Timbaland inducted into Songwriter Hall of Fame; SZA wins young songwriter award

The Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala was an event to not be missed.

Legendary record producer Timbaland has reportedly been inducted into the organization’s 2024 class, with fellow songwriters joining REM, Steely Dan, Hillary Lindsey and Dean Pitchford. Hollywood reporter.

Missy Elliott, Timbaland’s longtime collaborator and the primary female rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall, was in attendance and paid tribute to the producer. Timbaland you should definitely thank Elliott and several other other artists he has worked with, including Aaliyah, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake and Magoo.

“I owe my career to Missy Elliott,” he said during his award acceptance speech to THR. He concluded with gratitude to Songwriters Hall: “Thank you for giving me a seat at the table – I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

Timbaland wasn’t the one artist within the R&B and hip-hop space to win the award. Singer SZA won the Hal David Starlight Award, an honor given to young songwriters. The Grammy winner, whose “SOS” was amongst the most important albums of 2023, sang an acoustic version of her song “Snooze” on the ceremony.

“I have exceeded all my wildest dreams,” SZA said during her award acceptance speech, per People. “I’m just so grateful. Thank you for seeing me. I swear I’ll be like, “Oh, I wrote this and I wrote that.” And (people) would say, ‘OK,’ especially in case you’re a lady, especially in case you’re a black woman. So winning this… just means the world.

Songwriters Hall chairman Nile Rodgers presented the award to SZA, who stated that she was “many different people” as an artist.

Featured Stories

“I weighed 200 pounds. I weigh 130 pounds,” SZA said. “I used to be a one that didn’t dance on stage in any respect, a one that could only close her eyes and look down, a one that danced and gave her all. I just went through all this and thought, “Oh my gosh, I’m struggling with being an artist.” As if writing made me feel like an individual, that I had value and will show that I used to be smart, and it went beyond the query: “Am I pretty?” Am I liked? And that principally meant the whole lot to me.

“It made me feel like a human being, that I was doing something valuable,” she concluded. “Basically, receiving this award validates my entire career.”