Awards

13 Sep 2023

Here’s How Megan Thee Stallion Responded to Rumors of a Justin Timberlake Beef at the VMAs

Megan Thee Stallion wants to make it very clear that she has no beef with Justin Timberlake. On Wednesday morning (Sept. 13), the Grammy-winning “Savage” rapper took to TikTok clear up any confusion stemming from a widely misinterpreted video from backstage at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday night (Sept. 12).

In a hilarious move, Megan’s TikTok finds her conversing with Timberlake while using her hands to accent her phrases — but viewers can’t hear anything that the two are saying. Instead, Megan posted the video to the soundtrack of Do As Infinity’s “Fukai Mori,” a 2001 J-pop ballad that served as the second ending theme for a popular anime series titled Inuyasha — a nod to her well-documented love for anime.

In the clip, the rapper appears to say something along the lines of, “I’m not beefing with Justin Timberlake, chill!” before the pop star jumps in and recites her signature “Real hot girl s–t!” ad-lib. On Instagram, where she reposted the TikTok, Megan captioned the post, “I just talk with my hands??‍♀️ lol @justintimberlake love ya ?.”

Fans were quick to rise to Megan’s defense after a backstage clip from Tuesday night’s VMAs ceremony appeared to show her and Timberlake in some kind of verbal altercation. However, a source told Billboard that Megan was simply excited to meet Timberlake, insisting on a proper introduction in a less chaotic environment.

Both artists had memorable VMAs nights outside of this viral moment. Megan, alongside Cardi B, debuted the first live performance of their funky new “Bongos” collaboration, while Timberlake reunited with his *NSYNC bandmates for the first time in 10 years.

Check out Megan’s response video below:

13 Sep 2023

Jewel Set to Perform at Project Angel Food’s Angel Awards

Jewel is set to perform at the Angel Awards Gala on Saturday, Sept. 23. The event will be held in the parking lot at Project Angel Food’s Hollywood kitchen, which will be transformed into a “ballroom under the stars.” Project Angel Food prepares and delivers more than 1.5 million meals each year to more than 4,000 individuals living with a wide range of critical illnesses in Los Angeles County.

Jewel, who has reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 with six albums, is a singer-songwriter, actress, author and long-time mental health advocate. For 21 years, her Inspiring Children Foundation and Jewel Inc. have been bringing mental health programs to at-risk youth and to corporations. Jewel also created SELLA, a language arts curriculum for schools that incorporates social and emotional learning and mental health practices. She recently co-founded the virtual mental health platform Inner.world.

Jewel may be best known for her double-sided smash “Foolish Games”/“You Were Meant for Me,” which rode the Billboard Hot 100 for 65 weeks in 1996-97, peaking at No. 2. Her other hits include “Who Will Save Your Soul” and “Hands.” Jewel has received four Grammy nominations.

Sheryl Lee Ralph will receive the inaugural Sheryl Lee Ralph Legacy Award. Ralph won a Primetime Emmy last year for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for Abbott Elementary. She is nominated in that category again this year. She received a Tony nomination for best actress in a musical in 1982 for Dreamgirls.

Ralph’s commitment to Project Angel Food spans three decades. In a statement, Project Angel Food CEO Richard Ayoub explained why the organization created the Legacy award that will bear Ralph’s name in perpetuity. “When no one and I mean NO ONE would stand up for people living with AIDS, Sheryl Lee Ralph risked her career and her livelihood to do what was right. She had seen too much suffering and wanted to help. That commitment to those in need has not wavered in 34 years! This new Sheryl Lee Ralph Legacy Award is long overdue.”

AIDS activist, artist and author Mary Fisher will receive the 2023 Angel Award, a distinction previously bestowed on Judith Light, Elizabeth Taylor, George Michael, Sharon Stone and Whoopi Goldberg, among others. Fisher may be best known for a pair of bridge-building speeches she delivered at the Republican National Conventions in Houston in 1992 and San Diego in 1996. Fisher serves on Project Angel Food’s board of directors.

The Angel Awards are presented by naming sponsor Wells Fargo, with Glamazon L.A., Amazon’s LGBTQ+ Affinity Group, joining as a principal sponsor.

