MTV Announces 2023 Video Music Awards Nominees; Taylor Swift Leads, Beyoncé, SZA, Miley Cyrus and More Nominated

It’s that time of year. MTV has released its list of 2023 MTV Video Music Awards nominees.

Taylor Swift is in the lead with eight nominations. SZA trails close behind with six nods. Doja Cat, Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sam Smith are neck and neck with five nominations each, with Diddy, BLACKPINK, and Shakira each earning four nominations.

Video of the Year nominees include Doja Cat with “Attention,” Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” Nicki Minaj for “Super Freak Girl,” Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire,” Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy,” SZA’s “Kill Bill,” and Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero.”

Beyoncé, Doja Cat, Karol G, Nicki Minaj, Shakira, and Taylor Swift are up for Artist of the Year, and GloRilla, Ice Spice, Kaliii, Peso Pluma, PinkPantheress, and Reneé Rapp are nominated for Best New Artist.

As for Best Afrobeats,  Ayra Starr – “Rush,” Burna Boy – “It’s Plenty,” Davido featuring Musa Keys – “UNAVAILABLE,” Fireboy DML and Asake – “Bandana,” Libianca – “People,” Rema and Selena Gomez – “Calm Down,” and Wizkid featuring Ayra Starr – “2 Sugar” made the list.

It’ll be interesting to see who takes home the award for Best Hip Hop, which includes nominations for Diddy featuring Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami – “Gotta Move On,” DJ Khaled featuring Drake and Lil Baby – “STAYING ALIVE,” GloRilla and Cardi B – “Tomorrow 2,” Lil Uzi Vert – “Just Wanna Rock,” Lil Wayne featuring Swizz Beatz and DMX – “Kant Nobody,” Metro Boomin featuring Future – “Superhero (Heroes and Villains),” and Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl.”

Afrobeats was added as a new category for the first time in VMA history. Thirty-five artists have also become first-time nominees, including Metro Boomin, GloRilla, Ice Spice, Renee Rap, and City Girls rapper Yung Miami.

Fans can vote for most of the awards on MTV’s website through Sept. 1, while the best new artist category will remain active during the live show. In the meantime, Group of the Year and Song of Summer category nominations are TBA, PEOPLE reports.

The annual awards show airs live at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Sept. 12.