Kehlani, Mariah the Scientist and Teyana Taylor were among those honored at the Billboard Women in Music Awards Wednesday.
Kehlani accepted the Impact Award from Ciara after performing “Folded” and described her definition of “impact.”
“I used to think impact meant reach, numbers and visibility – being everywhere at once. But the older I get, the more I understand that impact is much quieter than that – it’s in the way we show up for each other, it’s in the boundaries we keep, it’s in the parts of ourselves we refuse to abandon in order to succeed,” she said, according to a news release. “Impact is choosing to stay human in a space that often rewards you for being anything but.”
Mariah the Scientist received the Rising Star Award from Coco Jones. After performing her own “Rainy Days” with Kali Uchis, she reflected on the honor.
“To all the women here, I identify with you and all the challenges that come with cultivating your inner light, even in moments where you feel surrounded by darkness,” she said. “Being considered a rising star means more to me knowing that I am embraced by a universe that gives me space and opportunity to shine.”
Teyana Taylor also took the stage, performing “Bed of Roses” with Wale, before receiving the Visionary Award from Dionne Warwick.
“As women, we are visionaries by nature. We don’t wait for permission, we create possibility. We take what we’ve been through and we turn it into something the world can feel,” she said. “We turn pain into purpose, silence into sound, dreams into something people can finally see and that kind of vision, it doesn’t change us, it changes everything around us. So never underestimate a woman with a vision, because by the time you see it, she’s already been building it.”
The full event is now available to watch on YouTube.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