13 Sep 2023

Alicia Keys, Grandmaster Flash and More to Be Honored by the Black American Music Association: Exclusive

Alicia Keys, Grandmaster Flash and superstar producer/songwriters Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis are among the artists and executives slated to be honored at the inaugural ICE Medal of Honor celebration at Atlanta’s Morehouse College on Sunday, Oct. 15. The black-tie event, to be held in the college’s Ray Charles Performing Arts Center, is sponsored by The Black American Music Association.

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“We are thrilled to launch the ICE Medal of Honor and to recognize these outstanding individuals who have made an enduring mark on the world through their art and creativity,” Michael Mauldin, the event’s founder, said in a statement. “This celebration is a testament to the power of Black American music in shaping culture and inspiring generations.”

Here’s a list of the inaugural recipients of the ICE Medal of Honor:

  • Alicia Keys – Ella Fitzgerald Gold Standard Award
  • Grandmaster Flash – Transformative Award
  • Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis – Creative Impact Award
  • Robert F. Smith (philanthropist and founder of the technology software private equity firm Vista Equity Partners) – Ray Charles/Harry Belafonte Patron of Arts Award
  • Suzanne de Passe (Motown Productions) – Suzanne de Passe Trailblazer Award
  • Jeff Harleston (general counsel, EVP of Business & Legal Affairs of Universal Music Group) – Pace/Harrell Executive Leadership Award

In addition, there will be a salute to the late Michael Jackson with the presentation of the Michael Jackson ICON Award.

Keys has amassed 15 Grammy Awards, including best new artist and song of the year for “Fallin’,” both in 2002.

Jam and Lewis have received five Grammys, including producer of the year, non-classical, in 1987.

In 2007, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five became the first hip-hop group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2021, they received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy.

de Passe, Motown Productions’ first Black female president, is credited with discovering The Jackson 5 and Commodores. de Passe has won two Primetime Emmy Awards – outstanding variety, music or comedy program for Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (1983) and Motown Returns to the Apollo (1985). The Suzanne de Passe Trailblazer Award is named in her honor.

Harleston is also co-founder of the UMG Task Force for Meaningful Change, an organization formed within UMG in the summer of 2020 to identify, coordinate and implement social change initiatives directed at the Black and Latino communities.

BAM Association co-founders Michael Mauldin and Demmette Guidry are executive producers of the event, along with Derrick Williams of DNA Media Group and co-executive producer Jermaine Dupri (who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018, one year after Jam & Lewis). The program is being produced by Mauldin and Williams and directed by Kevin Swain.

Ray Chew will provide music direction. Wyclef Jean and gospel veteran Donald Lawrence will curate segments of the show.

Mauldin, formerly president of Columbia Records Black Music. is CEO of Mauldin Brand Inc., chairman of the Black American Music Association and co-founder of the Black American Music Foundation. He is also the co-founder of the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.

Special acknowledgement will be given to the Otis Redding Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for the community through the education and the empowerment of its youth. Dr. Uzi Brown, who is retiring this year as chair of the Department of Music at Morehouse College, will also be honored. Brown is the past president of the National Association of Negro Musicians.

The Black American Music Association is a non-profit 501(c)(6) trade association founded in 2017 by Mauldin and Guidry to preserve, protect, and promote the legacy and future of authentic Black American music.

13 Sep 2023

Snubs & Surprises at the 2023 MTV VMAs

Some of the awards at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, which were presented on Tuesday (Sept. 12) at Prudential Center in Newark. N.J., were entirely predictable. Taylor Swift’s sweep, including video of the year, song of the year, album of the year and artist of the year, was hardly a surprise, given the year she has had.

“Anti-Hero” logged eight weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, setting a new personal best for Swift; Midnights (a 2022 release) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) became her 11th and 12th No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200; and her The Eras stadium tour was a triumph.

Swift even beat the mighty Beyoncé in three categories – artist of the year, album of the year and show of the summer. Beyoncé remains the artist with the most career VMAs (30, counting Destiny’s Child and The Carters). With her nine awards this year, Swift zoomed into second place on the all-time winners list, with 23. Beyoncé added no wins to her tally this year.

Swift wasn’t the only artist whose VMA wins were predictable. Who could be surprised that Nicki Minaj, who served as emcee for the show, won in best hip-hop for her No. 1 Hot 100 smash “Super Freaky Girl”? She had won four times previously in the category – more than anyone else.

SZA’s win for best R&B for “Shirt” was also expected, given the fact that her SOS album topped the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks in late 2022 and early 2023. Rema & Selena Gomez’s win in the new best Afrobeats category for “Calm Down” was also a lock. The song climbed as high as No. 3 on the Hot 100.

