The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards will be held on September 12th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The VMA nominees were announced today. Justin Bieber leads the field with seven nominations, Megan Thee Stallion follows with six. Billie Eilish, BTS, Doja Cat, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X and more are also among this year’s nominees. Check out the full list below.
To celebrate MTV’s 40th anniversary, Kehinde Wiley designed a new Moon Person trophy for the show. This year’s VMAs will take place in front of a live audience.
Video of the year
Cardi B: “WAP” [ft. Megan Thee Stallion]
DJ Khaled / Drake: “POPSTAR” (with Justin Bieber)
Doja Cat: “Kiss me more” [ft. SZA]
Ed Sheeran: “Bad Habits”
Lil Nas X: “MONTERO (call me by your name)”
The Weeknd: “Save Your Tears”
Artist of the year
Ariana Grande
Doja Cat
Justin Bieber
Megan Thee stallion
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
Song of the year
24kGoldn: “Mood” [ft. iann dior]
BTS: “Dynamite”
Cardi B: “WAP” [ft. Megan Thee Stallion]
Dua Lipa: “Levitating”
Olivia Rodrigo: “Driver’s License”
Silk Sonic: “Leave the door open”
Best New Artist, Presented by Facebook
24k gold
Giveon
The child LAROI
Olivia Rodrigo
Polo G
Saweetie
PUSH performance of the year
September 2020: Wallows – “Are you bored yet?”
October 2020: Ashnikko – “Daisies”
November 2020: SAINt JHN – “Beautiful”
December 2020: 24kGoldn – “Coco”
January 2021: JC Stewart – “Break My Heart”
February 2021: Latto – “Sex Lies”
March 2021: Madison Beer – “selfish”
April 2021: The Kid LAROI – “WITHOUT YOU”
May 2021: Olivia Rodrigo – “Driver’s License”
June 2021: girl in red – “Serotonin”
July 2021: Fousheé – “my slime”
August 2021: jxdn – “Think of me”
Best cooperation
24kGoldn: “Mood” [ft. iann dior]
Cardi B: “WAP” [ft. Megan Thee Stallion]
Doja Cat: “Kiss me more” [ft. SZA]
Drake: “Laugh now, cry later” [ft. Lil Durk]
Justin Bieber: “Peaches” [ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon]
Miley Cyrus: “Prisoner” [ft. Dua Lipa]
Best pop
Ariana Grande: “Positions”
Billie Eilish: “That’s why I am”
BTS: “Butter”
Harry Styles: “Treat people with kindness”
Justin Bieber: “Peaches” [ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon]
Olivia Rodrigo: “good 4 u”
Shawn Mendes: “Miracles”
Taylor Swift: “Willow”
Best hip hop
Cardi B: “WAP” [ft. Megan Thee Stallion]
Drake: “Laugh now, cry later” [ft. Lil Durk]
Lil Baby: “On me (remix)” [ft. Megan Thee Stallion]
Moneybagg Yo: “Said Sum”
Polo G: “RAPSTAR”
Travis Scott: “FRANCHISE” [ft. Young Thug & M.I.A.]
