For the first time in Billboard Music Award history, an artist has been honored with the Billboard Change Maker Award. The iconic moment was bestowed upon Run The Jewels rapper Killer Mike who has dedicated his life to not only making stream-worthy hits, but for his actions outside of the studio. Killer Mike has actively involved himself in local and national politics, helped to launch and support initiatives that benefit underprivileged or marginalized communities, and has spoken candidly about alternative options to political policies that only seem to be benefiting an elite few.
During Wednesday's Billboard Music Awards ceremony, Killer Mike accepted his nod virtually with his wife by his side. The rapper said the award belongs to him and his wife and promised her he wouldn't become a "martyr" to the cause. "Kids out there that sing and dance: What you do is worthy," Killer Mike said. "You are artists and your goal should be to express the very reality around you in the very most beautiful or ugliest of ways you see fit. Kids who run and dance and sing and jump and all that, all the things they tell you don't matter -- you matter more than you know."
On Twitter, Billboard's official account wrote, "Throughout his 20-year music career, @KillerMike has been instrumental in social justice and civil rights movements and that is why he is our Billboard Change Maker! Congrats!" Check out a clip below.