But the show also included a few genuine snubs and surprises. Take a look.

13 Sep 2023

2023 VMAs Performances Ranked From Worst to Best

What soared and what bored.

Shakira

Shakira performs onstage the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on Sept. 12, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey.

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for MTV

The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards took over the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Tuesday (Sept. 12) night.

The show – which will turn 40 next year – is reliably one of the biggest music events of the year, and the 2023 VMAs held their weight with regards to the MTV staple’s storied past.

First and foremost, iconic boy band *NSYNC — Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass and Chris Kirkpatrick — reunited on stage to present the VMA for best pop, which they handed off to Eras Tour juggernaut Taylor Swift. Swift seemed well chuffed to receive a Moon Person trophy from the pop royals (“to receive this from your golden pop hands is really too much” she noted). Later on, she ended up walking away with the night’s most prestigious award for video of the year, for her self-directed “Anti-Hero.”

But as it tends to go at awards shows these days, performances took the spotlight even more than awards and speeches. And this VMAs had a lot of live music. Two collaborations saw their live TV debut (one from Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, the other from TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Anitta), while #HipHop50 was feted once more this year with a legend-stuffed run-through of the genre’s past. Plus, Olivia Rodrigo had a fun fake-out moment; Shakira killed a career-spanning medley; Stray Kids flaunted choreography with laser precision; and Demi Lovato rocked the hell out.

It was a long night filled with a ton of performances – and when you have a nearly four-hour show with well over a dozen sets, some are going to stand out more than others. From our least favorite to our pick for the evening’s best, here are the best 2023 VMAs performances, ranked.

13 Sep 2023

The 2023 MTV VMAs: A Delightful Two-Hour Award Show That Couldn’t Resist Going Twice That Long

Around 9:30 ET on Tuesday night (Sept. 12), you might have been ready to declare that the Video Music Awards were back. The awards thus far had been elevated by show-stopping performances from Olivia Rodrigo (cleverly pivoting from a dramatic “Vampire” to a captivatingly choreographed and thrillingly energetic “Get Him Back!”) and Doja Cat (executing at the highest level on a three-song run through her upcoming Scarlet era). Further star power was provided by winners Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, performers Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion and nominal “emcee” Nicki Minaj. By the time Shakira blazed her way through her typically ass-kicking Video Vanguard resumé performance, the show was feeling fuller and more satisfying than any VMAs so far this decade.

Unfortunately, there were still two hours to go. Maybe more like two and a half.

Complaining about award show length in 2023 is, of course, about as scintillating as griping about there being too many previews before a movie, or too many TV timeouts during a football game — at this point, you should probably just accept it as part of the bargain going in or not even bother in the first place. Still, there’s a difference between an award show going a little bit over its scheduled 11:00 ET end-time and damn near crossing the border to midnight. Three hours would’ve certainly already been more than enough of these VMAs, but getting up to the precipice of hour four was Pearl Harbor Director’s Cut territory.

It also doesn’t help that the VMAs have clearly begun subscribing to the increasingly common data-dump approach to award shows, pacing their action like a streaming act’s new album: front-loaded with hits and fairly merciless on the back end. The biggest-name performers — at least domestically — were mostly out of the way in the first couple hours, leaving a hodgepodge of VMA first-timers and unexciting return guests to fill out the many remaining minutes.

That’s not to fault MTV for scheduling game late-evening performances from K-pop sensations Stray Kids and Tomorrow x Together — they were fine, and it was still late morning in Korea at that time, anyway. But Fall Out Boy, rocking through a sweaty and uncomfortable-looking outdoor-stage performance of their absurd “We Didn’t Start the Fire” redo? A Måneskin performance for the second straight year — without so much as a wardrobe malfunction this time? This is what we’re pushing into Seinfeld-rerun hours for? By the time the show got to veteran country hitmaker Kelsea Ballerini’s hard-earned VMAs debut, her legitimately arresting “Penthouse” was totally undercut by coming over three and a half hours in, its penultimate performance slot doing the intimate ballad zero favors.

