Pop Base: Breaking Down 2024’s MTV VMA Nominees

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In 1984, the first ever MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) ceremony was held in New York City. The event saw wins from icons like Cyndi Lauper and Michael Jackson and the show has since become insanely popular and a staple of pop culture. The coveted award show, usually held near the end of summer, will be taking place on September 11, 2024.

This year the event will be held at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York and will honor music released between June 22, 2023, and June 20, 2024. Nominations were released on August 6th and voting opened on the same day. Voting will close for most awards on August 30 except for Best New Artist. Voting for this award will close during the show. Expected to be in attendance is the year's most nominated artist Taylor Swift, along with other heavily nominated artists like Post Malone, Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Eminem, Megan Thee Stallion and SZA. Check out these artists and their history at the event, what they are nominated for this year, and how many nominations they received.

Taylor Swift- 10 Nominations

Taylor Swift is the most nominated artist at the MTV VMAsfor a second year in a row. This year she led with ten nominations including Artist of the Year, Best Pop, Videofor the Year, Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Collaboration with Post Malone, Best Art Direction,Best Editing, Best Direction, and Song of the Year. Eight of the ten nominations are for Swift and Malone’s 2024 collaboration “Fortnight”, from Swift’s eleventh studio album The Tortured Poets Department.

The album was released on April 19, 2024, and immediately broke many awards. The album was the highest single-day and single-week streams for an album on Spotify. It also topped the charts in multiple countries and spent 12 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200. 14 of the songs from the album debuted on the Billboard 100 at numbers 1-14.

The lead single "Fortnight" was released with the album and debuted at number one on the Billboard 100. It also earned Swift her twelfth number one and Malone his fifth. The song is up for video of the year which Swift has won four times. If “Fortnight” takes home the award Swift will extend her lead with the most awards in this category. As the second-most awarded artist in VMA history, Swift will have the opportunity to surpass Beyoncé as the most awarded artist. For this to happen, Swift will have to win five out of her ten nominations and Beyonce will have to lose her only nomination the year, Song of the Year for “Texas Hold ’Em.”

Post Malone- 9 Nominations

Post Malone was the second most nominated artist at this year's MTV VMAs. His nine nominations include Video for the Year, Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Direction, and Song of the Year. These nominations are for his collaboration with Taylor Swift on her single “Fortnight.” This song is also nominated for Best Collaboration, along with Malone’s “I Had Some Help” featuring Morgan Wallen.

The country-pop song released on May 10, through Republic Records is the lead single from Malone's sixth studio album, F-1 Trillion. The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and held its spot there for six weeks. This makes the song the longest charting number one single of the year so far. Malone, who has sold over 80 million records, has won one VMA and is also the artist with the most diamond-certified songs, with nine.

Ariana Grande- 6 Nominations

This year, Ariana Grande was nominated for six awards including Artist of the Year, Best Visual Effects for “The Boy Is Mine”, Video of the Year, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing all for “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”

These songs come from Eternal Sunshine; her seventh studio album released on March 8. The album was received well and opened at number one on the Billboard 200. “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” also debuted at number one on The Billboard Hot 100 and make Grande the woman with the most Hot 100 number-one debuts. The single was released along with the album and a music video. Her next single from the album was "The Boy Is Mine." The song impacted radio on June 11and served as the third single. Many praised the song'sR&B sound, and it peaked at number 16 on The Billboard 100. The song also received a music video and a remix with Brandy and Monica.

Grande has won nine VMAs and has sold over 85 million records worldwide.

Sabrina Carpenter- 6 Nominations

Sabrina Carpenter has received six nominations at this year VMAs. The artist who saw a breakthrough this year received the nominations, Artist of the Year, Best Pop, Song of the Year and Best Editing for “Espresso”, and Best Direction and Best Art Direction for “Please PleasePlease.” These VMA nominated songs come from Carpenter’s upcoming sixth studio album Short n' Sweet. The album, scheduled to be released on August 23, will be her second with Island Records. The album will feature 12 songs including the two singles "Espresso,” and “Please Please Please.”

The first single "Espresso" was released on April 11, with a music video releasing the day after. The song was a smash hit, with many calling it the song of the summer. It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 andtopped the charts in 18 countries. The next single was released on June 6 and was also critically acclaimed.

Eminem- 6 Nominations

Rap icon Eminem was also nominated for six nominationsincluding Artist of the Year and Video of the Year, Best Hip-Hop, Best Visual Effects, Best Direction, and Best Editing all for “Houdini.” This song is the lead single from his twelfth studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) and was released on May 31. It was released alongside the music video and topped the Billboard Global 200. The album which the song comes from debuted at number one in the U.S. and 15 other countries. Eminem has quite the history at the VMAs with 13 wins. He is the rapper with the most wins and has been nominated for Video of the Year a record breaking eight times.

Megan Thee Stallion- 5 Nominations

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion has five nominations at this year's show. The nominations include Best Collaboration for GloRilla’s “Wanna Be”, along with Best Hip Hop, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Direction all for “Boa” It was released as the third single from her self-titledthird studio album, Megan (2024) on May 10. The single peaked at 39 on The Billboard Hot 100 and its music video was acclaimed by many. Her self-titled album, which featured a chart-topping hit, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.

   She has been nominated for multiple VMAs and has won two including Best Power Anthem (2019) and for Best Hip-Hop Video (2020). Her other nominated song this year came from GloRilla’s "Wanna Be." Megan featured on the song,and it debuted at number 11 on The Billboard Hot 100. The song's success led to a remix featuring rapper, CardiB.

SZA- 5 Nominations

Three-time VMA award winning artist SZA, received fivenominations at this year’s show. The nominations include Artist of the Year, Video of the Year and Best R&B for “Snooze”, and Best Collaboration and Best Hip-Hop for Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” which features her and rapper Sexxy Red. The song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and follows Drake and SZA’s "Slime You Out," which topped the charts.

"Snooze" comes from SZA’s second studio album, SOS(2022). The song was originally a sleeper hit even though it debuted at number 29 on The Billboard Hot 100. It took almost a year for the song to reach its peak of two and the song spent 70 weeks on the chart. Its success led to an acoustic version featuring Justin Bieber, who was also in the original version's music video. The song has won many awards, and its success shadowed SOS. The albumdebuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and became the longest-running number one female album of the decade. The album broke many other records, and publications have featured the album on their “Best Albums of 2023” lists.

Although these are the most nominated artists, there are 29 new first-time nominees like Benson Boone, Chappell Roan, Coco Jones, Jelly Roll, Sexxy Red, and Victoria Monét. Other artists like Dua Lipa and Anitta are also nominated this year. Along with these nominees, there willbe many performances from Camila Cabello, Chappell Roan, GloRilla, Rauw Alejandro, Sabrina Carpenter, and many others. See who “brings home the chrome” when the MTV VMAs broadcasts live on MTV on September 11, 2024!