The lights went up, and we were all, “Yas, Nicki, Yasssss.” Clad in red sparkes and feathers, Nicki Minaj and her island-centric dancers slayed (and by bringing out Taylor Swift, she officially put to rest any rumors of bad blood between the two superstars).
We wish we could be as cool as The Weeknd. The “Can’t Feel My Face” singer and his signature ‘do strutted out on stage and immediately jumped into his hit song (along with some ultra smooth dance moves and some hot pyrotechnics). This was one performance that we didn’t want to end.
Yes, Nicki slayed, but honestly, we could take our eyes off of her dancers. What do you expect when there are shirtless, sexy men werking on stage? Hel-lo, eye candy!
Black Twitter’s eyebrows collectively raised when actress Rebel Wilson took the stage to present the award for best hip-hop video. Donning a police uniform, she immediately began talking about how a lot of people have had problems with cops in recent months… before going on to say that she has been disappointed by police strippers.
As she ripped off her shirt to reveal a “F— Tha Stripper Police” shirt, we were left trying to figure out if she had just made light of the Black Lives Matter movement. Definitley felt like it.
After being snubbed for music video of the year, Nicki Minaj snagged Video of the Year for her hit song “Anaconda.” Upon accepting the award, she had a few choice words for VMAs host Miley Cyrus, who called Nicki “rude” and “not polite” last week. “And now, back to this b—- that had a lot to say about me that other day in the press. Miley, what’s good?” Nicki said. Miley messed with the wrong boss chick!
Looking chicer than ever, Jussie Smollett and Serayah came on stage with a purpose. The two praised the landmark same-sex marriage victory, but also reminded people that people everywhere are still fighting for human rights, specifically mentioning #BlackLivesMatter. As if we needed more reasons to love them.
It’s no secret that Kanye West thinks outside the box. Former foe Taylor Swift presented Yeezy with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award recognizing his iconic music videos and overall brilliance.
Following a one-minute standing ovation, Kanye managed to advocate for the kids, apologize to Taylor Swift and shade both MTV and other musicians during a 10-minute rant. Oh, and he concluded his “speech” by declaring that he would be running for president in 2020. Huh? We’re still trying to parse through his message.
After Kanye’s, um, moment, we needed something to pull us back down to earth, and Pharrell’s performance was exactly that. The musical genius put on a lively performance of “Freedom” that got the crowds cheering and got us on our feet.
MTV, please take note: A commercial advertising an agency that offers White stand-ins to minorities isn’t exactly funny. Racial profiling and White privilege might be a joke to you, but it’s something we live with on a daily basis. Just check out all the angry tweets from Black Twitter, and we think you’ll understand.
Ice Cube and his rising star son O’Shea Jackson Jr. left Compton and came straight to the VMAs. The father-son duo presented the final award of the night—Video of the Year—to Taylor Swift. Taylor might’ve taken home the award, but Ice Cube and O’Shea stole the spotlight!