And it was doubly unfortunate, in this year of 50th anniversary hip-hop celebrations, to find the show floundering a little when it came to representing rap from either a contemporary or legacy standpoint. Doja’s performance was a home run, and Cardi and Megan are always reliable, but the Metro Boomin-led performance of “Superhero (Heroes and Villains)” and “Calling” could not have been much lower-energy, with guests like Nav and A Boogie wit da Hoodie seemingly competing for who could be drowned out by their backing track the most. Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne are both all-time legends, but we didn’t need them both on solo performances of relatively unconvincing new tracks (Minaj’s “Last Time I Saw You” is actually a bit of a grower, but this wasn’t the stage for it) and as part of the obligatory show-closing medley. Meanwhile, still-rising MCs Ice Spice and GloRilla presented but didn’t perform; the show really could’ve used a little of their zip — or more than 30 seconds at a time of Extended Stage performer Kaliii.

And speaking of that show-closing medley: It wasn’t quite the disaster of Madonna’s Aretha Franklin tribute in 2018, but it was yet another fine example of how the next time MTV has internal “we have to do something for it, right?” discussions about a timely topic for the VMAs to cover, some intern really needs to pipe up, “Well…. do we, really?” Hip-hop’s 50th anniversary has been exhaustively covered by this point in 2023, and there was no way the VMAs were going to be able to compete with either the Questlove-curated history lesson at the Grammys in February, or the cavalcade of decades-spanning performers popping up throughout the BET Awards in June. So what could the VMAs even do?

If you guessed, “Basically use it as an excuse to have one of Run-D.M.C. perform ‘Walk This Way’ at the VMAs for the 25th time,” you would of course be absolutely correct. The closing hip-hop tribute was poorly organized, unhelpfully introduced — here’s hoping all the kids watching at home are already well-schooled in their Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick, because no IDs were given — and ultimately purposeless, featuring six disjointed performers (two of whom had already been heard from) giving no remotely coherent representation of hip-hop history. With MTV already locking themselves into two extended medleys every year now via their Video Vanguard and Global Icon awards (the latter went to Diddy for 2023), they should maybe start rejecting any further pitches that involve squeezing a half-dozen songs and/or artists into the same flailing performance. We promise, no one will miss them — or be upset at MTV for not trying to elbow its way into a cultural moment nobody really needs its take on.

The reason all of this is even worth moaning about in the first place is because for the first half, these awards did seem like they were going to be MTV’s best in some years. Getting Olivia Rodrigo and Doja Cat — two legitimate pop A-listers, within a week of the former releasing a new album and the latter hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — was a huge win for the show, and both artists met the moment with the kind of thoughtful, artful and unforgettable performances that illustrated why the VMAs’ stage is still a meaningful one. Peso Pluma and Karol G are undeniably two of the most exciting artists in popular music in 2023; getting both of them for their first big English-language award show looks further demonstrated how the VMAs have actually been a little ahead of the game in recent years when it comes to going international. And of course, even without her performing, nothing makes an event feel like The Place to Be in 2023 like the attendance of Taylor Swift — especially when she’s reduced to a babbling pre-teen in the presence of a reunited *NSYNC, presenting her the best pop award, in the kind of indelible cross-generational moment of pop connection that was once commonplace at the VMAs.

By the fourth award she picked up for the evening, though — best video (for “Anti-Hero”), making her a winner in the VMAs’ premier category for the second year in a row and fourth time total — it even got to be a little too much Taylor, as it started feeling less like an artist in their peak moment of dominance and more like a channel in its peak moment of desperation. Indeed, as Swift ascends to a pop echelon only a handful of other artists in the VMAs’ now-40-year history have ever visited, her investment in the show as an institution worthy of her time and attention is perhaps the greatest reason the VMAs still has whatever cultural credibility it does. But when the show lasts a half-hour longer than an Eras Tour date and burns through all its biggest crowd-pleasers early in the setlist, the Swifties — like all other pop fans watching — are gonna end up wanting to skip the encore to beat the traffic.

13 Sep 2023

Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj & More Record-Setters at 2023 MTV VMAs

Taylor Swift won nine awards at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, which were held at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Tuesday (Sept. 12). That’s just one award off the single-night record. Peter Gabriel won 10 awards in 1987.

This brings Swift’s career VMAs tally to 23, second only to Beyoncé on the all-time VMAs leaderboard. Beyoncé has won 30 VMAs, counting two with Destiny’s Child and two as half of The Carters.

Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, a new personal-best for the superstar, won video of the year. This was her fourth win in the category, extending her record for the most wins in the category. She previously won for “Bad Blood” (with Kendrick Lamar, 2015), “You Need to Calm Down” (2019) and “All Too Well: The Short Film” (2022).

