Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Ayra Starr’s Rush, Davido’s UNAVAILABLE, Rema’s Calm Down nominated in new category for Best Afrobeats 2023.
VMA nominees for Best Afrobeats:
Rush
It’s Plenty
UNAVAILABLE
Bandana
People
Calm Down
2 Sugar
Swift led all nominees this year with eight, while SZA picked up six, and Doja Cat earned five, as did Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sam Smith. All of these artists will compete in the Video of the Year category, which comprises: Doja Cat’s “Attention,” Cyrus’ “Flowers,” Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl,” Rodrigo’s “Vampire,” Smith and Petras’ “Unholy,” SZA’s “Kill Bill,” and Swift’s “Anti-Hero.”
VMA nominees for Song of the Year:
Flowers
vampire
Calm Down
Unholy
Bad Habit
Kill Bill
Anti-Hero
The MTV Video Music Awards are adding a new category this year – best Afrobeats. The Grammys are adding a similar category, best African music performance, this year (for the awards that will be presented on Feb. 4, 2024). The American Music Awards were the first major music awards show to add such a category. They added favorite Afrobeats artist at the show that aired on Nov. 20, 2022. Wizkid was the inaugural winner, beating Burna Boy, CKay, Fireboy DML and Tems.
VMA nominees for Best Collaboration:
David Guetta & Bebe Rexha
Post Malone & Doja Cat
Diddy, Bryson Tiller, Ashanti and Yung Miami
Karol G and Shakira
Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, 21 Savage and Diddy
Rema and Selena Gomez
Several of those tracks are also up for another top VMA prize, Song of the Year: Cyrus’ “Flowers,” Rodrigo’s “Vampire,” Smith and Petras’ “Unholy,” SZA’s “Kill Bill,” and Swift’s “Anti-Hero”; they’ll also compete against Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” and Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down.” Swift, Doja Cat, and Minaj are also nominated for Artist of the Year, where they’ll compete against Karol G, Shakira, and Beyoncé.
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.”
