MTV Video Music Awards 2023
The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 12th, hosted by Nicki Minaj (She/Her). The three hour event featured many performances, including Olivia Rodrigo (She/Her), Doja Cat (She/Her), Nicki Minaj, Anitta (She/Her), Cardi B (She/Her) with Megan Thee Stallion (She/Her), and Shakira (She/Her).
Olivia Rodrigo’s performance was particularly note-worthy due to the controversy over whether the performance malfunction was on purpose. It ended up scaring some audience members and viewers. The stage malfunctions were confirmed to be a purposeful recreation of the singer’s music video for her single “Vampire”.
During Nicki Minaj’s performance, she previewed a never heard before song off her new album Pink Friday 2, which is scheduled to be released in November.
With this year being the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop, a dedicated performance to mark the occasion was performed by DMC (He/Him), Doug E. Fresh (He/Him), Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (He/Him), LL Cool J (He/Him), Slick Rick (He/Him), Lil Wayne (He/Him), and Nicki Minaj.
Many artists took home awards. The most awarded artist of the night was Taylor Swift (She/Her). The album Midnights and its lead single “Anti-hero” won 9 awards, including Best Pop presented to Taylor Swift by a reunited NSYNC.
Some other notable winners are Ice Spice (She/Her) for Best New Artist, Nicki Minaj for Best Hip Hop, and Shakira with Karol G (She/Her) for Best Collaboration.
Diddy (He/Him) was awarded the Global Icon Award after performing a medley of his songs with his son and many other guests from his long career.
The artist who was honored with the Video Vanguard Award this year was Shakira. The Video Vanguard Award is the VMA’s lifetime achievement award. With her highly successful 30 year career to support her honoring.
