The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards have added a slew of new performers. After previously announcing Demi Lovato, Karol G, Måneskin and Stray Kids, today, the show announced Anitta, Doja Cat, Kelsea Ballerini, Lil Wayne, and TOMORROW X TOGETHER — all of whom are also nominated for awards, except for Ballerini, whose birthday is the night of the show. The show is scheduled to air live from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Tuesday, September 12 at 8 pm ET/PT.
The nominees for this year’s awards include Blackpink, Diddy, Doja Cat, Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, Sam Smith, Shakira, SZA, and Taylor Swift. Swift leads all nominees this year with eight selections for Video Of The Year, Artist Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Pop, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Editing. SZA is right on her heels with six, for Video Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best R&B, Best Direction, Best Art Direction, and Best Editing.
Shakira will also be the sixth consecutive woman to be honored with a Video Vanguard Award. The most recent winners include Nicki Minaj, Missy Elliott, Jennifer Lopez, Pink, and Rihanna.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
She’s in the thick of mainstream mayhem, and Anitta is regretting her record deal. Every so often, artists hop on social media to unleash their ire with their labels. It’s becoming a regular occurrence these days, and Brazilian hitmaker Anitta is the latest to air out a few grievances. Since first emerging around 2010, the singer has been hard at work, developing her career on global stages. She’s more recently earned success in the U.S., partnering with peers like Missy Elliott, Miley Cyrus, and Jack Harlow.
As Anitta’s star continues to rise and demand for her talents is unending, she recently took to Twitter with complaints about Warner Music. A fan said they hoped Anitta would leave her label and add her voice to a space that appreciated her. She responded pointedly and didn’t mince words about being unhappy with her contract.
Anitta Wants Out
In a loose translation provided by Google, Anitta made her voice evident. “My love, if I had a fine to pay, I would have already auctioned off my organs,” she replied. “No matter how expensive it was to get out. But unfortunately it doesn’t. When you’re young and still don’t know much, you have to pay close attention to the things you sign… if you can’t spend a lifetime paying for the mistake.”
Billboard reached out to Warner Music for comment on Anitta’s remarks, but they declined to make a statement. “Leila Oliveira, Warner Music Brazil’s new president, did not respond to a message from Billboard,” the outlet further shared. “Brandon Silverstein, Anitta’s U.S.-based manager, also did not respond to a request for comment.”
A Timeline To The End Of Her Music Career
Anitta may be a hitmaker with many more successful years, but she’s already mapping out her retirement. She closed out January by telling Billboard that she only has another five or six years in the music industry before she’s done. “For sure, definitely,” she said, adding that she’s ready for “change, challenges and trying new things.” The singer also emphasized excitement about moving forward with her acting career. The publication noted that she has already begun considering several feature film offers.
It’s no secret that the Recording Academy has faced a diversity problem for many years. This time around, they’ve made some intentional inclusive strides. This year, they invited about “2,000 diverse music creators and professionals” into the voting process — according to CEO Harvey Mason Jr. — nearly half of whom are under the age of 40. Another key change the Recording Academy has made to the Grammys is expanding their major categories to include ten nominees. That’s double the number of nominees they had four years ago, allowing musicians of many different genres to earn much-deserved recognition.
That means there are ten artists up for the coveted Best New Artist trophy in 2023, and Spotify’s Best New Artist showcase placed the category’s diversity on full display. The event brought all ten artists to the stage — Anitta, Omar Apollo, Domi & JD Beck, Muni Long, Samara Joy, Latto, Måneskin, Tobe Nwigwe, Molly Tuttle, and Wet Leg — at Los Angeles’ Pacific Design Center on Thursday, February 2nd. Each musician was able to give the audience a taste of their talent, and each performance was wildly different from the last.
The night kicked off with an intimate set from Domi & DJ Beck. The young duo, who are 22 and 19 respectively, juxtaposed their smooth, jazz-leaning sound with their brightly colored personal style. Samara Joy kept the loungey jazz going by showing off her entrancing vocals and putting her own unique spin on a cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You.” Americana folk rocker Molly Tuttle wow’d with her hit track “Crooked Trees,” joined by an adept banjo player and an upright bass guitarist. Tobe Nwigwe and his entourage made clever use of the stage by dressing in matching mint green outfits and enticing the crowd to harmonize before Omar Apollo similarly led a tender sing-along to his soulful number “Evergreen.”
