The MTV Video Music Awards were held in New York on Monday night and they were quite entertaining. If you didn’t get to check out the awards when they aired live, keep reading to find out everything you missed.
The show opened with our fave, Cardi B. She did not perform, as many assumed she would. Instead, she provided a monologue and as she stood on stage with what everyone thought was a baby in her arms, she revealed it was just a VMA award. Sorry, we won’t be seeing Kulture any time soon. Worth noting, Cardi also referred to herself as an empress, not to be confused with a Queen like Nicki Minaj.
Speaking of Nicki Minaj, she was the first winner of the night, taking home Best Hip-Hop Video for “Chun Li”. The competition was thick. The Barbie was up against Cardi B – “Bartier Cardi,” The Carters – “APES**T,” Drake – “God’s Plan,” J. Cole – “ATM” and Migos – “Walk It Talk It”.
As Logic has been known to do with his performances, he took a political stand and sent a message. While performing “One Day” with Ryan Tedder, Logic welcomed fans to stand on stage with him against immigration separation. Everyone on the stage wore a shirt with powerful messages including shirts that read, “We are all human beings” and “F*ck the wall.”
Nicki Minaj gave an epic performance of “Majesty”, “Barbie Dreams,” and “Fefe” at the Oculus in NYC. The performance was pre-recorded but still very good.
The lady of the hour, Jennifer Lopez performed a medley of hits and was joined on stage by DJ Khaled and surprisingly, Ja Rule. J. Lo hit us with a high energy performance of “Love Don’t Cost A Thing,” “I’m Real,” “Waiting for Tonight,” “Get Right,” “Jenny From the Block,” “Ain’t It Funny” and so many more. She then followed up by accepting her Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
Ariana Grande gave a super cute performance of “God Is A Woman” and it’s worth noting that in her Last Supper-inspired performance, she made Jesus a black woman. We see you Ariana!
Cardi B won Best New Artist and rightfully so. She took the stage and gave a speech that left everyone’s jaws on the ground by the time she reached the end.
“A couple of months ago a lot of people were saying you’re gambling your career, you’re having a baby, what are you doing … I carried a baby and I’m still winning awards. I want to thank all of my friends, my family that supported me.”
She closed off her speech by saying, “God gave me something that you can’t buy — b***h.”
There were quite a few awards wins that did not air last night, however. The Carters – “APES**T” won for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction, Childish Gambino – “This Is America” won Video With A Message, Best Direction and Best Choreography. Kendrick Lamar & SZA – “All The Stars” won Best Visual Effects.
