Shenseea cops her first VMAs while Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow, and Kendrick Lamar all tied for the most nominations at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards.
All three of them received seven nominations, the nominees’ list released on Tuesday showed. Lil Nas X and newcomer Jack Harlow are jointly nominated for Video of the Year, Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Choreography, and Best Collaboration for their work “Industry Baby” and have also received separate nominations for Artist of the Year.
The nominees for Artist of the Year also include Bad Bunny, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, and Lizzo.
As for Kendrick Lamar‘s nominations, he was nodded for Best Hip-Hop and Best Cinematography for “N95,” new category- Video for Good and Best Visual Effects for “The Heart Part 5,” and Best Direction for “Family Ties.”
The Best Hip Hop category is also highly contested, with several of the industry’s heavyweights being nominated, including Eminem and Snoop Dogg for “From The D 2 The LBC”, Future ft. Drake, Tems for “WAIT FOR U,” Latto for “Big Energy,” and Nicki Minaj featuring Lil Baby for “Do We Have A Problem?” while Pusha T rounded off the list with “Diet Coke.”
Meanwhile, Harry Styles and Doja Cat both received six nominations, while Drake, Sheeran, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, and the Weekend all received 5 in various categories.
Jamaican rising hip-hop artist Shenseea also scooped up her very first VMAs nomination for her “Global PUSH Artist” for the month of March 2022.
The nomination is for her performance of “R U That,” featuring 21 Savage.
Shenseea joins a list of accomplished Jamaicans who have received a Video Music Award nomination or win in the past, including Lady Saw in 2003 for Best Pop Video for her single “Underneath It All,” featuring Gwen Stefani-led No Doubt band.
Others include Bounty Killer, who won Best Pop Video and Best Group Video in 2002 with Stefani’s No Doubt for “Hey Baby” Elephant Man with a nomination for “Pon Di River” in 2004; Sean Paul for several nominations including Best New Artist In A Video and Best Dance Video for his track “Get Busy” in 2003, and he was again nominated in 2006 for Best Dance Video for “Temperature.”
Jamerican OMI was also nominated in 2015 for Song Of The Summer for “Cheerleader.”
The VMAs is scheduled for August 28 live and in person at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
In reacting to her nomination on Tuesday, Shenseea said it was not only a first for her but also for Jamaica. She has since deleted the post but shared that she had a new feature on Calvin Harris’ upcoming album. Shenseea joins Charlie Puth on Harris’ “Obsessed.”
Shenseea also shared that she was performing in Bermuda on Wednesday night and has encouraged fans to vote for her to win the award. Fans can vote up to 20 times per day every day.
