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SZA Dazzles With Unscripted Billboard Woman of the Year Speech: ‘Thank Y’all For Saying Yes To Me’
SZA capped off an astonishing run of critical acclaim and commercial success by accepting the Woman of the Year award at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music ceremony, taking the stage to accept the trophy from Coi Leray on Wednesday night (Mar. 1).
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After Leray called SZA an “amazing soul” and then introduced a pre-recorded congrats from SZA’s “Special” remix pal Lizzo (“You are the real deal! Such a genuine human being,” Lizzo said), SZA took the stage to rapturous applause, and was beaming as she accepted her trophy. After thanking God, her parents, her team and label, SZA revealed that she wanted to keep her acceptance speech as natural as possible.
“I didn’t write anything, but that’s also not who I am,” SZA said. “I’m a very off-the-dome kind of person, and I guess what I wanted to say is like, there’s so many women in this room right now that I respect so deeply. This could have been any of us in this room.”
SZA proceeded to shout out several of the 2023 Women In Music honorees, from Doechii to Lana Del Rey to Latto, and then talked about how appearing ultra-confident is often a misconception projected upon artists. “I used to feel like I didn’t belong,” SZA admitted, “but I realized that the key is to stay open and available for whatever the universe or God wants to do with your life.
“I really just want my life to be more than music,” she continued, “to be more than an artist. I want to serve others, I want to serve people, I want to be open and available for whatever God wants for me, and saying yes to everything that’s scary, to everything that feels like it’s not for you or where you don’t belong, is really the only way where we walk through those doors.”
SZA concluded with a powerful affirmation: “You just have to say yes to the possibility,” she said. “And thank y’all for saying yes to me.”
The Woman of the Year honor arrives during a week in which SZA’s sophomore album, SOS, spends a 10th nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard 200, becoming just the eighth album since 2010 to notch double-digit weeks at No. 1 on the chart. The blockbuster full-length has also spawned SZA’s biggest solo hit to date — “Kill Bill,” which has peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart — and has turned the R&B star into an arena headliner, with her tour in support of SOS kicking off last month.
“It really scares me,” SZA told Billboard during her Woman of the Year interview, when asked what the award means to her. “But I really want to do something with my time in the sun right now. There’s so much I want to do for other people. I need to do something to deserve that in a way that has nothing to do with me, something that’s selfless and uplifts other women, people, period. It makes me feel more responsible than I was before. I feel like I owe everyone so much more than just smiling and getting onstage and waving. Part of it I know is just letting God use me and be myself and letting that be part of the work. But I know that there’s something more that I have to do.”
SZA was previously given the Rulebreaker Award at Billboard Women In Music in 2018. She now joins recent Woman of the Year recipients like Olivia Rodrigo, Cardi B, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande.
Bad Bunny Honors Ivy Queen During Surprise Appearance at Billboard Women in Music
Twenty years after entering the Billboard charts for the first time with “Quiero Bailar” (2003), Ivy Queen was honored with the Women In Music Icon award at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music on Wednesday (March 1).
The 50-year-old Puerto Rican rapper — who to date has 20 entries on Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, among other accolades — was presented with the coveted award by Bad Bunny, who during his presentation said he is the artist he is today because he has a part of Ivy Queen in his musical DNA. “She gave me the strength to be myself and to work double,” he said.
“As a fan of reggaetón, I’ve waited a long time for this moment,” he continued, “and I think that in 2023 is the time where more female reggaeton exponents exist, and I’m sure it’s because of the root that Ivy planted a long time ago.”
Dazzling in an all-silver, body-hugging gown, Queen accepted the award, giving an empowering speech.
“When I fell in love with music I found myself constanly battling to earn my spot, to earn my own lane, and to find my own identity between the guys,” she said. “The movement was underground, then turned reggaeton. I traveled around the island of Puerto Rico measuring my skills against male MCs. Bars became my self-defense mechanism. Through lyrics, I encouraged other Latinas that stand around me to stand for themself and also to not stay quiet when something hurts. I call upon all the Latin and industry women to not allow others to split us and divide us no more. … Let’s stay authentic, let’s stay healthy, let’s walk with grace, let’s laugh more but also remember that beauty is a mental attitude, and with that said, please, ladies, do not go to bed with makeup tonight, OK?”
