As the end of the summer approaches, so does VMA season. The 2021 MTV Music Video Awards has officially been announced for Sunday, September 12, and unlike last year’s virtual VMAs, the award show will once again be held in person at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
To get viewers ready for this year’s ceremony, MTV has also unveiled its full list of 2021 VMA nominees.
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According to Complex, Justin Bieber leads this year’s class of VMA nominees with an impressive total of seven nominations, including Artist of the Year and several nods for his Justice standout cuts “Holy” and “Peaches.” Right behind Justin Bieber is Megan Thee Stallion, as the Good News artist looks to increase her moon person trophy collection and with six new nominations. According to Complex, Drake, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, BTS, Doja Cat, and Giveon have all secured five nods apiece.
In addition to the aforementioned artists, there is one artist who is noticeably absent from the VMA nominees this year — DaBaby. His popular collaboration with Dua Lipa is in fact nominated for Song of the Year, but the Charlotte, North Carolina artist’s name isn’t attached to the nomination at all. Despite DaBaby’s exclusion from the field of nominees, several other artists like SZA, Lil Baby, and Moneybagg Yo will still have a chance to take home one of the newly designed MTV VMA moon person trophies.
See the complete list of 2021 MTV VMAs nominees below:
Video of the Year
Cardi B f/ Megan Thee Stallion “WAP”
DJ Khaled f/ Drake “Popstar”
Doja Cat f/ SZA “Kiss Me More”
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 f/ Iann Dior “Mood”
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak “Leave the Door Open”
BTS “Dynamite”
Cardi B f/ Megan Thee Stallion “WAP”
Dua Lipa “Levitating”
Olivia Rodrigo “Drivers License”
Best New Artist
24kGoldn
Givēon
The Kid Laroi
Olivia Rodrigo
Polo G
Saweetie
Best Collaboration
24kGoldn f/ Iann Dior “Mood”
Cardi B f/ Megan Thee Stallion “WAP”
Doja Cat f/ SZA “Kiss Me More”
Drake f/ Lil Durk “Laugh Now Cry Later”
Justin Bieber f/ Daniel Caesar and Givēon “Peaches”
Miley Cyrus f/ Dua Lipa “Prisoner”
Best Hip-Hop
Cardi B f/ Megan Thee Stallion “WAP”
Drake f/ Lil Durk “Laugh Now Cry Later”
Lil Baby f/ Megan Thee Stallion “On Me (Remix)”
Moneybagg Yo “Said Sum”
Polo G “Rapstar”
Travis Scott f/ Young Thug and M.I.A. “Franchise”
Best Pop
Ariana Grande “Positions”
Billie Eilish “Therefore I Am”
BTS “Butter”
Harry Styles “Treat People With Kindness”
Justin Bieber f/ Daniel Caesar and Givēon “Peaches”
Olivia Rodrigo “Good 4 U”
Shawn Mendes “Wonder”
Taylor Swift “Willow”
Best R&B
Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN and WizKid “Brown Skin Girl”
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak “Leave the Door Open”
Chris Brown and Young Thug “Go Crazy”
Givēon “Heartbreak Anniversary”
H.E.R. f/ Chris Brown “Come Through”
SZA “Good Days”
Best Latin
Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez “Dákiti”
Billie Eilish and Rosalía “Lo Vas A Olvidar”
Black Eyed Peas and Shakira “Girl Like Me”
J. Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny and Tainy “Un Dia (One Day)”
Karol G “Bichota”
Maluma “Hawái”
Best Rock
Evanescence “Use My Voice”
Foo Fighters “Shame Shame”
John Mayer “Last Train Home”
The Killers “My Own Soul’s Warning”
Kings Of Leon “The Bandit”
Lenny Kravitz “Raise Vibration”
Best Alternative
Bleachers “Stop Making This Hurt”
Glass Animals “Heat Waves”
Imagine Dragons “Follow You”
Machine Gun Kelly f/ Blackbear “My Ex’s Best Friend”
Twenty One Pilots “Shy Away”
Willow f/ Travis Barker “Transparent Soul”
Best K-Pop
(G)I-dle “DUMDi DUMDi”
Blackpink and Selena Gomez “Ice Cream”
BTS “Butter”
