This year’s Video Music Awards took place Wednesday evening, with a handful of starlets gracing the red carpet, all vying for MTV’s coveted moon person award. This year, Houston’s very own Megan Thee Stallion served as the mistress of ceremonies, for an evening that was filled with talent.
ESSENCE previously reported that Taylor Swift led in award nominations, and she managed to take home seven of the 10 categories she was nominated for. Megan took home two awards, for Art Direction for “BOA,” and Trending Video for “Mamushi.” SZA, who was tied with Megan with five nomination, won Best R&B Video for her hit song, “Snooze.”
The Best Hip-Hop category was seemingly snubbed, with Eminem as the winner for his song “Houdini.” The category included entries from Gunna, Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla, Travis Scott, and Drake. Similarly, in the Song Of The Year category, both Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar were snubbed, losing to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” song.
Lenny Kravitz won in the Best Rock category for “Human,” a song from his 12th album, Blue Electric Light. The award marks his second VMA win, following his first in 1993 for Best Male Video for “Are You Gonna Go My Way.”
Tyla, who was one of the few artists nominated for the VMA’s for the very first time, won in the Afrobeats category for her certified multi-platinum song, “Water.”
Elsewhere, the awards ceremony was filled with stunning performances, including GloRilla, LL Cool J, Flavor Fav and Chuck D and Kravitz, who performed alongside Quavo.
Plenty of Black stars showed up and showed out, too. Everyone from Ts Madison, Busta Rhymes, Coco Jones, and Shaboozey were in attendance.
Check out the full list of winners below. (Winners listed in bold)
Video Of The Year
Ariana Grande – “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”
Billie Eilish – “Lunch”
Doja Cat – “Paint The Town Red”
Eminem – “Houdini”
SZA – “Snooze”
Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – “Fortnight”
Artist Of The Year
Ariana Grande
Bad Bunny
Eminem
Sabrina Carpenter
SZA
Taylor Swift
Song Of The Year
Beyoncé – “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Jack Harlow – “Lovin On Me”
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso”
Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – “Fortnight”
Teddy Swims – “Lose Control”
Best New Artist
Benson Boone
Chappell Roan
Gracie Abrams
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims
Tyla
Best Collaboration
Drake ft. Sexyy Red & SZA – “Rich Baby Daddy “
GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion – “Wanna Be”
Jessie Murph ft. Jelly Roll – “Wild Ones”
Jung Kook ft. Latto – “Seven”
Post Malone ft. Morgan Wallen – “I Had Some Help”
Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – “Fortnight”
Best Pop
Camila Cabello
Dua Lipa
Olivia Rodrigo
Sabrina Carpenter
Tate McRae
Taylor Swift
Best Hip-Hop
Drake ft. Sexyy Red & SZA – “Rich Baby Daddy “
Eminem – “Houdini”
GloRilla – “Yeah Glo!”
