Amid Billboard’s festivities for Hip-Hop/R&B Week 2025, stars and industry tastemakers gathered for an intimate event dubbed Billboard Future of Music & Money: Presented by UBS and Feeture to celebrate visionary executives and artists reshaping the conversation around financial literacy and creating new pathways for creators.
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On Friday, September 5, the invite-only cocktail reception and award ceremony was hosted at Cattail Lounge NYC and heard DJ Goldie Harris curate a set of throwback and current hip-hop and R&B staples. Horderves, cocktails and laughs filled the dimly-lit venue before evening honorees Leon Thomas, Ty Dolla $ign and more took to the stage for the award presentation. Inside the Lower East Side venue, Billboard shared a toast in honor of Leon Thomas for his groundbreaking year, which saw him command the spotlight with his hit, “MUTT,” peaking at the No. 12 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100.
“Tonight, we’re not just celebrating an incredible artist — we’re celebrating a true visionary,” said Wale Ogunleye, UBS Head of Sports and Entertainment, during the award ceremony. “Being a visionary is not only about creating timeless music. It’s about building a legacy, knowing where you want to go and having the courage to forge your own path. At UBS, we have the privilege of standing beside amazing artists, helping them turn their vision and creative talents into lasting financial success for themselves, their families, their communities and generations to come,” continued Ogunleye before R&B hitmaker and recipient of the Creative Visionary Award Presented by UBS, Thomas took the spotlight to thank Ogunleye and share some words with the crowd.
“It’s really hard sometimes being early on a trend or early on a sound because there’s really nothing kinda to reference it to in the marketplace and I really thank everybody for being fearless enough to trust my vision,” he told the audience.
Among the additional honorees included Ty Dolla $ign, who received the Collab Impact Award by Jareiq Josef Kabara, Feeture CEO, as well as Shawn Barron, who received the Executive Impact Award by Jareiq Josef Kabara, Feeture CEO.
