The 2023 VMAs: Celebrating hip-hop, women and Taylor Swift

Nearly four million viewers tuned in across multiple platforms to watch this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, which aired on Tuesday, Sept. 12.

   The night, hosted by Nicki Minaj, began with performances by Lil Wayne and Olivia Rodrigo, who shocked viewers with staged technical malfunctions in her song “vampire.” Later, Doja Cat showed off her devilish new image with a performance of “Attention,” “Paint the Town Red” and “Demons,” surrounded by dancers in bloody body paint.

   Artists from all over the world, and across all genres, performed throughout the night. Demi Lovato, Måneskin and Fall Out Boy brought the rock vibes, while Karol G, Shakira and Anitta represented Latin America.

One of the biggest performances of the night marked 2023 as the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, which was first created at a house party in August 1973. The VMAs honored this anniversary with a ten-minute tribute featuring hip hop legends DMC, Doug E. Fresh, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, Slick Rick and Nicki Minaj. This medley spanned decades of hip-hop and hit classics like Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” and LL Cool J’s “I’m Bad.”

In her solo appearance, Minaj performed a soulful rendition of “Last Time I Saw You.” She surprised viewers by shedding her statuesque black cloak and finishing off with an exclusive preview of her upcoming album “Pink Friday 2,” saying it “wouldn’t be right” without it.

The show also featured two K-pop performances. Stray Kids, the winner of the Best K-pop award, exploded onto the stage with their song “S-Class,” while TOMORROW X TOGETHER, featuring Anitta, premiered their new collab single “Back for More.” Two more K-pop acts took home awards: Blackpink for Group of the Year and Jungkook’s “Seven” for Song of the Summer.

Anitta took home the award for Best Latin with “Funk Rave,” beating out big names like Shakira and Bad Bunny. Shakira, in turn, was granted the Video Vanguard, a lifetime achievement award, for her contributions to both Latin and pop music. She also won Best Collab alongside Karol G for their song “TQG.”

Shakira wasn’t the only legend recognized. The Global Icon award was handed to Diddy “Puff Daddy” for his contributions to hip hop and pop, both musically and in the business. The award was presented to him by longtime friend and collaborator (and fellow legend) Mary J. Blige and his eldest daughter Chance Combs, who stood behind him with his other children as he opened his speech with an affirmation that “love wins.”

New to the VMAs this year was the category Best Afrobeats, which was given to “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez. 

Throughout the four-hour-long event, three burgeoning artists were featured as part of the Doritos Extended Play Stage: Kaliii, Reneé Rapp and The Warning. Each performed twice, with brief renditions of their most popular songs.

Tuesday’s show was also the first in VMA history to feature an entirely female lineup for Artist of the Year. Not only that, but women dominated the main categories in general, making up the majority of nominations for Video of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop and Best New Artist.

And of course, Taylor Swift swept the ceremony by a landslide, bringing home nine of her eleven total nominations, including the “crown jewel” of the VMAs: the Video of the Year award for her self-directed “Anti-Hero.” Other artists with many nominations included SZA with eight and Blackpink, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo with six each, although none won more than two awards.