Maria Maria – Song of the Year @ 2001 Urban Awards.

BMI announced the winners of the 2001 Urban Awards. The awards presentation has been postponed. A new date will be announced.

In addition to the song awards, BMI also named the 2000-2001 Top Producers Awards and Billboard, the music trade magazine, announced the names of the top BMI-affiliated writers on the R&B/Hip Hop charts.

“Maria Maria,” co-written by Jerry “Wonder” Duplessis and Carlos Santana, and recorded by Santana featuring the Product G&B, was named Song of the Year. The hit song was included on Santana’s multiple-platinum, multiple-Grammy award winning CD, Supernatural, and is published by EMI-Blackwood Music, Inc., Stellabella Music and Te Bass Music, Inc.

Pharrell Williams was named Songwriter of the Year with three songs including “Got Your Money” (co-written by Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and recorded by ODB with Kelis), “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” (co-written by Deric Angelettie, Jay-Z, Todd “Too Short” Shaw and Kit Walker, and recorded by Jay-Z), and “Shake Ya Ass” (recorded by Mystikal).

Other multiple award-winning songwriters included Duplessis, Jay-Z, Fred Jerkins and Rodney Jerkins with two Urban Awards each.

With the largest percentage of ownership in award-winning songs, EMI Music Publishing was named Urban Publisher of the Year.

Pharrell Williams was also named one of the Top BMI-affiliated Producers along with Duplessis, Eminem, Mannie Fresh, Irv Gotti, Hi-Tek, R. Kelly, Poke, Rockwilder and Mario Winans.

Billboard chose the occasion of the Urban Awards to honor the BMI writers of the songs that topped the R&B/Hip-Hop chart during the past year. R. Kelly was a multiple winner with “Fiesta” (recorded by Kelly featuring Jay-Z) and “I Wish” (written and recorded by Kelly), as was Williams with “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” and “Danger (Been So Long)” (recorded by Mystikal featuring Nivea).

Founded in 1940, BMI is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music. Through its music performance and reciprocal agreements, it grants businesses and media access to its repertoire of approximately 4.5 million musical works from around the world. BMI annually honors the songwriters and music publishers of the most performed songs on American radio in the pop, country, Latin and urban genres.