Gunna – “Fukumean”
Megan Thee Stallion – “BOA”
Travis Scott ft. Playboi Carti – “FE!N”
Best R&B
Alicia Keys – “Lifeline”
Muni Long – “Made For Me”
SZA – “Snooze”
Tyla – “Water”
Usher, Summer Walker, 21 Savage – “Good Good” –
Victoria Monét – “On My Mama”
Best Alternative
Benson Boone – “Beautiful Things”
Bleachers – “Tiny Moves”
Hozier – “Too Sweet”
Imagine Dragons – “Eyes Closed”
Linkin Park – “Friendly Fire”
Teddy Swims – “Lose Control (Live)”
Best Rock
Bon Jovi – “Legendary”
Coldplay – “Feelslikeimfallinginlove”
Green Day – “Dilemma”
Kings of Leon – “Mustang”
Lenny Kravitz – “Human”
U2 – “Atomic City”
Best Latin
Anitta – “Mil Veces”
Bad Bunny – “Monaco”
Karol G – “Mi Ex Tenia Razon”
Myke Towers – “Lala”
Peso Pluma & Anitta – “Bellakeo”
Rauw Alejandro – “Touching the Sky”
Shakira & Cardi B – “Puntería”
Best Afrobeats
Ayra Starr ft. Giveon – “Last Heartbreak Song”
Burna Boy – “City Boys”
Chris Brown ft. Davido & Lojay – “Sensational”
Tems – “Love Me JeJe”
Tyla – “Water”
Usher, Pheelz – “Ruin”
Best K-POP
Jung Kook ft. Latto – “Seven”
Lisa – “Rockstar”
NCT Dream – “Smoothie”
NewJeans – “Super Shy”
Stray Kids – “Lalalala”
Tomorrow X Together – “Deja vu”
Video For Good
Alexander Stewart – “If You Only Knew”
Billie Eilish – “What Was I Made For (From the Motion Picture “Barbie”)”
Coldplay – “Feelslikeimfallinginlove”
Joyner Lucas & Jelly Roll – “Best for Me”
Raye – “Genesis”
Tyler Childers – “In Your Love”
Best Direction
Ariana Grande – “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” – Directed by Christian Breslauer
Bleachers – “Tiny Moves” – Directed by Alex Lockett & Margaret Qualley
Eminem – “Houdini” – Directed by Rich Lee
Megan Thee Stallion – “BOA” – Directed by Daniel Iglesias Jr.
Sabrina Carpenter – “Please Please Please” – Directed by Bardia Zeinali
Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Directed by Taylor Swift
Best Cinematography
Ariana Grande – “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” – Cinematography by Anatol Trofimov
Charli XCX – “Von Dutch” – Cinematography by Jeff Bierman
Dua Lipa – “Illusion” – Cinematography by Nikita Kuzmenko
Olivia Rodrigo – “Obsessed” – Cinematography by Marz Miller
Rauw Alejandro – “Touching the Sky” – Cinematography by Camilo Monsalve
Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto
Best Editing
Anitta – “Mil Veces” – Editing by Nick Yumul
Ariana Grande – “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” – Editing by Luis Caraza Peimbert
Eminem – “Houdini” – Editing by David Checel
Lisa – “Rockstar” – Editing by Nik Kohler
Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso” – Editing by Jai Shukla
Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Editing by Chancler Haynes
Best Choreography
Bleachers – “Tiny Moves” – Choreography by Margaret Qualley
Dua Lipa – “Houdini” – Choreography by Charm La’Donna
Lisa – “Rockstar” – Choreography by Sean Bankhead
Rauw Alejandro – “Touching the Sky” – Choreography by Felix ‘Fefe’ Burgos
Tate McRae – “Greedy” – Choreography by Sean Bankhead
Troye Sivan – “Rush” – Choreography by Sergio Reis, Mauro Van De Kerkhof
Best Visual Effects
Ariana Grande – “The Boy is Mine” – Visual Effects by Digital Axis
Eminem – “Houdini” – Visual Effects by Synapse Virtual Production, Louise Lee, Rich Lee, Metaphysic, Flawless Post
Justin Timberlake – “Selfish” – Visual Effects by Candice Dragonas
Megan Thee Stallion – “BOA” – Visual Effects by Mathematic
Olivia Rodrigo – “Get Him Back!” – Visual Effects by Cooper Vacheron, Preston Mohr, Karen Arakelian, Justin Johnson
Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Visual Effects by Parliament
Best Art Direction
Charli XCX – “360” – Art Direction by Grace Surnow
Lisa – “Rockstar” – Art Direction by Pongsan Thawatwichian
Megan Thee Stallion – “BOA” – Art Direction by Brittany Porter
Olivia Rodrigo – “Bad Idea Right?” – Art Direction by Nicholas des Jardins
Sabrina Carpenter – “Please Please Please” – Art Direction by Nicholas des Jardins
Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone – “Fortnight” – Art Direction by Ethan Tobman