In addition to extending her record for most wins – no one else has won more than two – Swift is the first artist in VMA history to win back-to-back awards in this category. 

Swift also extended her record as the artist with the most video of the year wins for videos that she directed or co-directed. She co-directed “You Need to Calm Down” with Drew Kirsch and was the sole director of both “All Too Well: The Short Film” and “Anti-Hero.”

Swift also won in a separate category – best direction – for “Anti-Hero.” It’s her third win in that category in the past four years, following wins for “The Man” (2019) and “All Too Well: The Short Film” (2022). Swift is the third director to win three times in this category, following David Fincher and Spike Jonze. Swift and Fincher are the only directors to win back-to-back awards in this category. Fincher’s back-to-back awards were for directing Madonna’s “Express Yourself” (1989) and “Vogue” (1990).

Swift won song of the year for “Anti-Hero.” None of the previous five winners in this category have gone on to win the Grammy in that category, but “Anti-Hero” (which Swift co-wrote with Jack Antonoff) has a very good chance of doing just that. Swift has yet to win in that Grammy category, and a lot of people think it’s about time.

And Swift won best pop for the second time for “Anti-Hero,” having won eight years ago for “Blank Space.” Only Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake have won more times (three) in the category. (Timberlake’s tally includes two awards with NSYNC.) NSYNC presented the award to Swift.

Swift’s other wins on the night were artist of the year, album of the year (for Midnights), show of the summer, best cinematography and best visual effects. (Swift didn’t personally work in the latter two capacities on her “Anti-Hero” video, but the VMAs give all artists credit for technical awards their videos win.)

Swift wasn’t the only artist who set records at the 2023 VMAs. Take a look:

Nicki Minaj won a record fifth award for best hip-hop for “Super Freaky Girl.” She previously won for “Super Bass” (2011), “Anaconda” (2015), “Chun-Li” (2018) and “Do We Have a Problem” (featuring Lil Baby, 2022). Minaj, who also emceed this year’s show, is pulling away from Drake, who is in second place with three wins in the category.

Ice Spice won best new artist. (She, of course, also has a Swift connection, having been featured on a remix of Swift’s “Karma,” a No. 2 Hot 100 hit.) This is the sixth consecutive year that a female artist has won in this category. Ice Spice follows Cardi B (2018), Billie Eilish (2019), Doja Cat (2019), Olivia Rodrigo (2021) and Dove Cameron (2022). Of those artists, all but Cardi and Cameron went on to land Grammy nominations for best new artist. Ice Spice is expected to follow suit.

Shakira won two awards – the Video Vanguard Award and best collaboration for “TQG,” on which she teamed with Karol G. This is the second year in a row that the Video Vanguard recipient has also won in a competitive category that same year. Last year, Nicki Minaj won best hip-hop for “Do We Have a Problem” (featuring Lil Baby).

This is the third time in the past four years that a pairing of two women has won in the collaboration category. “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande won in 2020. “Kiss Me More” by Doja Cat featuring SZA won in 2021. In addition, two previous category winners were pairings of two women – “Beautiful Liar” by Beyoncé and Shakira won in 2007, followed by “Telephone” by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé in 2010.

Blackpink also won two awards – group of the year and best choreography for “Pink Venom.”

“Seven” by Jungkook featuring Latto won song of summer. Jungkook won in the same category two years ago as a member of BTS for their smash “Butter.” Both songs reached No. 1 on the Hot 100.

“Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez was the inaugural winner in the new best Afrobeats category. The versatile Gomez won best pop 10 years ago for “Come and Get It.”

Anitta won best Latin for the second year in a row. She won this year for “Funk Rave” and won last year for “Envolver.” Anitta is the second artist to win back-to-back awards in this category. J Balvin won three years running (2018-20).

Stray Kids won best K-pop for “S-Class.” They were nominated last year but lost to Lisa for “Lalisa.” Lisa was nominated this year as a member of Blackpink.

Tomorrow X Together won Push performance of the year. It’s the second year in a row that a South Korean band has won in that category. Seventeen won last year.

Måneskin won best rock for “The Loneliest,” one year after winning best alternative for “I Wanna Be Your Slave.” Måneskin is just the second act, following Green Day, to win in both categories. The award for rock has been presented in every year but one since 1989. The award for best alternative originated in 1991, but went on hiatus from 1999 to 2019.

