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Jill Scott, Samara Cyn, Destin Conrad and more were also on hand to accept their awards.
Questlove and Black Thought accept the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York. Joy Malone
Billboard hosted its 2026 R&B Hip-Hop Power Players event in NYC on Wednesday (Sept. 9). Rap and R&B royalty graced SoHo House as artists, managers, executives, publicists and industry mainstays mingled throughout the night.
The Roots were inducted into the Billboard Hip-Hop Hall of Fame, while Jill Scott was honored with the R&B Hall of Fame award. In addition to honoring the past and giving Ms. Scott and The Roots their flowers, Billboard looked toward the future with a trio of emerging artists.
Samara Cyn accepted the honor for Billboard‘s 2026 Hip-Hop Rising Star, while Destin Conrad was named the 2026 R&B Rising Star and Skippa took home the first-ever Caribbean Rising Star award.
All three artists will be hitting the stage at Billboard‘s R&B Hip-Hop Live 2026 concert on Thursday (Sept. 10) at Brooklyn Steel, which will also feature performances from Lucky Daye, Yung Miami and kwn.
It was a celebratory night for the Above Ground Entertainment family. Above Ground CEO David Ali was honored as the R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players executive of the year. Ali has also managed Kehlani for more than a decade, and the Grammy-winning singer was honored as Billboard‘s 2026 R&B Artist of the Year.
Kehlani dedicated her award win to Ali with a heartfelt speech recalling their challenging journey to the top. “What I didn’t know at the time is I’d gain the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father,” she said. “To know David is to love David.”
See some of the best photos from the 2025 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players event below.
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Black Thought and Michelle Trotter
Image Credit: Joy Malone Black Thought and Michelle Trotter at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Rod Stewart and Laila!
Image Credit: Joy Malone Rod Stewart and Laila! at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Samara Cyn
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Samara Cyn accepts the Rising Star Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Leila Cobo and Jason Lipshutz
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Leila Cobo and Jason Lipshutz at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Jae Brown, Rich the Kid
Image Credit: Joy Malone Jae Brown, Rich the Kid and guest at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Jill Scott and Jett Hamilton Roberts
Image Credit: Joy Malone Jill Scott and Jett Hamilton Roberts at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Destin Conrad, Skippa and Samara Cyn
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Destin Conrad, Skippa and Samara Cyn accept the Rising Star Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Laila!
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Laila! at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Kehlani
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Kehlani at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Skippa
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Skippa accepts the Rising Star Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Jill Scott
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Jill Scott accepts the R&B Hall of Fame Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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JoJo and Kehlani
Image Credit: Joy Malone JoJo and Kehlani at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Cannon Kent and Kevin Holiday
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Cannon Kent and Kevin Holiday at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Kehlani
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Kehlani accepts the R&B Artist of the Year Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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JoJo
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey JoJo at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Janelle Gibbs, Angelique Jones, Selim Bouab, Rayna Bass, Kayla Harris, Lallie Jones and Cole Rechan
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Janelle Gibbs, Angelique Jones, Selim Bouab, Rayna Bass, Kayla Harris, Lallie Jones and Cole Rechan at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Black Thought and Questlove
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Black Thought and Questlove at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Questlove and Black Thought
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Questlove and Black Thought accept the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame Award at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Lucky Daye
Image Credit: Joy Malone Lucky Daye at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Rod Stewart, Shawnae Corbett-Rice, Ericka J. Coulter and Brannon Scales
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Rod Stewart, Shawnae Corbett-Rice, Ericka J. Coulter and Brannon Scales at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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D’Mile
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey D’Mile at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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Vanessa Williams, Jihan Peters, Phylicia Fant and Sharon Bako
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey Vanessa Williams, Jihan Peters, Phylicia Fant and Sharon Bako at the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Power Players 2026 event on September 09, 2026 in New York City, New York.
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