Songwriters were honored Friday night (Jun 25) during the 23rd Annual ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, which was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. R&B singer Ne-Yo, along with the songwriting/production team Christopher “Tricky” Stewart and Terius “The Dream” Nash, were presented with the night’s top honor: “Songwriter of the Year,” while rapper Dr. Dre was honored with the “Founders Award,” which was presented to him by his good friend Eminem.

Other celebrities and honorees at Friday night’s ASCAP awards were Jermaine Dupri, his artist Dondria, singer Janelle Monae, rapper Gucci Mane (who performed during the show) and more. Even Ron Artest from the Los Angeles Lakers made a random appearance at the 2010 ASCAP awards.

Check out 10+ pics from the 23rd Annual ASCAP Awards below…

Music producer/songwriter Christopher “Tricky” Stewart hosted his 2nd annual pre-Grammy party at Wonderland in Los Angeles Friday night (Jan 29) and a good number of his celebrity friends showed up to party the night away.

Over the span of his 16 year career, Stewart has created hits for Beyonce (“Single Ladies”), Rihanna (“Umbrella”), Mariah Carey (“Obsessed” and “Touch My Body”), Justin Bieber (“One Time”), Usher (“Moving Mountains”) and tons more.

Some of the guests at his pre-Grammy party were Ne-Yo, Ciara, Christina Aguilera, the legendary Stevie Wonder and more. Check out more pictures below and when you continue reading…

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES / WIRE IMAGE

The title track of Whitney Houston‘s new album I Look To You recently surfaced. The song is written by R. Kelly and produced by Tricky Stewart.

D/L: Whitney Houston – I Look To You

From the two tracks we’ve heard so far, it seems that Whitney’s new album is shaping up really nicely. We love the song and even though she doesn’t go into crazy notes like she used to, her voice still sounds amazing. It’s definitely good to have some real talent back in the game. Hopefully she will see the huge success she deserves with this album.

Queen Latifah celebrated her 39th birthday Saturday night at SIR Studios in Hollywood, and the celebrity guest list included the likes of Kim Kardashian, Lil Kim, MC Lyte, David Banner, Vivica A. Fox and more. Continue reading to peep the rest of the pics and to see who else hit up Dana’s birthday party!

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE

R&B singer/songwriter The Dream hosted an exclusive black tie album release party for Love vs. Money at the Hiro Ballroom in New York Wednesday night (Mar. 11th). His girlfriend (yeah, we’re calling it) Christina Milian hit up the shindig, in addition to other celebs like Mary J. Blige, Ludacris, Fabolous and more. The Dream’s album is definitely one of the hottest releases of ’09 to date, so if you haven’t picked up your own copy, you’re definitley missing out. Continue reading for more pics from the party.

PHOTOS: WIRE IMAGE / GETTY IMAGES

Both Rihanna and Chris Brown are due for new albums, so expect new tracks from both of them to start making their way to the Internet, especially with all of the hype surrounding them right now. Here’s a fairly new track from Rihanna, titled “Whipping My Hair.” This actually sounds like something that would’ve been on her last album, Good Girl Gone Bad. Peep a link to download the track, produced by The-Dream & Tricky Stewart, below.

LISTEN: RIHANNA – “WHIPPING MY HAIR”

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