Entertainment
2023 MTV VMA Nominations: Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid & More – See The Full List
The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards nominations are in and guess what?
The MTV Video Music Awards are adding a new category this year – Best Afrobeats.
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).
Taylor Swift leads this year’s nominations with eight nods in categories including Artist of the Year, video of the Year and Song of the Year for her hit, “Anti-Hero,” among others. SZA follows closely behind with six nominations.
The 2023 MTV VMAs will take place Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET and air live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Check out the complete list of nominations 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 with The Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy — “Creepin’ (Remix)”
- Rema & Selena Gomez — “Calm Down”
BEST POP
- Demi Lovato — “Swine”
- Dua Lipa — “Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)”
- 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 R&B
- Alicia Keys ft. Lucky Daye — “Stay”
- Chlöe ft. Chris Brown — “How Does It Feel”
- Metro Boomin with The Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy — “Creepin’ (Remix)”
- SZA — “Shirt”
- Toosii — “Favorite Song”
- Yung Bleu & Nicki Minaj — “Love In The Way”
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 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 LATIN
- Anitta — “Funk Rave”
- Bad Bunny — “WHERE SHE GOES”
- Eslabon Armado, Peso Pluma — “Ella Baila Sola”
- Bad Bunny — “un x100to”
- KAROL G, Shakira — “TQG”
- ROSALÍA — “DESPECHÁ”
- Shakira — “Acróstico”
BEST K-POP
- aespa — “Girls”
- BLACKPINK — “Pink Venom”
- FIFTY 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 DIRECTION
- Doja Cat – “Attention” – Directed by Tanu Muiño
- Drake — “Falling Back” – Director X (Julien Christian Lutz)
- Kendrick Lamar — “Count Me Out” – Directed by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
- Megan Thee Stallion — “Her” – Directed by Colin Tilley
- Sam Smith, Kim Petras — “Unholy” – Directed by Floria Sigismondi
- SZA — “Kill Bill” – Directed by Christian Breslauer
- Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero” – Directed by Taylor Swift
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Adele — “I Drink Wine” – Cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra
- Ed Sheeran — “Eyes Closed” – Cinematography by Natasha Braier
- Janelle Monáe — “Lipstick Lover” – Cinematography by Allison Anderson
- Kendrick Lamar — “Count Me Out” – Cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra
- Miley Cyrus — “Flowers” — Columbia Records – Cinematography by Marcell Rév
- Olivia Rodrigo — “vampire” — Geffen Records – Cinematography by Russ Fraser
- Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero” — Republic Records – Cinematography by Rina Yang
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
- Fall Out Boy — “Love From The Other Side” – Visual Effects by Thomas Bailey and Josh Shaffner
- Harry Styles — “Music For A Sushi Restaurant” – Visual Effects by Chelsea Delfino and Black Kite Studios
- Melanie Martinez — “VOID” – Visual Effects by Carbon
- Nicki Minaj — “Super Freaky Girl” – Visual Effects by Max Colt and Sergio Mashevskyi
- Sam Smith, Kim Petras — “Unholy” – Visual Effects by Max Colt / FRENDER
- Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero” – Visual Effects by Parliament
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
- BLACKPINK — “Pink Venom” – Choreography by Kiel Tutin, Sienna Lalau, Lee Jung (YGX), Taryn Cheng (YGX)
- Dua Lipa — “Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)” – Choreography by Charm La’Donna
- Jonas Brothers — “Waffle House” – Choreography by Jerry Reece
- Megan Thee Stallion — “Her” – Choreography by Sean Bankhead
- Panic! At The Disco — “Middle Of A Breakup” – Choreography by Monika Felice Smith
- Sam Smith, Kim Petras — “Unholy” – Choreography by (LA)HORDE – Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, Arthur Harel
BEST ART DIRECTION
- boygenius — “the film” – Art Direction by Jen Dunlap
- BLACKPINK — “Pink Venom” – Art Direction by Seo Hyun Seung (GIGANT)
- Doja Cat — “Attention” – Art Direction by Spencer Graves
- Lana Del Rey ft. Jon Batiste — “Candy Necklace” – Art Direction by Brandon Mendez
- Megan Thee Stallion — “Her” – Art Direction by Niko Philipides
- SZA — “Shirt” – Art Direction by Kate Bunch
BEST EDITING
- BLACKPINK — “Pink Venom” – Editing by Seo Hyun Seung (GIGANT)
- Kendrick Lamar — “Rich Spirit” – Edited by Grason Caldwell
- Miley Cyrus — “River” – Edited by Brendan Walter
- Olivia Rodrigo — “vampire” – Edited by Sofia Kerpan and David Checel
- SZA — “Kill Bill” – Edited by Luis Caraza Peimbert
- Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero” – Edited by Chancler Haynes