Art & Style

Kendrick Lamar, Scooter Braun, DJ Khaled, Hailee Steinfeld Recognized at First Variety Hitmakers Luncheon in Hollywood (PHOTOS)

Published on November 21, 2017

Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled, Scooter Braun and Hailee Steinfeld, who are responsible for some of the most popular songs of today, were recently honored at the Variety’s inaugural Hitmakers Luncheon.

Held at the Sunset Tower Hotel in Hollywood, the event recognizes the songwriters, producers, A&R executives and influencers responsible for the 30 most-consumed songs of the year, to date.

Kendrick Lamar received the flagship “Hitmaker of the Year Award” in recognition of his outstanding year with the release of “Damn,” which was one of the best-selling albums of the year.

“To own and hone in the title of a hitmaker means a lot because we put a lot of time and a lot of effort [in the studio],” Lamar said during his acceptance speech.

.@kendricklamar talks why it means a lot to be considered a hitmaker during his acceptance speech at Variety’s #Hitmakers brunch pic.twitter.com/KzlMk2u2dd

— Variety (@Variety) November 18, 2017

Producer DJ Khaled was also on hand to accept the Mediabase PowerPlaylist Award at the event.

DJ Khaled

Republic Records, home to Drake, DJ Khaled, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande and Post Malone, was named “Label of the Year,” and its president, Charlie Walk, took the stage to present the “Crossover Artist Award” to Hailee Steinfeld.

“Being recognized as a crossover artist is a real moment of validation and a personal realization that I am accomplishing what I set out to achieve a very long time ago,” Steinfeld told the guests.

Scooter Braun, who was not in attendance, was honored with the “Executive Hitmaker of the Year” Award.

Guests were treated to a full brunch buffet, in addition to French 75 and French & Dinner Cîroc French Vanilla cocktails as DJ Stretch Armstrong spun all the hits.

Many music artists and executives were in attendance, including Noah Cyrus, Kat Graham, Diplo, Machine Gun Kelly and producer Poo Bear.

See photos from the Variety Hitmakers Luncheon below.