Zimbabwean music producer Brian Soko known for producing the beat to Beyoncé ‘Drunk In Love’ featuring Jay-Z was honored by the BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) winning three awards at the BMI 2014 Awards in Hollywood. Music industry luminaries, influencers and power personalities converged at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday August 22nd for the 2014 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards. The annual event celebrated the songwriters, producers and publishers of the most-performed R&B/hip-hop songs of the previous year. The awards recognized producers and songwriters of Billboard No. 1 singles on the charts from the past year. Soko and his production partners of ‘The Order Production Company’ Rasool Diaz and Andre Proctor won under three categories:
- Most Performed Song 2014 R&B/Hip-Hop Award Song for Lil Wayne’s ‘No Worries’
- Billboard #1s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Song for Beyoncé ‘Drunk In Love’
- Billboard #1s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay for Beyoncé ‘Drunk In Love’
Soko shared, “It is an honor and a privilege to be honored here, this is a culmination of almost five years of hard work and sacrifice. I dedicate this to everybody who has supported us over the years; my family, friends, business colleagues and my dear friend and brother Kaelou who passed away last month and wasn’t able to enjoy this moment with us. I am also very thrilled to represent Zimbabwe & Africa at this level!” The prestigious Publisher of the Year was accepted by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. who is also responsible for Soko’s publishing.
Soko recently launched an Africa focused management, marketing and production firm called Anashe Media Group, whose main goal is to partner with African media and corporations to create a platform to spring board emerging African brands and production talent. As part of his work for Anashe Media Group, Soko was in South Africa in March of 2014 working with multiple artists including Cassper Nyovest to produce the record breaking single ‘Phumakim’ which hit 15,000 downloads in the first minute of release; 200,000 in one day and over 350,000 downloads in a week.