In addition to Ivy, this year’s honorees included SZA (Billboard’s Woman of the Year); Becky G (Impact Award); Lana Del Rey (Visionary Award); Kim Petras (Chartbreaker Award); Latto (Powerhouse Award); Honda’s Rising Star Doechii; Lainey Wilson (Rulebreaker); Rosalia (Bose’s Producer of the Year Award); and K-pop group TWICE (Breakthrough Award).
Billboard’s annual Women in Music awards returned Wednesday (March 1) for the 2023 edition to honor the most influential powerhouses – including artists, creators, producers and executives — in music today who are contributing to the industry and community. The ceremony took place at the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles, and was hosted by award-winning writer-actress Quinta Brunson.
Omarion Addresses ‘Dr. Phil’ Guest Who Thought They Were Engaged After She Got Catfished
Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz
In today’s episode of Boooooy, Y’all Have GOT To Be Smarter Than This, a woman recently learned on national television that she is not, in fact, engaged to R&B singer Omarion.
A woman who goes by the name Simone was a recent guest on Dr. Phil. She became a guest after her friend got frustrated with her because she refused to believe the man she had been communicating with since October 2020 was lying about being the former B2K member and absolutely lying about making her his fiance.
Simone admitted that she never received the engagement ring “Omarion” supposedly bought her because they had never met in real life because O-naw-rion’s “manager wants me to pay $3,000 to meet him.”
Look, I never want to see anyone fall victim to an internet scammer, but if it never occurred to Simone that no rich celebrity is going to need her to pay three racks to get him flewed out, maybe this was a lesson she was just desperate to learn the hard way. Clearly, Simone never watched The Tinder Swindler on Netflix.
To make it worse, Simone admitted she wasn’t even sure if the man she had been talking to for more than two years even sounded like Omarion.
“I talk to him every day,” Simone told Phil, who responded by asking, “Does it sound like him?”
“To me, I can’t really tell ’cause I only know his voice by vocals and him singing,” she answered. “I can’t really tell it’s him…his exact voice.”
Now, sis’.
According to Blavity, Simone finally came to glory on the fact that she is not engaged to the You Got Served actor, nor has she been in contact with him, once Phil brought the real Omarion’s real manager on the show to confirm it.
And just in case even that wasn’t enough to convince her (because if she hadn’t figured it out by now, who knows what TF it will take) Omarion himself made a video appearance on the show to deliver the bad (but absurdly obvious) news.
“I heard about today’s show, and I definitely want to share this important message with my fans and the viewers,” Omarion said. “It’s crazy how far these people will go to convince and manipulate my fans to think that they’re actually speaking with me. From sending fake driver’s licenses and passports, even FaceTiming them, claiming that there was a bad connection when they’ve never even seen me.”
“I’m so sorry, Simone, I haven’t been speaking with you online, and we are not in a relationship,” he continued. “You haven’t sent me any money. I want everyone to be aware that if someone is online claiming to be me and asking for money that you are not speaking with me. I would never do that.”
In addition, Complex reported that Omarion posted a message to his Instagram account urging his fans to “be smart” because “so many people have stories saying they spoke with me online.”
“I don’t take advantage of people,” he continued. “I respect and appreciate people who support me.”
And for the record, Dr. Phill knows he’s wrong for continuing to exploit people like this. Every tragic person doesn’t need to be a source of entertainment, regardless of how much they should have damn well known better.
Ivy Queen Talks ‘Battling to Find My Own Lane’ at Billboard Women in Music
Billboard Women in Music honors executives, artists and power players who have worked against the odds to succeed in a male-dominated business (and any way you crunch the numbers, that’s just a fact). But few of the 2023 honorees have had a path like Ivy Queen. With tenacity and talent, the Puerto Rican singer not only made a name for herself in the predominantly male world of reggaetón in the ‘90s but established herself as one of the genre’s all-time icons.
