MTV VMA Nominations 2017: A complete list of nominees for the 34th annual Video Music Awards

Culture
By Tom Barnes

MTV has announced the nominees for their 34th annual Video Music Awards, airing live on Aug. 27, and they’re going for woke.

Following the lead of its sister award show, the MTV Movie and TV awards, this year’s VMAs have dispensed with their gendered award categories (formerly best male video and best female video) and replaced them with a single artist of the year category. Additionally, they’ve created a best fight the system award, aiming to highlight videos with a distinct social justice bent.

To announce the nominees, MTV turned to a group of Instagram stars to break the news. Nine social media influencers have been tasked with revealing a portion of the list via Instagram live, scheduled to start with Chantel Jeffries, who will unveil the nominees for best pop video. As for who takes home the moonman trophy, that’s up to the fans to some extent, though they’re likely not the only ones who have a say. Audiences can vote on eight of the categories through the VMA website, while the six professional categories are determined entirely by industry experts.

The complete list of nominees appears below and will be updated over the next hour as more of the influencers share their portions of the list.

Video of the year

Kendrick Lamar — “HUMBLE.”

Artist of the year

Bruno Mars

Best new artist

Khalid

Best collaboration

Charlie Puth feat. Selena Gomez — “We Don’t Talk Anymore”

Best pop

Shawn Mendes — “Treat You Better”

Best hip-hop

Kendrick Lamar — “HUMBLE.”

Best dance

Zedd and Alessia Cara — “Stay”

Best rock

Coldplay — “A Head Full of Dreams”

Best fight against the system

Logic feat. Damian Lemar Hudson — “Black SpiderMan”

Best cinematography

Kendrick Lamar — “HUMBLE.” (Scott Cunningham)

Best direction

Kendrick Lamar — “HUMBLE.” (Dave Meyers & the little homies)

Best art direction

Kendrick Lamar — “HUMBLE.” (Spencer Graves)

Best visual effects

Kendrick Lamar — “HUMBLE.” (Jonah Hall of Timber)

Best choreography

Kanye West — “Fade” (Teyana Taylor, Guapo, Jae Blaze and Derek “Bentley” Watkins)

Best editing

Future — “Mask Off” (Vinnie Hobbs of VHPost)

Mic has ongoing MTV VMAs coverage. Follow our main VMAs hub here.

July 25, 2017, 2:00 p.m.: This post has been updated.