2023 MTV VMA Nomines Have Landed! Including An Added Afrobeats Category, W/ Front Leaders Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Rosalia, Shakira & More.
“The MTV Video Music Awards are adding a new category this year – best Afrobeats. The Grammys are adding a similar category, best African music performance, this year (for the awards that will be presented on Feb. 4, 2024). The American Music Awards were the first major music awards show to add such a category. They added favorite Afrobeats artist at the show that aired on Nov. 20, 2022. Wizkid was the inaugural winner, beating Burna Boy, CKay, Fireboy DML and Tems.
The apparent front-runner for best Afrobeats at the VMAs is Rema & Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down,” which is nominated in two other categories, best song and best collaboration. “Calm Down” has been a giant crossover hit, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song dips a notch to No. 6 in its 49th week on the Hot 100, as it spends a seventh week atop Radio Songs.
Ayra Starr has two nominations in the VMAs’ best Afrobeats category – for her own “Rush” and as the featured artist on Wizkid’s “2 Sugar.”
The other nominees in the category are Burna Boy’s “It’s Plenty,” Davido featuring Musa Keys’ “Unavailable,” Fireboy DML & Asake’s “Bandana” and Libianca’s “People.”
Best Afrobeats is the third genre-specific category to be added at the VMAs in this century, following Latin (2006) and K-pop (2019). The VMAs’ five other genre-specific categories were all introduced in the last century — rock (1989), alternative (1991), R&B (1993), and pop and hip-hop (both 1999).
The Grammy nominations will be announced on Nov. 10, at which time we’ll learn the nominees in their new best African music performance category.
The Recording Academy announced the category (one of three being added this year) on June 13. The Rules and Guidelines for the upcoming 66th Annual Grammy Awards describes the category thusly: “Eligible recordings include vocal and instrumental performances with strong elements of African cultural significance that blend a stylistic intention, song structure, lyrical content and/or musical representation found in Africa and the African Diaspora. The African Diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas.”
The 2023 VMAs will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT live from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.” – Billboard.com
Video of the Year
Doja Cat – “Attention”
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
Sam Smith & Kim Petras – “Unholy”
SZA – “Kill Bill”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”
Artist of the Year
Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Karol G
Nicki Minaj
Shakira
Taylor Swift
Song of the Year
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”
Sam Smith & Kim Petras – “Unholy”
Steve Lacy – “Bad Habit”
SZA – “Kill Bill”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”
Best New Artist
GloRilla
Ice Spice
Kaliii
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Reneé Rapp
Push Performance of the Year
August 2022: Saucy Santana – “Booty”
September 2022: Stephen Sanchez – “Until I Found You”
October 2022: JVKE – “golden hour”
November 2022: Flo Milli – “Conceited”
December 2022: Reneé Rapp – “Colorado”
January 2023: Sam Ryder – “All The Way Over”
February 2023: Armani White – “GOATED”
March 2023: Fletcher – “Becky’s So Hot”
April 2023: Tomorrow X Together – “Sugar Rush Ride”
May 2023: Ice Spice – “Princess Diana”
June 2023: FLO – “Losing You”
July 2023: Lauren Spencer Smith – “That Part”
Best Collaboration
David Guetta & Bebe Rexha – “I’m Good (Blue)”
Post Malone & Doja Cat – “I Like You (A Happier Song)”
Diddy ft. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami – “Gotta Move On”
KAROL G & Shakira – “TQG”
Metro Boomin ft. The Weeknd, 21 Savage, Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)”
Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”
Best Pop
Demi Lovato – “Swine”
Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night”
Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed”
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
P!NK – “Trustfall”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”
Best Hip-Hop
Diddy ft. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami – “Gotta Move On”
DJ Khaled ft. Drake & Lil Baby – “STAYING ALIVE”
GloRilla & Cardi B – “Tomorrow 2”
Lil Uzi Vert – “Just Wanna Rock”
Lil Wayne ft. Swizz Beatz & DMX – “Kant Nobody”
Metro Boomin ft. Future – “Superhero (Heroes and Villains)”
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”
Best Rock
Foo Fighters – “The Teacher”
Linkin Park – “Lost (Original Version)”
Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Tippa My Tongue”
Måneskin – “The Loneliest”
Metallica – “Lux Æterna”
Muse – “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween”
Best Alternative
Blink-182 – “Edging”
Boygenius – “The Film”
Fall Out Boy – “Hold Me Like a Grudge”
Lana Del Rey ft. Jon Batiste – “Candy Necklace”
Paramore – “This Is Why”
Thirty Seconds To Mars – “Stuck”
Best Latin
Anitta – “Funk Rave”
Bad Bunny – “Where She Goes”
Eslabon Armado & Peso Pluma – “Ella Baila Sola”
Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny – “un x100to”
Karol G & Shakira – “TQG”
Rosalía – “Despechá”
Shakira – “Acróstico”
Best R&B
Alicia Keys ft. Lucky Daye – “Stay”
Chlöe ft. Chris Brown – “How Does It Feel”
Metro Boomin ft. The Weeknd, 21 Savage, Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)”
SZA – “Shirt”
Toosii – “Favorite Song”
Yung Bleu & Nicki Minaj – “Love In The Way”
Best K-Pop
Aespa – “Girls”
Blackpink – “Pink Venom”
Fiffty Fifty – “Cupid”
Seventeen – “Super”
Stray Kids – “S-Class”
Tomorrow X Together – “Sugar Rush Ride”
Best Afrobeats
Ayra Starr – “Rush”
Burna Boy – “It’s Plenty”
Davido ft. Musa Keys – “Unavailable”
Fireboy DML & Asake – ”Bandana”
Libianca – “People”
Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”
Wizkid ft. Ayra Starr – “2 Sugar”
Video for Good
Alicia Keys – “If I Ain’t Got You (Orchestral)”
Bad Bunny – “El Apagón – Aquí Vive Gente”
Demi Lovato – “Swine”
Dove Cameron – “Breakfast”
Imagine Dragons – “Crushed”
Maluma – “La Reina”
Best Cinematography
Adele – “I Drink Wine”
Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed”
Janelle Monae – “Lipstick Lover”
Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out”
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”
Best Direction
Doja Cat – “Attention”
Drake – “Falling Back”
Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out”
Megan Thee Stallion – “Her”
Sam Smith & Kim Petras – “Unholy”
SZA – “Kill Bill”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”
Best Art Direction
Boygenius – “The Film”
Blackpink – “Pink Venom”
Doja Cat – “Attention”
Lana Del Rey ft. Jon Batiste – “Candy Necklace”
Megan Thee Stallion – “Her”
SZA – “Shirt”
Best Visual Effects
Fall Out Boy – “Love From the Other Side”
Harry Styles – “Music for a Sushi Restaurant”
Melanie Martinez – “Void”
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”
Sam Smith & Kim Petras – “Unholy”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”
Best Choreography
Blackpink – “Pink Venom”
Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night”
Jonas Brothers – “Waffle House”
Megan Thee Stallion – “Her”
Panic! at the Disco – “Middle of a Breakup”
Sam Smith & Kim Petras – “Unholy”
Best Editing
Blackpink – “Pink Venom”
Kendrick Lamar – “Rich Spirit”
Miley Cyrus – “River”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
SZA – “Kill Bill”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”.” – pitchfork.com
