August 9, 2022 - Music Observer

MTV VMAs 2022 Pays Tribute to Artists Such as Nicki Minaj and Many More

Music Observer Staff on August 9, 2022

Nicki Minaj bags the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV VMAs this year.

She will also perform on stage and accept the award, which honors artists who have made significant contributions to the music video industry – with previous MTV VMAs recipients like Beyoncé, Madonna, Rihanna, Missy Elliot, Kanye, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears.

“Nicki has broken barriers for women in hip-hop with her versatility and creative artistry,” stated the music and music talent head at Viacom and chief content officer of music at Paramount+, Bruce Gillmer.

“She has shifted the music industry and cemented her status as a global superstar with her crossover appeal, genre-defying style and continuing to be unapologetically ‘Nicki.'”

This year’s VMAs will happen on Sunday, August 28 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Artists like J Balvin, Anitta, Panic! at the Disco, and the pair of Marshmello and Khalid are all scheduled to perform. And as the days pass, more acts will be announced.

MTV VMAs Nominees

Check the complete list of MTV VMAs nominees below:

Video of the Year, Presented by Burger King®

Doja Cat – Woman

Drake Featuring Future & Young Thug – Way 2 Sexy

Ed Sheeran – Shivers

Harry Styles – As It Was

Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow – Industry Baby

Olivia Rodrigo – Brutal

Taylor Swift – All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)

Artist of the Year

Bad Bunny

Drake

Ed Sheeran

Harry Styles

Jack Harlow

Lil Nas X

Lizzo

Song of the Year

Adele – Easy on Me

Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever

Doja Cat – Woman

Elton John & Dua Lipa – Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)

Lizzo – About Damn Time

The Kid La & Jroiustin Bieber – Stay

Best New Artist, Presented by Extra® Gum

Baby Keem

Dove Cameron

Gayle

Latto

Måneskin

Seventeen

Push Performance of the Year

September 2021: Griff – One Night

October 2021: Remi Wolf – Sexy Villain

November 2021: Nessa Barrett – I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead

December 2021: Seventeen – Rock With You

January 2021: Mae Muller – Better Days

February 2022: Gayle – ABCDEFU

March 2022: Sheneesa – R U That

April 2022: Omar Apollo – Tamagotchi

May 2022: Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

June 2022: Muni Long – Baby Boo

July 2022: Doechii – Persuasive

Best Collaboration

Drake Featuring Future & Young Thug – Way 2 Sexy

Elton John & Dua Lipa – Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)

Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow – Industry Baby

Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa – Sweetest Pie

Post Malone & The Weeknd – One Right Now

Rosalía Featuring The Weeknd – La Fama

The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber – Stay

Best Pop

Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever

Doja Cat – Woman

Ed Sheeran – Shivers

Harry Styles – As It Was

Lizzo – About Damn Time

Olivia Rodrigo – Traitor

Best Hip-Hop

Eminem & Snoop Dogg – From the D 2 the LBC

Future Featuring Drake & Tems – Wait for U

Kendrick Lamar – N95

Latto – Big Energy

Nicki Minaj Featuring Lil Baby – Do We Have a Problem?

Pusha T – Diet Coke

Best Rock

Foo Fighters – Love Dies Young

Jack White – Taking Me Back

Muse – Won’t Stand Down

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Black Summer

Shinedown – Planet Zero

Three Days Grace – So Called Life

Best Alternative

Avril Lavigne Featuring Blackbear – Love It When You Hate Me

Imagine Dragons & J.I.D – Enemy

Machine Gun Kelly Featuring Willow – Emo Girl

Måneskin – I Wanna Be Your Slave

Panic! at the Disco – Viva las Vengeance

Twenty One Pilots – Saturday

Willow & Avril Lavigne Featuring Travis Barker – Grow

Best Latin

Anitta – Envolver

Bad Bunny – Tití Me Preguntó

Becky G & Karol G – Mamiii

Daddy Yankee – REMIX

Farruko – Pepas

J Balvin & Skrillex – In da Getto

Best R&B

Alicia Keys – City of Gods (Part II)

Chlöe – Have Mercy

H.E.R. – For Anyone

Normani Featuring Cardi B – Wild Side

Summer Walker, SZA & Cardi B – No Love (Extended Version)

The Weeknd – Out Of Time

Best K-Pop

BTS – Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)

