Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne, Missy Elliott & Sylvia Rhone Honored By Black Music Collective

On Thursday, Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne, Missy Elliott and Sylvia Rhone were honored as new recipients of the Global Impact Award.

The Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective gave prestigious honors to Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne, Missy Elliott and Epic Records CEO Sylvia Rhone to kickoff the Grammy Awards weekend. During the Recording Academy Honors at the Hollywood Palladium on Thursday night (February 2), the four were named as recipients of the Recording Academy Global Impact Award, now officially named the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award after the legendary superproducer and business mogul.

The second-annual event coincided with the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, which will also be honored during an all-star segment during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night.

As Lil Wayne took the stage during the Recording Academy Honors, he was greeted with an introduction from DJ Khaled and video message from Drake before 2 Chainz and Tyga performed some of the veteran rapper’s hits. In his speech, the New Orleans native thanked his ex-wife and the remainder of his family for their support throughout his illustrious career.

I’d like to thank Antonia Johnson for reasoning with me and my mom, and my life. I’d like to thank every single one of my kids and every single one of their mothers,” he said.

During Missy Elliott’s speech, the rap and R&B icon thanked Sylvia Rhone, who previously launched Elliott’s career as a former executive of Elektra Records.

“I was in a girl group and Sylvia Rhone dropped me, then signed me as a solo artist. She saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself… She never told us no. She never told me, ‘You need to lose weight.’ She never told me, ‘You need to change your records.’”

Acts throughout the night included Elliott’s longtime protégé Tweet, Chlöe, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg and Ty Dolla $ign, who both performed Dre-produced classic “It Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None).”