2023 MTV VMAs Nominations Announced
MTV announced the full list of nominees for the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) on Tuesday, August 8th. Taylor Swift, fresh off of ending her first North American leg of the Eras Tour, leads the running with eight nods. They each come from the hit “Anti-Hero” off her album Midnights, released in October 2022, aside from Artist of the Year. Following Swift, SZA has six nods. Her song “Kill Bill” takes five of the six, with “Shirt” taking the other as Best R&B. Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Kim Petras, Sam Smith, and Olivia Rodrigo all follow with five nominations each while BLACKPINK, Diddy, and Shakira each have four.
For the first time since the award of Artist of the Year was introduced in 2017 at the MTV VMAs, the nominees are all women. With Beyoncé, Doja Cat, Karol G, Nicki Minaj, Shakira, and Taylor Swift all listed, it is a powerhouse category that can truly go either way. It is also the first year in which two of the nominees have come from the Latin genre. During his monumental year in 2022, Bad Bunny was the first artist from the Latin genre to be nominated for and become winner of the award.
This year, there are 35 first-time nominees at the MTV VMAs, a record. The 35 artists include Petras in five categories, Metro Boomin and Rema in three categories, and GloRilla, Yung Miami, Peso Pluma, Renée Rapp, Ice Spice, and Ayra Starr in two categories each. In addition, it includes Burna Boy, boygenius, Davido, Kaliii, PinkPantheress, and Stephen Sanchez.
There are even more artists nominated for the 2023 MTV VMAs, including Adele, Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, Drake, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters, Janelle Monae, Jonas Brothers, Kendrick Lamar, Metallica, Paramore, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lana Del Rey, Rosalía, and Tomorrow X Together, and more. Harry Styles also picked up one nomination, continuing his beyond-impressive run for his work in 2022.
New to the award show this year is the category: Best Afrobeats. This is the first specific genre category added since 2019 (Best K-Pop).
One award is still a topic of discussion: the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. The lifetime achievement award honors artists who have made “outstanding contributions and profound impact on music video and popular culture.” It is not an award that can be voted for, an artist is selected by MTV instead. Nicki Minaj was the 26th person to win the award last year, joining the legendary list of artists, including David Bowie, Beyoncé, Missy Elliott, Peter Gabriel, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Michael, P!NK, Rihanna, Britney Spears, The Rolling Stones, and Justin Timberlake to name a few. While it is still uncertain who will be honored with the coveted award this year, it will surely go to an impactful artist.
The 2023 MTV VMAs are set to take place on Tuesday, September 12th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey starting at 8:00 P.M. EST. It will air live on MTV with possible streaming on MTV.com and Paramount+. Voting is now open through Friday, September 1st at vote.mtv.com. Voting for Best New Artist will not close until after the live show begins. Other nominations will be announced at a later date. The full list of nominees can be found below:
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”
Featured Image Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images