Itzy – Loco

Lisa – Lalisa

Seventeen – Hot

Stray Kids – Maniac

Twice – The Feels

Video for Good

Kendrick Lamar – The Heart Part 5

Latto – P*ssy

Lizzo – About Damn Time

Rina Sawayama – This Hell

Stromae – Fils de joie

Best Metaverse Performance

Blackpink the Virtual – PUBG

BTS – Minecraft

Charli XCX – Roblox

Justin Bieber – An Interactive Virtual Experience – Wave

Rift Tour Featuring Ariana Grande – Fortnite

Twenty One Pilots Concert Experience – Roblox

Best Longform Video

Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles

Foo Fighters – Studio 666

Kacey Musgraves – Star-Crossed

Madonna – Madame X

Olivia Rodrigo – Driving Home 2 U

Taylor Swift – All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)

Best Cinematography

Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar – “family ties”

Camila Cabello ft. Ed Sheeran – “Bam Bam”

Harry Styles – “As It Was”

Kendrick Lamar – “N95”

Normani ft. Cardi B – “Wild Side”

Taylor Swift – “All Too Well” (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)

Best Direction

Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar – Family Ties

Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever

Ed Sheeran – Shivers

Harry Styles – As It Was

Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow – Industry Baby

Taylor Swift – All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)

Best Art Direction

Adele – Oh My God

Doja Cat – Get Into It (Yuh)

Drake Featuring Future & Young Thug – Way 2 Sexy

Kacey Musgraves – Simple Times

Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow – Industry Baby

Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa – Sweetest Pie

Best Visual Effects

Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever

Coldplay & BTS – My Universe

Kendrick Lamar – The Heart Part 5

Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow – Industry Baby

Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa – Sweetest Pie

The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber – Stay

Best Choreography

BTS – Permission to Dance

Doja Cat – Woman

FKA twigs Featuring The Weeknd – Tears in the Club

Harry Styles – As It Was

Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow – Industry Baby

Normani Featuring Cardi B – Wild Side

Best Editing

Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar – Family Ties

Doja Cat – Get Into It (Yuh)

Olivia Rodrigo – Brutal

Rosalía – Saoko

Taylor Swift – All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)

The Weeknd – Take My Breath

Allie X Responds to Remarks About her Being a ‘Karen’

Music Observer Staff on August 9, 2022

Allie X, a Canadian singer, has responded to allegations that she left her dog in the car while shopping at a California supermarket.

Recording artist Simon Curtis took to Twitter on Saturday to post a clip that allegedly shows the pop star and guest judge of Canada’s Drag Race season 1 speeding through an Erewhon health food store with his dog in the back seat.

His Twitter post called her a “disgusting Karen” and urged her followers to help identify her, claiming that the police had been summoned following his discovery of a dog “pouring saliva in a locked car in the bald ass open sun with windows and no AC in 95-degree heat” for 20 minutes.

Allie X released a statement claiming she was gone for 11 minutes and turned on the air conditioning to 60 degrees before letting the dog, Koji, sleep in the car.

“Koji was completely okay. I say those as facts, not defensively. I want to be clear that there was absolutely no ‘crowd forming’ around my car, and absolutely nobody was ‘watching a dog die for over twenty minutes,'” she said, citing Curtis’ series of tweets.

“There would be footage if that was true. I wasn’t laughing like a ‘Karen,’ I was laughing because I was frightened and uncomfortable of these two men outside of my car.

“These details matter, and because of the dramatizations, I’ve received hundreds of attacks and death threats made more terrifying by the fact that this person posted my face and my identifiable information with the sole intent to dox me.”

Allie X Calls the Measure a “Strange Way” to Fight for Animal Rights

Further in the statement, she said that the encounter “educated” her and that she regrets doing anything that could’ve led to Koji’s harm: “I won’t do it again,” she said on Twitter, further stating that the dog “is in good health.”

“To the person who thought it necessary to do all this, thank you for your concern. I feel it necessary to say, though, perhaps a conversation would have been more productive than [sic] what transpired?” she concluded.

“I certainly would have been happy to speak to you about Koji and her well-being if I hadn’t been frightened of you and your aggressive behavior. Bullying me, making fun of the way I look etc feels like a strange way to fight for animal rights… so does using it as an opportunity to promote your music?”

Her concluding remarks on the message seemed to cite the follow-up tweets made by Curtis, in which he referred to her as a “vile person and an unapologetic animal abuser” and urged his followers to “stream my discography if you want clear skin and don’t abuse dogs.”

Curtis has had no response since Allie X’s statement on social media.

Allie X, 37, first gained traction following her release of the 2014 single “Bitch.” Apart from dropping numerous albums of her own, the singer-songwriter has also written songs for musicians such as Troye Sivan, BTS, and Betty Who.