Lil Baby Wins Artist of the Year at Apple Music Awards

2020 was the year of Lil Baby.

After dominating all year long, the Atlanta rapper has been named Artist of the Year at the second annual Apple Music Awards. Baby kicked off 2020 with the release of his album My Turn, which topped the Billboard and streaming charts and was certified double platinum by the RIAA. He followed it up with a deluxe edition and his powerful anthem “The Bigger Picture,” cementing his place as a global superstar.

A grateful Baby celebrated the achievement. “I had a lot of proud moments in 2020, so it’s almost like an everyday moment for me,” he said. “My album is called My Turn and it actually felt like it was my turn to knock down these accomplishments, it was my turn to go double platinum, it was my turn to have a No. 1. It went hand in hand and it went exactly the way I planned it.”

Megan Thee Stallion was honored with Breakthrough Artist of the Year. The Houston rapper owned the year with two No. 1 singles–“Savage” featuring Beyoncé and “WAP” with Cardi B–and her EP Suga. And she shows no signs of stopping with the release of her debut album Good News.

Roddy Ricch won Top Song of the Year for “The Box,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks and received more than 460 million Apple Music streams worldwide. The Compton rapper’s debut Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial was also named Top Album of the Year with over 1.5 billion Apple Music streams since its release.

“My first phone was the iPhone,” Roddy said while reflecting on the achievements. “It’s crazy making music could get me to the point where a platform like Apple could honor me or put me on a pedestal. I just appreciate Apple Music to the farthest extent. Winning this award motivates me to work even harder. This is confirmation that I am on the right track and doing what I gotta do to be the greatest in my own right.”

The winners for global Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and Breakthrough Artist of the Year were selected by Apple Music’s global editorial team, while the awards for Top Song of the Year and Top Album of the Year are based on streaming data from Apple Music subscribers.

The Apple Music Awards kicks off Dec. 14 with a week of special performances, fan events, interviews, and more, streaming worldwide on Apple Music.