Kendrick Lamar Leads This Year's VMA Ballot with a Cool Eight Nominations

Bang a gong and wake Miley Cyrus from the slumber of her fourth guided meditation of the day, for it is that time of year again! The VMAs are upon us soon, and they're extra woke: Following in the footsteps of the MTV Movie Awards, which scrapped gender-specific categories earlier this year, the VMAs – which honour achievements in the hallowed art of the music video – will be doing the same for this year's ceremony.

That means that instead of the Best Male Video and Best Female Video categories, artists will be vying for an Artist of the Year moonman, because it's 2017, and aren't we all human, deep down? Performativity and outward presentation forced by our oppressive social structures be damned: art, my friends, has no gender, and MTV knows it, baby.

In all seriousness, however, this is obviously a really great, progressive move that other music awards shows really ought to also be taking. And to match this step, the VMAs have got a pretty exemplary list of nominees, too. Leading the pack with eight nominations is Kendrick Lamar, whose visuals for his DAMN. cuts have been some of the best of the year, and he's closely followed by The Weeknd and Katy Perry, who each have been nominated five times. The new Artist of the Year category will be contested by Kendrick, Lorde, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars and The Weeknd, and you can watch it all unfold on 27 August. See the full noms list below:

Kendrick Lamar - "Humble"
Bruno Mars - "24K Magic"
Alessia Cara - "Scars To Your Beautiful"
DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller - "Wild Thoughts"
The Weeknd - "Reminder"

Bruno Mars
Kendrick Lamar
Ed Sheeran
Ariana Grande
The Weeknd
Lorde

Khalid
Kodak Black
SZA
Young M.A
Julia Michaels
Noah Cyrus

Charlie Puth ft. Selena Gomez - "We Don't Talk Anymore"
DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller - "Wild Thoughts"
D.R.A.M. ft. Lil Yachty - "Broccoli"
The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey - "Closer"
Calvin Harris ft. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean - "Feels"
Zayn & Taylor Swift - "I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)"

Shawn Mendes - "Treat You Better"
Ed Sheeran - "Shape of You"
Harry Styles - "Sign Of The Times"
Fifth Harmony ft. Gucci Mane - "Down"
Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley - "Chained To The Rhythm"
Miley Cyrus - "Malibu"

Kendrick Lamar - "Humble"
Big Sean - "Bounce Back"
Chance the Rapper - "Same Drugs"
D.R.A.M. ft. Lil Yachty - "Broccoli"
Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert - "Bad & Boujee"
DJ Khaled ft. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne - "I'm The One"

Zedd and Alessia Cara - "Stay"
Kygo x Selena Gomez - "It Ain't Me"
Calvin Harris - "My Way"
Major Lazer ft. Justin Bieber and MØ - "Cold Water"
Afrojack ft. Ty Dolla $ign - "Gone"

Coldplay - "A Head Full of Dreams"
Fall Out Boy - "Young And Menace"
Twenty One Pilots - "Heavydirtysoul"
Green Day - "Bang Bang"
Foo Fighters - "Run"

Logic ft. Damian Lemar Hudson - "Black SpiderMan"
The Hamilton Mixtape - "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)"
Big Sean - "Light"
Alessia Cara - "Scars To Your Beautiful"
Taboo ft. Shailene Woodley - "Stand Up / Stand N Rock #NoDAPL"
John Legend - "Surefire"

Kendrick Lamar - "Humble"
Imagine Dragons - "Thunder"
Ed Sheeran - "Castle On The Hill"
DJ Shadow ft. Run The Jewels - "Nobody Speak"
Halsey - "Now or Never"

Kendrick Lamar - "Humble"
Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley - "Chained To The Rhythm"
Bruno Mars - "24K Magic"
Alessia Cara - "Scars To Your Beautiful"
The Weeknd - "Reminder"

Kendrick Lamar - "Humble"
Bruno Mars - "24K Magic"
Katy Perry ft. Migos - "Bon Appetit"
DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller - "Wild Thoughts"
The Weeknd - "Reminder"

Kendrick Lamar - "Humble"
A Tribe Called Quest - "Dis Generation"
KYLE ft. Lil Yachty - "iSpy"
Katy Perry ft. Skip Marley - "Chained To The Rhythm"
Harry Styles - "Sign Of The Times"

Kanye West - "Fade"
Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj - "Side To Side"
Kendrick Lamar - "Humble"
Sia - "The Greatest"
Fifth Harmony ft. Gucci Mane - "Down"

Future - "Mask Off"
Young Thug - "Wyclef Jean"
Lorde - "Green Light"
The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey - "Closer"
The Weeknd - "Reminder"

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