So it’s only fitting that at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music event, Ivy Queen is honored with the Icon Award. After a surprise introduction from Bad Bunny – Billboard’s Top Artist of 2022 – at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday (March 1), Ivy Queen took the stage.
“When I fell in love with music, I found myself constantly battling to find my own lane, spot and identity between the guys,” she told the Los Angeles crowd. “Bars became my self-defense mechanism.”
The diva also urged the crowd “not to stay quiet when something hurts.”
“In a world that tell us women we’re always being measured by looks, by body type and sometimes by beauty — and that we are getting not equally paid for having ovaries — I call upon all the Latin and American industry women to not allow others to split us and divide us.”
Ivy Queen ended her speech with a meaningful, philosophical and extremely useful piece of advice. “Beauty is a mental attitude; with that said, please, ladies, do not go to bed with your makeup on.”
Lainey Wilson Has a ‘Heart Like a Truck’ During Her 2023 Billboard Women in Music Performance
Lainey Wilson took the 2023 Billboard Women in Music stage Wednesday night (March 1) to perform her hit song “Heart Like a Truck” before accepting this year’s Rulebreaker Award.
Looking stunning in gold bell-bottoms and a wide-brimmed hat — her signature look — the 30-year-old singer-songwriter sang a gorgeous, stripped-down version of her May 2022 single, which just this week reached a new Billboard Hot 100 peak at No. 29. She was accompanied simply by an acoustic guitarist and keyboardist.
The country crooner is fresh off her best new artist and female vocalist of the year victories at November’s CMA Awards, and is readying herself to join Luke Combs on his stadium tour this spring and summer. Last year, she made her acting debut on season five of western drama Yellowstone.
Wilson’s Yellowstone costar Piper Perabo presented her “determined and confident” friend with the Rulebreaker Award, which the “Wait in the Truck” musician accepted with a hug after her performance.
“This is absolutely insane,” Wilson said in her speech. “This award right here is for all the women who do things their way. The ones who are not afraid to go against the grain and paint outside of the lines. The ones who take ‘no’ on the nose and somehow turn it into a ‘yes.’”
“This s–t is not for the faint of heart,” she continued. “All the women who are coming on this stage and in this room here tonight being honored can testify.”
It’s not difficult to see why Wilson is the perfect recipient for this year’s Rulebreaker award, considering how she first got noticed by her record label: by singing a song about sticking up her middle finger. “I just got to a certain point where I’d been in Nashville for so long [and] my give-a-damn was a little busted,” she recalled in her Women in Music interview with Billboard. “I felt like, ‘Why not just say what I want to say how I want to say it?’ That’s one of the thoughts that really set me free.”
Doechii Rips Through ‘Persuasive’ & ‘Crazy’ at 2023 Billboard Women in Music
Doechii was honored as Billboard’s 2023 Women in Music Rising Star on Wednesday night (March 1) at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.
During the awards show, the rapper performed a mash-up of two of her hits — delivering a sultry rendition of “Persuasive” and a rapid-fire, ferocious take on”Crazy” — before being presented with her award by her mother, Celesia Moore.
“Girl, I done danced my shoe off,” the rapper quipped while accepting her award with a broken shoe before marveling that she’s joined the ranks of Billboard Women in Music Rising Star awardees who have come before her, including Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga and Janelle Monáe.
In an interview with Billboard ahead of the show, the boundary-breaking Top Dawg Entertainment signee dished on her five-year plan for her career in the wake of “Persuasive” garnering 30 million on-demand streams in the U.S., per Luminate.
“By year five I want to be at my peak. I want to be in my Sasha Fierce era, the top of my game with still a long way to go — but I want to reach my prime and never leave it,” she said.
Doechii also promised that fans can expect a pivot in her sound when she releases her debut full-length project later this year. “It’s my pop era,” she said. “Usually I’m alone [in the studio], but these days I’ve been inviting people in. Usually I like people to send me beats and I’ll just listen through, but recently I’ve been working with producers like J White in person, which is cool. So my vibe is kind of changing; it’s a lot of energy. It feels like a party.”