When it came time for overseas rock, Måneskin and indie rock favorites Wet Leg did not disappoint. Italian Eurovision Song Contest winners Måneskin exuded the cool factor, making the audience forget they were in a small venue and not witnessing a stadium tour. Wet Leg closed out the night in a similar fashion, hyping up the crowd with a rendition of “Chaise Longe” that inspired a small-but-mighty mosh pit.
Spotify’s event also allowed attendees to see how a handful of the Best New Artist nominees aren’t just musicians, they’re seasoned performers. Anitta, Muni Long, and Latto made use of the entire stage with a crew of talented backup dancers. Long, a Def Jam signee whose track “Hrs & Hrs” had viral stint on TikTok, brought four male dancers to the stage to deliver moves reminiscent of the ’90s boyband era. Anitta also brought the energy. Though the Brazilian pop star is used to gracing massive festival stages across the world, she still managed to deliver a show-stopping performance to the (relatively) small crowd with tracks like “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Envolver.”
From rap and Latin pop to bluegrass, jazz, and stadium rock, the 2023 Best New Artist category is nothing if not varied in sound. And no matter who ends up taking home the category’s trophy on Sunday, Spotify’s Best New Artist party made one thing clear: The Recording Academy is making an effort celebrate music from all genres equally.
The biggest event in music, the 2023 Grammy Awards, is just days away. But, before host Trevor Noah takes the main stage on February 5, leading up to the ceremony across the city of Los Angeles, this year’s nominees will be celebrated at smaller Grammy Week events. So, as music heavyweights and fans patiently wait to see if Beyoncé breaks another Recording Academy record at this year’s event, first-time nominees are excited to be welcomed into the fold.
For the first time since 2020, streaming giant Spotify hosted its annual event yesterday (February 2) at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood to highlight the musicians nominated in this year’s Best New Artist category. According to USA Today, during the over four-hour event, all 10 of the musicians (Anitta, Domi & JD Beck, Latto, Måneskin, Molly Tuttle, Muni Long, Omar Apollo, Samara Joy, Tobe Nwigwe, and Wet Leg) competing in the category performed.
While the event was not broadcasted, attendees shared clips of some of the performances across social media. Several fan pages uploaded Latto’s performance. Two songs featured in Latto’s set included “Big Energy (Remix),” which is nominated for best melodic rap performance as well as “It’s Givin’.”
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. The ceremony will be broadcasted live on the CBS Television Network and streamed live and on-demand on Paramount+. Find the complete list of 2023 nominees here.
We are now just days away from the 2023 Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 5. (Here’s how to watch the show, in case you didn’t know, and here’s the full list of this year’s nominees.) The Recording Academy’s picks for who is going to win what awards are in, and all that’s left to do is wait and see who will be cement themselves in music history and take a golden gramophone trophy home.
Actually, there’s another thing left to do, not a requirement but a fun thought exercise: make picks for who the Academy has likely chosen for the four major awards (Best New Artist, Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year) and who we think should win them.
Make your own selections if you’d like, but if you wouldn’t mind hearing another perspective before you do, I’ve come up with some predictions and opinions. It wasn’t easy, because New Artist, Song, Record, and Album categories are stacked this year; A lot of new artists made an immediate impact on the music landscape, a number of songs are already being hailed as classics, and some albums on this year’s list are all-timers (at least one is if you ask Questlove, anyway).
So, before the 2023 Grammys officially kick off, let’s take a look at who probably will win the big four awards and who probably should get them.
Best New Artist
Anitta
Domi & JD Beck
Latto
Måneskin
Molly Tuttle
Muni Long
Omar Apollo
Samara Joy
Tobe Nwigwe
Wet Leg
Who will win: Anitta
Who should win: Anitta
Really, it’s hard to call Anitta new. It’s been nearly a decade since the Brazilian superstar released her 2013 self-titled debut album, which went No. 1 in her home country. In recent times, though, she has profoundly broken out on a broader international level. Her 2022 album Versions Of Me was her first on Warner (previous releases came out via Warner Music Brasil) and its biggest single, “Envolver,” was a global hit: It’s her first solo track to place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (after the Cardi B and Myke Towers collab “Me Gusta” in 2020), it became a TikTok sensation, and it was the first song by a Brazilian artist to rank No. 1 on the daily Spotify Global Chart. Between all that and other viral moments, Anitta is currently the best version of herself and is only getting better. While the crop of Best New Artist nominees is strong, none of the others have yet reached Anitta-level success.