Monsta X “Gambler”
Seventeen “Ready to Love”
Twice “Alcohol-Free”
Best Direction
Billie Eilish “Your Power” (Directed by Billie Eilish)
DJ Khaled f/ Drake “Popstar” (Directed by Director X)
Lil Nas X “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” (Directed by Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino)
Taylor Swift “Willow” (Directed by Taylor Swift)
Travis Scott f/ Young Thug and M.I.A “Franchise” (Directed by Travis Scott)
Tyler, The Creator “Lumberjack” (Directed by Wolf Haley)
Best Cinematography
Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN and WizKid “Brown Skin Girl” (Cinematography by Benoit Soler, Malik H. Sayeed, Muhammad Atta Ahmed, Santiago Gonzalez, and Ryan Helfant)
Billie Eilish “Therefore I Am” (Cinematography by Rob Witt)
Foo Fighters “Shame Shame” (Cinematography by Santiago Gonzalez)
Justin Bieber f/ Chance the Rapper “Holy” (Cinematography by Elias Talbot)
Lady Gaga “911” (Cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth)
Lorde “Solar Power” (Cinematography by Andrew Stroud)
Best Art Direction
Beyoncé, Shatta Wale, and Major Lazer – “Already” (Art direction by Susan Linns and Gerard Santos)
Ed Sheeran “Bad Habits” (Art direction by Alison Dominitz)
Lady Gaga “911” (Art direction by Tom Foden and Peter Andrus)
Lil Nas X “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” (Art direction by John Richoux)
Saweetie f/ Doja Cat “Best Friend” (Art direction by Art Haynes)
Taylor Swift “Willow” (Art direction by Ethan Tobman and Regina Fernandez)
Best Visual Effects
Bella Poarch “Build a Bitch” (Visual effects by Andrew Donoho, Denhov Visuals, Denis Strahhov, Rein Jakobson, Vahur Kuusk, Tatjana Pavlik, and Yekaterina Vetrova)
Coldplay “Higher Power” (Visual effects by Mathematic)
Doja Cat and The Weeknd “You Right” (Visual effects by 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, and David Rouxel)
Glass Animals “Tangerine” (Visual effects by Ronan Fourreau)
Lil Nas X “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” (Visual effects by Mathematic)
Pink “All I Know So Far” (Visual effects by Dave Meyers and Freenjoy Inc)
Best Choreography
Ariana Grande “34+35” (Choreography by Brian Nicholson and Scott Nicholson)
BTS “Butter” (Choreography by Son Sung Deuk with BHM Performance directing team)
Ed Sheeran “Bad Habits” (Choreography by Natricia Bernard)
Foo Fighters “Shame Shame” (Choreography by Nina McNeely)
Harry Styles “Treat People With Kindness” (Choreography by Paul Roberts)
Marshmello and Halsey “Be Kind” (Choreography by Dani Vitale)
Best Editing
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak “Leave the Door Open” (Editing by Troy Charbonnet)
BTS “Butter” (Editing by Yong Seok Choi from Lumpens)
Drake “What’s Next” (Editing by Noah Kendal)
Harry Styles “Treat People With Kindness” (Editing by Claudia Wass)
Justin Bieber f/ Daniel Caesar and Givēon “Peaches” (Editing by Mark Mayr and Vinnie Hobbs)
Miley Cyrus f/ Dua Lipa “Prisoner” (Editing by William Town at Modern Post)
Video For Good
Billie Eilish “Your Power”
Demi Lovato “Dancing With the Devil”
H.E.R. “Fight for You”
Kane Brown “Worldwide Beautiful”
Lil Nas X “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
Pharrell Williams f/ Jay-Z “Entrepreneur”
Push Performance of the Year
Wallows “Are You Bored Yet?”
Ashnikko “Daisy”
SAINt JHN “Gorgeous”
24kGoldn “Coco”
JC Stewart “Break My Heart”
Latto “Sex Lies”
Madison Beer “Selfish”
The Kid Laroi “Without You”
Olivia Rodrigo “drivers license”
Girl in Red “Serotonin”
Fousheé “My Slime”
Jxdn “Think About Me”
Are there any artists who you think deserved to have been nominated for the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards? If so, let us know in the comments.
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