for SOUL TRAIN AWARDS 2016.


About CENTRIC
Centric is the only multi-platform lifestyle brand designed to boldly celebrate the diverse and beautiful world of Black women. A 24-hour music and entertainment channel, Centric has its finger on the pulse of an ever-changing beat and delivers compelling content that reflects, inspires and addresses the unique perspectives of Black women.

About BET Networks
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B sted NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the African-American Woman; BET Music Networks - BET Jams, BET Soul and BET Gospel; BET Home Entertainment; BET Live, BET’s growing festival business; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET around the globe.

About Soul Train Holdings
SOUL TRAIN HOLDINGS, LLC was formed in May 2008 and is owned by InterMedia Partners and a partnership between Magic Johnson Enterprises and Ron Burkle's investment firm, The Yucaipa Companies. The iconic franchise and catalog consists of more than 1,100 episodes and 40 specials from Don Cornelius Productions, Inc. Soul Train is the longest running, first-run, nationally syndicated music program in television history. During its 35-year run, the show featured lasting innovations such as the Soul Train line and the legendary sign off “Love, Peace and Soul.” At the heart of the show was Don Cornelius, the dancers and influential artists such as James Brown, Al Green, Ike & Tina Turner, Hall & Oates, Donna Summer, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, Prince, Run D.M.C. and Destiny’s Child.

About the Orleans Arena
The Orleans Arena, a Boyd Gaming facility located just west of the Las Vegas Strip, is one of the nation’s leading multi-purpose sports and entertainment facilities and the 2014 recipient of the Venue Excellence Award from the International Association of Venue Managers. In addition, the Orleans Arena is one of only a handful of arenas in the United States to achieve LEED Gold Certification and is part of the largest company in Nevada to achieve SHARP Certification for commitments to safe venue operations. According to Venues Today magazine, the Orleans Arena, which hosts more than 200 events each year, consistently ranks in the Top 10 for ticket sales in the United States and internationally among venues of similar size. These events include nationally touring concerts, NCAA basketball conference tournaments, family shows, motorsports and other unique events. For more information, call 702-365-7469 or visit www.OrleansArena.com. Stay connected to the Orleans Arena on Facebook (www.facebook.com/orleansarena) and on Twitter (@orleansarena).

---------------