Song Of The Year
Adele — “Easy On Me”
Beyoncé — “Break My Soul”
Bonnie Raitt — “Just Like That”
DJ Khaled — “God Did” Feat. Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend, and Fridayy
Gayle — “ABCDEFU”
Harry Styles — “As It Was”
Kendrick Lamar — “The Heart Part 5”
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Steve Lacy — “Bad Habit”
Taylor Swift — “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”
Who will win: Adele — “Easy On Me”
Who should win: Taylor Swift — “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”
The new expanded version of “All Too Well” quickly became one of the most storied songs in Swift’s discography, an oeuvre that has not been wanting of praise. Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield proclaimed the tune “sums up Swift at her absolute best,” and in the age of allegedly waning attention spans, fans have streamed the lengthy song over 450 million times on Spotify and made it the longest No. 1 song in Billboard Hot 100 history. There’s a problem, though: The Grammys honor new music (relatively new, anyway; “ABCDEFU” came out in August 2021). “All Too Well,” which originates from 2012’s Red, isn’t exactly a brand new track. That may dissuade Grammy voters from giving it the trophy, but it also wouldn’t be a crime if Adele’s “Easy On Me,” another powerfully evocative former No. 1 single, ended up winning. Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” is also worth noting here, as it’s far from a pop tune but has nonetheless had pop tune success and acclaim.
Record Of The Year
ABBA — “Don’t Shut Me Down”
Adele — “Easy On Me”
Beyoncé — “Break My Soul”
Brandi Carlile Featuring Lucius — “You And Me On The Rock”
Doja Cat — “Woman”
Harry Styles — “As It Was”
Kendrick Lamar — “The Heart Part 5”
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Mary J. Blige — “Good Morning Gorgeous”
Steve Lacy — “Bad Habit”
Who will win: Adele — “Easy On Me”
Who should win: Harry Styles — “As It Was”
First, an important note: The Recording Academy previously explained, “Record Of The Year deals with a specific recording of a song and recognizes the artists, producers and engineers who contribute to that recording, while Song Of The Year deals with the composition of a song and recognizes the songwriters who wrote the song.”
So, broadly, Song is about songwriting and Record is about the finished recording. That said, Harry Styles’ “As It Was” is a gorgeously executed recording deserving of the Record Of The Year title. At its core, it’s a summery pop-rock song that sounds a lot like some beach-faring indie music from years back. But, that aesthetic has been revived and refreshed just enough for modern day, yielding a tune that sounds warmly and breezily nostalgic while also slotting nicely into the current pop landscape. Headphone listeners are rewarded with the one, too, as there are a lot of production treats and intricacies that are hard to appreciate on an iPhone speaker but that give the song new dimension when you pay attention to them. The results really speak for themselves: “As It Was” is the longest-running No. 1 song by a solo artist in Hot 100 history and it appears not too long from now, it’ll become the first song from 2022 to eclipse 2 billion Spotify streams.
Album Of The Year
ABBA — Voyage
Adele — 30
Bad Bunny — Un Verano Sin Ti
Beyoncé — Renaissance
Brandi Carlile — In These Silent Days
Coldplay — Music Of The Spheres
Harry Styles — Harry’s House
Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
Lizzo — Special
Mary J. Blige — Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe)
Who will win: Adele — 30
Who should win: Beyoncé — Renaissance
Like many Grammy categories, pitting the nominees against each other is like comparing apples and oranges… and hammers and beach balls and secret family recipes. By what metrics do you measure products as wildly different as Album Of The Year nominees from Brandi Carlile, Adele, Coldplay, and Kendrick Lamar when they’re all up for the same award? It’s a task so impossible, it’s a wonder the Recording Academy is able to come to a decision at all year after year.
Annually, though, they do come up with a pick, one that makes fans mad regardless of who won. However, Beyoncé’s Renaissance would be a hard (but not impossible, as haters will prove should the album win) pick to hate, no matter your disposition. The LP has elements of dance, house, disco, pop, R&B, and probably dozens of other musical styles too numerous to mention here, all delivered by the incomparably confident, capable, and charismatic Beyoncé. Even putting her star power aside, Renaissance is a spectrum-spanning album that is full of mind-blowing musical moments. Here’s something that’s hard to make an argument against: Renaissance defined music in 2022 (and more importantly, during this year’s eligibility window from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022). That sounds like the Album Of The Year to me.
