MTV set the stage on Tuesday (Sep. 12) for an iconic night that would see many firsts for its Video Music Awards show.
MTV’s moon man had a looming presence over the Prudential Center in New Jersey, adorning the stage and the pink carpet that was graced by too many legends to name.
One of those legends, Shakira, made history as the first South American artist to receive the Video Vanguard Award, adding her name to a list of winners that includes Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, and Rihanna. But, Shakira wouldn’t be the first to make history that day.
For the first time ever the VMA’s doled out a Best Afrobeats Award, which was won by Rema for his song Calm Down featuring Selena Gomez. The song has over one billion plays on Spotify and is the Nigerian artist’s most popular song to date.
It was also a big night for hip-hop artists with the VMA’s honoring its 50th anniversary by highlighting the genre’s societal, cultural, and musical impact across the world. Many hip-hop artists also took home awards. Ice Spice won the Best New Artist award, Diddy received the Global Icon Award, and Nicki Minaj took home the Best Hip-Hop Video Award.
The celebration of hip-hop reached a crescendo with an anthological performance from Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, DMC, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and LL Cool J that transitioned between early rap songs like The Message to modern hits like Itty Bitty Piggy.
And the history-making kept going.
Peso Pluma became the first Música Mexicana artist to perform at the show. Pluma’s band circled him on stage as the singer comfortably performed his Regional Mexican hit Lady Gaga from his album Genesis.
It was also a historical night for K-pop, with Blackpink becoming the second all-girl group in VMA history to win the Group of the Year award succeeding TLC.
Finally, Taylor Swift inched closer to Beyoncé’s record of 26 VMA awards by claiming nine moon man trophies, the most ever in one night. Awards received by Swift included Video of the Year and Song of the Year.
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