Cardi B, Leon Thomas, Wu-Tang Clan and more were honored at Billboard‘s 2025 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players event Thursday night (Sept. 4) at Unveiled in New York.
Billboard cover stars Cardi B and Leon Thomas received the Impact of the Year Award and Breakthrough of the Year Award, respectively. After Billboard‘s executive director of R&B/hip-hop, Gail Mitchell introduced “everyone’s favorite mutt,” the “Mutt” hitmaker thanked God for helping him throughout his 22-year musical journey as well as Ty Dolla $ign, whose EZMNY Records Thomas is signed to, among others. “R&B still matters,” he said.
Cardi also expressed love for her genre. “New York is the home of hip-hop…. Hip-hop is a feeling. When I was growing up, I didn’t want to be the Shakiras and the J-Los and the R&B artists; I wanted to be like Trina and Lil Kim. I wanted to be like them,” she said before getting the party started by hollering, “Let’s play some hip-hop” and playing her latest single “Imaginary Playerz,” which samples Jay-Z’s 1997 track of the same name.
Joined by Raekwon The Chef and Cappadonna on stage, RZA thanked “the entire Billboard staff for thinking about us, appreciating our contribution to the culture” while being inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. “It’s a wonderful validation. We came out in 1993, and since then, and Raekwon can tell you, I used to look at Billboard every week, right? We had dozens of songs and albums on that chart, and it made us feel special,” said RZA.
TDE CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith was accompanied by the label’s co-presidents Anthony “Moosa” Tiffith Jr. and Terrence “Punch” Henderson while accepting the Executive of the Year Award. The room erupted when Tiffith claimed, “I feel like I should’ve won this three, four, five times.” And another trio took the stage shortly after, as Ravyn Lenae, GELO and Odeal won the R&B, Hip-Hop and African Rookie of the Year Awards, respectively.
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Cappadonna, RZA, and Raekwon
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard Cappadonna, RZA, and Raekwon at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Zach Iser
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard Zach Iser at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Hannah Karp
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard Hannah Karp at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Top Dawg and Hannah Karp
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard Top Dawg and Hannah Karp at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Fatima Stiggers and Willie “Prophet” Stiggers
Image Credit: Deanie Chen/Billboard Fatima Stiggers and Willie “Prophet” Stiggers at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Mona Scott-Young and Tina Davis
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard Mona Scott-Young and Tina Davis at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Sherrese Clarke Soares
Image Credit: Deanie Chen/Billboard Sherrese Clarke Soares at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Shawn Barron, Leon Thomas III, Ty Dolla $ign, and Chris Herche
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard Shawn Barron, Leon Thomas III, Ty Dolla $ign, and Chris Herche at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Ravyn Lenae
Image Credit: Deanie Chen/Billboard Ravyn Lenae at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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GELO and Odeal
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard GELO and Odeal at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Raekwon
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve Raekwon at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Patientce Foster
Image Credit: Deanie Chen Patientce Foster at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Leon Thomas
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard Leon Thomas III at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Joey Bada$$
Image Credit: Deanie Chen/Billboard Joey Bada$$ at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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GELO
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard LiAngelo Ball aka GELO at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Ghazi Shami
Image Credit: Deanie Chen/Billboard Ghazi Shami at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Ski Mask The Slump God
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard Ski Mask The Slump God at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Cardi B
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve/Billboard Cardi B at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Bun Monroe
Image Credit: Deanie Chen/Billboard Bun Monroe at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on September 04, 2025 in New York, New York.
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Punch, Top Dawg and Moosa
Image Credit: Erica Harris DeValve Punch, Top Dawg and Moosa at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players held at Unveiled on Sept. 4, 2025 in New York, New York.