It looks like there’s a collaboration between Chlöe and Anitta on the way. Over the weekend, Chlöe was spotted filming a music video with the Brazilian superstar in Rio de Janeiro.
In May, Anitta revealed that she shared a group chat with Chlöe and Camila Cabello. In October, Anitta and Chlöe referred to each other as “sisters” in their Instagram stories. Now it looks like their close friendship is leading to a collaboration.
This past week, Anitta was filming a video for a new song in Rio de Janeiro. During the shoot, Anitta was wearing an outfit that read “Furacão 2000,” or “Hurricane 2000,” on her chest and her derrière. The shoot went viral when Anitta was filmed simulating oral sex in one of the video’s scenes. She is known for not being afraid to push buttons and boundaries with her music. Videos and photos later surfaced of Chlöe partying with Anitta at the shoot.
Earlier this month, Anitta said that she was working on a funk carioca, or Brazilian funk, album. This video could be from that upcoming project. DJ Gabriel do Borel, who has worked with Rosalía, was present at the video shoot as well. Rosalía played his Brazilian funk banger “Sento No Bico Da Glock” during her Louis Vuitton set at Paris Fashion Week.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Brazilian pop superstar Anitta continues to celebrate ‘Anitta August’ with the release of the deluxe edition of her Versions of Me album via Warner Records. The project features the 15 original tracks from the Versions of Me LP released earlier this year, along with five new tracks.
Featuring a star-studded line-up of collaborators including Missy Elliott, Maluma, A$AP Ferg, Nicky Jam, HARV, L7NNON, Maffio, MC Pedrinho, Pedro Sampaio and Dadju.
The deluxe edition follows Anitta setting the stage and sharing a string of videos, the sizzling “Gata,” followed by the steamy “El Que Espera” featuring Maluma.
Last week, Anitta released the highly anticipated “Lobby” featuring Missy Elliott, which has already amassed over 16 million views on Youtube.
See the full tracklisting and stream Versions of Me, deluxe edition below.
“Lobby” – Anitta & Missy Elliott
“El Que Espera” – Anitta, Maluma
“Yo No Se (feat. L7NNON & Maffio)” – Anitta
“Practice (feat. A$AP Ferg & HARV)” – Anitta
“DANÇARINA (feat. Nicky Jam, MC Pedrinho) [Remix]” – PEDRO SAMPAIO, Anitta, Dadju
“Envolver” – Anitta
“Gata (feat. Chencho Corleone)” – Anitta
“I’d Rather Have Sex” – Anitta
“Gimme Your Number” – Anitta x Ty Dolla $ign
“Maria Elegante (feat. Afro B)” – Anitta
“Love You” – Anitta
“Boys Don’t Cry” – Anitta
“Versions of Me” – Anitta
“Turn It Up” – Anitta
“Ur Baby (feat. Khalid)” – Anitta
“Girl From Rio” – Anitta
“Faking Love (feat. Saweetie)” – Anitta
“Que Rabão (feat. Mr. Catra)” – Anitta, YG, Papatinho, MC Kevin o Chris
“Me Gusta (with Cardi B & Myke Towers)” – Anitta
“Love Me, Love Me” – Anitta
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Anitta’s August comes to a close with a historic victory for the Brazilian worldwide pop sensation, who won last night’s MTV Video Music Awards “Best Latin” category and the moon person. As the “first Brazilian to win for a solo project in the history of the VMAs,” Anitta continues to make history with this achievement.
Anitta, who made her VMA broadcast performance debut with “Envolver,” the song that earned her a historic nomination, delivered an exhilarating performance after the victory.
Following the release of the Deluxe Edition of her critically acclaimed album Versions of Me by Warner Records, she earned this ground-breaking victory and gave a jaw-dropping performance. The album includes five new tracks in addition to the 15 original songs from the Versions of Me album, which was released earlier this year. A stellar cast of collaborators on the album includes Missy Elliott, Maluma, A$AP Ferg, Nicky Jam, HARV, L7NNON, Maffio, MC Pedrinho, Pedro Sampaio, and Dadju.