Recipients
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video was first given out in 1989, and it was one of the four original genre categories added at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. This award was last given out in 2006, as MTV did not bring it back in 2008 like it did with other genre awards. Instead, artists and videos that were previously eligible for Best Rap Video are now eligible for Best Hip-Hop Video . Will Smith, Arrested Development, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z are tied as this award's biggest winners, each having won it twice.
The Grammy Award, or just Grammy, is an award presented by the Recording Academy to recognize achievements in the music industry. The trophy depicts a gilded gramophone. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest. The Grammys are the first and biggest award of the Big Three networks' major music awards held annually.
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock and alternative metal music which combines hip hop with heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, rapped vocals and sometimes turntables.
The MTV Video Music Awards is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards, the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the "Super Bowl for youth", an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony's ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year. By 2001, the VMA had become a coveted award. The statue given to winners is an astronaut on the moon, one of the earliest representations of MTV, and was colloquially called a "moonman". However, in 2017, Chris McCarthy, the president of MTV, stated that the statue would be called a "Moon Person" from then on. The statue was conceived by Manhattan Design—also designers of the original MTV logo—based on the 1981 "Top of the Hour" animation created by Fred Seibert, produced by Alan Goodman, and produced by Buzz Potamkin at Buzzco Associates. The statue is now made by New York firm Society Awards. Since the 2006 ceremony, viewers are able to vote for their favorite videos in all general categories by visiting MTV's website.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video was one of four original general awards that have been handed out every year since the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, though, the award was briefly renamed Male Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work for that year rather than a specific video. However, the award returned to its original name the following year. It was replaced by the Artist of the Year category in 2017, combining Best Male and Best Female video categories.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work for that year rather than a specific video. In 2008, though, the award returned to its original name. The category would become defunct beginning with the 2017 ceremony after the gender specific categories would be merged into the Artist of the Year category.
The MTV Video Music Award for Push Best New Artist has been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. Until 2006, the award was named Best New Artist in a Video. In 2007 its name was changed to Best New Artist, as the category underwent a format change to award the artist's body of work for the full year rather than a specific video. For the 2008 ceremony, the award retained its 2007 name but returned to the format of awarding a specific video rather than the artist's full body of work. The category was later renamed Artist to Watch through 2013 to 2015 while still keeping the format of an award going to a particular video. In 2020, the Best New Artist award merged with the Push Artist of the Year award (2018-2019) to create the Push Best New Artist award.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video, and in 2007, it was briefly renamed Best Director. The category acquired its current name with the 2008 awards. The most frequent winners are Spike Jonze and David Fincher with three wins each, although one of Jonze's wins is credited as the "Torrance Community Dance Group".
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and choreographer of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the full name of the award was Best Choreography in a Video. The biggest winner is Frank Gatson with six wins. Michael Rooney follows closely behind with five wins.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video was first given out at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The award, according to MTV, was originally intended for hip-hop-inspired songs, not necessarily actual hip-hop music videos. This explains the recognition of non-hip-hop songs such as "Thong Song" and "I'm Real (Remix)". The award was not given out in 2007, as the VMAs were revamped and most original categories were eliminated, however, Best Hip-Hop Video was reinstated in 2008. By then, though, the rules had relatively changed, as R&B and rap videos also became eligible for nominations in this category since the awards for Best Rap Video and Best R&B Video were not brought back.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance Video was first awarded in 1989, and it was one of the original four genre categories that were added to the MTV Video Music Awards that year. With a revamp of the awards in 2007, the category was cut out along with several others, yet it returned for the 2008 awards, where it was given a new name: Best Dancing in a Video. In 2009 the award for Best Dancing was again eliminated from the VMAs, but it was revived again in 2010 as Best Dance Music Video. The following year, though, the award was once again absent from the category list. Once again, the award was revived in 2012, this time under the name of Best Electronic Dance Music Video, celebrating the rise in popularity of EDM throughout the year. It was again eliminated for the 2013 awards. On July 17, 2014, MTV brought the category back, this time renaming it the MTV Clubland Award for the 2014 Awards. The pattern of awarding the moonman every other year continued in 2016 where the award was renamed Best Electronic Video. Finally, in 2017 this award's name was changed to Best Dance, which it has kept until the present. It was again eliminated for the 2020 awards.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock was first given out in 1989, one of the four original genre categories added to the VMAs that year. In its first year, the award was called Best Heavy Metal Video, and from 1990 to 1995, it was renamed Best Metal/Hard Rock Video. The category underwent a third, brief name change in 1996, when it was renamed Best Hard Rock Video. In 1997, the award acquired its most enduring name, Best Rock Video, which it retained until 2016. The following year, the word "Video" was removed from all genre categories at the VMAs, giving this award its current name: Best Rock.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop was first given out in 1999 under the name of Best Pop Video, as MTV began to put several teen pop acts in heavy rotation. Nominations, however, were not just limited to pop acts, as dance, R&B, pop/rock, and reggaeton artists have also received nominations throughout the award's history. In 2007, MTV eliminated this award along with all of the genre categories, but it returned in 2008. In 2017, the word "Video" was removed from the names of all genre categories, leaving this award with its current name: Best Pop.
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video was first given out at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. Prior to being called Best Alternative Video, it was known as Best Post-Modern Video in 1989 and 1990. After the 1998 ceremony, this award was eliminated, and it was not presented until over two decades later, when it was brought back for the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, under the name Best Alternative. During its discontinuation, artists and videos who would have normally been eligible for this award became eligible for other genre categories, including Best Rock Video.
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance is an honor presented to recording artists for quality rap performances. It was first presented at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989 and again at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, after which point the award was split into two categories: Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. These two categories were combined again in 2012 as a result of a restructure of Grammy categories, and the reinstated Award for Best Rap Performance was presented at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012. The restructuring was the consequence of the Recording Academy's wish to decrease the number of categories and awards and to eliminate distinctions between solo and duo or group performances.
The Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance was an honor presented to female recording artists at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003 and the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004 for quality rap solo performances. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
The Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally. The award has been given since the 1st Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 to artists, directors and producers of an individual promotional music video released for the first time during the award eligibility year.
Colson Baker, known professionally as Machine Gun Kelly (MGK), is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and actor. He has released four studio albums since Lace Up, his first, was released in 2012. He made his film debut in the 2014 romantic drama Beyond the Lights. He has also appeared in several other films and had a recurring role on the Showtime series Roadies in 2016.
Justina Valentine is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and model from Passaic County, New Jersey, best known for her singles "Candy Land" featuring rapper Fetty Wap, "All The Way" and "Unbelievable".