Best rock
Evanescence: “Use my voice”
Foo Fighters: “Shame Shame”
John Mayer: “Last train home”
The killers: “The warning of my own soul”
Kings of Leon: “The Bandit”
Lenny Kravitz: “Increase Vibration”
Best alternative
Bleacher: “Stop hurting this”
Glass animals: “heat waves”
Imagine dragons: “Follow you”
Machine Gun Kelly: “My Ex’s Best Friend” [ft. blackbear]
twenty-one pilots: “Shy Away”
WILLOW: “transparent soul” [ft. Travis Barker]
Best Latin
Bad Bunny / Jhay Cortez: “Dákiti”
Billie Eilish / Rosalía: “You will forget it”
Black Eyed Peas / Shakira: “GIRL LIKE ME”
J Balvin / Dua Lipa / Bad Bunny / Tainy: “UN DIA (ONE DAY)”
Karol G: “Bichota”
Maluma: “Hawaii”
Best R&B
Beyoncé / Blue Ivy / SAINt JHN / WizKid: “BROWN SKIN GIRL”
Chris Brown / Young Thug: “Get Crazy”
Giveon: “Heartbreak Anniversary”
SHE: “Come through” [ft. Chris Brown]
Silk Sonic: “Leave the door open”
SZA: “Good days”
Best K-Pop
(G) I-DLE: “DUMDi DUMDi”
BLACKPINK / Selena Gomez: “Ice Cream”
BTS: “Butter”
Monsta X: “Player”
SEVENTEEN: “Ready to Love”
TWICE: “Alcohol-free”
Video for the better
Billie Eilish: “Your Power”
Demi Lovato: “Dancing with the Devil”
SHE: “Fight for you”
Kane Brown: “Beautiful all over the world”
Lil Nas X: “MONTERO (call me by your name)”
Pharrell Williams: “Entrepreneur” [ft. JAY-Z]
Best direction
Billie Eilish: “Your Power” (Directed by Billie Eilish)
DJ Khaled ft. Drake: “POPSTAR” (Director X)
Lil Nas X: “MONTERO (call me by your name)” (Red. Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino)
Taylor Swift: “Willow” (R. Taylor Swift)
Travis Scott ft. Young Thug & MIA: “Franchise” (Directed by Travis Scott)
Tyler, the creator: “LUMBERJACK” (R. Wolf Haley)
Best camera
Beyoncé / Blue Ivy / SAINt JHN / WizKid: “BROWN SKIN GIRL” (Camera: Benoit Soler, Malik H. Sayeed, MOHAMMAED ATTA AHMED, Santiago Gonzalez, Ryan Helfant)
Billie Eilish: “That’s what I am for” (camera: Rob Witt)
Foo Fighters: “Shame Shame” (Cinema: Santiago Gonzalez)
Justin Bieber ft. Chance The Rapper: “Holy” (Camera: Elias Talbot)
Lady Gaga: “911” (Camera: Jeff Cronenweth)
Lorde: “Solar Power” (Camera: Andrew Stroud)
Best art direction
Beyoncé / Shatta Wale / Major Lazer: “ALREADY” (Art Direction: Susan Linns, Gerard Santos)
Ed Sheeran: “Bad Habits” (Art Direction: Alison Dominitz)
Lady Gaga: “911” (Art Direction: Tom Foden, Peter Andrus)
Lil Nas X: “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” (Art Direction: John Richoux)
Saweetie ft. Doja Cat: “Best Friend” (Art Direction: Art Haynes)
Taylor Swift: “Willow” (Art Direction: Ethan Tobman, Regina Fernandez)
Best visual effects
Bella Poarch: “Build A Bitch” (visual effects: Andrew Donoho, Denhov Visuals, Denis Strahhov, Rein Jakobson, Vahur Kuusk, Tatjana Pavlik, Yekaterina Vetrova)
Coldplay: “Higher Power” (visual effects: math)
Doja Cat & The Weeknd: “You Right” (visual effects: La Pac, Anthony Lestremau, Julien Missaire, Petr Shkolniy, Alexi Bailla, Micha Sher, Antoine Hache, Mikros MPC, Nicolas Huget, Guillaume Ho Tsong Fang, Benjamin Lenfant, Stephane Pivron, MPC Bangalore, Chanakya Chander, Raju Ganesh, David Rouxel)
Glass animals: “Tangerine” (visual effects: Ronan Fourreau)
Lil Nas X: “MONTERO (call me by your name)” (visual effects: math)
P! NK: “Everything I know so far” (visual effects: Dave Meyers, Freenjoy Inc)
Best choreography
Ariana Grande: “34 + 35” (Choreography: Brian Nicholson & Scott Nicholson)
BTS: “Butter” (Choreography: SON SUNG DEUK with BHM PERFORMANCE DIRECTING TEAM)
Ed Sheeran: “Bad Habits” (Choreography: Natricia Bernard)
Foo Fighters: “Shame Shame” (Choreography: Nina McNeely)
Harry Styles: “Treat people with kindness” (Choreography: Paul Roberts)
Marshmello & Halsey: “Be Kind” (Choreography: Dani Vitale)
Best processing
BTS: “Butter” (arrangement: Yong Seok Choi von Lumpens)
Drake: “What’s next” (Editor: Noah Kendal)
Harry Styles: “Treat people with kindness” (Editor: Claudia Wass)
Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon: “Peaches” (Editing: Mark Mayr, Vinnie Hobbs)
Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa: “Prisoner” (Editor: William Town at Modern Post)
Silk Sonic: “Leave the Door Open” (Editing: Troy Charbonnet)