Dove Cameron, last year’s winner for best new artist, won video for good for “Breakfast.”

Lana Del Rey’s “Candy Necklace” (featuring Jon Batiste) won for best alternative, making her the first female solo artist to win in the category. Note: The category was on hiatus between 1999 and 2019.

12 Sep 2023

6 Moments You Didn’t See on TV at the 2023 MTV VMAs

From Olivia Rodrigo taking the stage with her latest GUTS singles to *NSYNC reuniting and Shakira performing a rollicking medley of tracks in honor of her receiving the Video Vanguard Award, the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards — which aired live from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Tuesday (Sept. 12) — contained a multitude of water-cooler moments ripe for social media discussion and beyond.

This ceremony marked the VMAs most global year to date, with debut performances from K-pop behemoths TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Stray Kids; Latin stars Anitta (who graced the stage at the 2022 ceremony), Karol G and Peso Pluma; and rockers Måneskin representing for their native Italy.

Stateside pop stars like Doja Cat, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion additionally rounded out the event, and the 50th anniversary of hip-hop was celebrated with an all-star team-up between Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Doug E. Fresh, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne and the night’s emcee, Nicki Minaj.

While the most-talked-about moments from the show exploded on social media, Billboard saw all the best moments of the ceremony that didn’t happen onscreen, live and in person. Here are a few things at the 2023 VMAs you didn’t see on TV.

12 Sep 2023

TOMORROW X TOGETHER Debut ‘Back for More’ Alongside Anitta at 2023 MTV VMAs

When it came time to make their MTV Video Music Awards debut on Tuesday night (Sept. 12), TOMORROW X TOGETHER made sure to deliver the goods.

Taking to the stage late in the program, the K-pop superstars debuted their brand new single “Back for More” with a splash. Appearing onstage, all five members — Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and HueningKai — appeared in a bejeweled and fringed jackets, belting out the lyrics to their groovy, disco-tinged song while executing suave dance moves to accentuate their on stage swagger. “All I know is, if you walk away/ Tell me something,” Yeonjun and Soobin sang. “Tell me things you can’t replace.”

As they hit their second verse, the boys were joined onstage by Latin superstar Anitta, following her own performance earlier in the evening and a win for best Latin. Dressed in a fringed black bra and panty combo, she joined the group in the staccato choreography and lent her sultry vocal to the energetic track. With a few blasts of pyrotechnics and an army of backup dancers joining them onstage, TXT brought their excellent VMAs debut to a bombastic close.

The performance comes after the band teased their new track with a series of videos posted across their social media on Sept. 5, showing the group and Anitta dancing along to the groovy new single.

The K-pop quintet weren’t just at the VMAs for their performance, though; TXT was up for four nominations at Tuesday’s ceremony. Before the show even started, the group won its very first Moon Person trophy for push performance of the year for its song “Sugar Rush Ride.”

12 Sep 2023

Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J & More Lead All-Star Hip-Hop 50 Performance at VMAs

The final performance of the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards toasted hip-hop on its 50th anniversary, with a star-studded medley featuring Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, DMC, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and LL Cool J to honor five decades of the groundbreaking genre.

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The tribute performance, which was the final act of the 2023 VMAs on Tuesday night (Sept. 12), brought an array of styles and flows to the stage of the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five kicked off the affair with the legendary “The Message,” and a few minutes later, Minaj was owning the stage with “Itty Bitty Piggy,” demonstrating the evolution of the art form within a single performance.

Meanwhile, Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick slung rhymes and unmatched beatboxing, and when Weezy hit the stage, he seemed to shadowbox with the “A Milli” beat, bouncing around the stage and making the Prudential Center finish his “Orville Redenbacher” punchline. LL Cool J, spitting furiously in a sparkly getup, brought the performance back to the old school with “I’m Bad” and “Mama Said Knock You Out,” and he stayed onstage as Darryl McDaniel to run through some Run-DMC classics.

The medley ended with all of the performers onstage, rocking out to “Walk This Way” and embracing as the Newark crowd cheered.

Prior to the 50th anniversary performance, Nicki Minaj hosted the 2023 Video Music Awards, as well as performed her new top 40 hit “Last Time I Saw You” and an unreleased track from her upcoming Pink Friday 2 album. Lil Wayne also kicked off the VMAs with a performance of “Uproar” and “Kat Food.”