Entertainment

The 2018 VMA Nominations Are Here & No Surprise, It's All About Cardi B

by Emily Mae Czachor
Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

From Invasion of Privacy to "This Is America" to the Carters' full-fledged pop cultural takeover with Everything Is Love, it's no secret that 2018 has been a big year for music — and perhaps an even bigger year for music videos. So, after parsing through the full list of 2018 MTV VMA nominations, it seems safe to say most music enthusiasts won't be totally shocked by this year's stacked roster of nominees. MTV teamed up with Instagram Monday, July 16, to unveil the list of names via IGTV, Instagram's new standalone video platform. Last year, the award show made the switch to using gender neutral categories, and will do so again in 2018.

"The list includes dozens of artists whose reach and influence have elevated music's relevancy within the cultural conversation," MTV said in a statement Monday. And, after taking a look at the nominee lineup, that logic seems pretty tough to argue with. Leading this year's VMA bunch with 10 nominations across several categories is none other than Cardi B, whose debut album and standout collaborations this past year has earned her some serious — and well-deserved — recognition. Close runner-ups for most VMA nominations in 2018 are The Carters with eight noms, and Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) with seven.

Sounds like it's going to be a pretty tight race, no? But go ahead and see for yourself:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

  • Ariana Grande — "No Tears Left to Cry"
  • Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B — "Finesse (Remix)"
  • Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug — "Havana"
  • The Carters — "APES**T"
  • Childish Gambino — "This Is America"
  • Drake — "God's Plan"

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

  • Ariana Grande
  • Bruno Mars
  • Camila Cabello
  • Cardi B
  • Drake
  • Post Malone

SONG OF THE YEAR

  • Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B — "Finesse (Remix)"
  • Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug — "Havana"
  • Drake — "God's Plan"
  • Dua Lipa — "New Rules"
  • Ed Sheeran — "Perfect"
  • Post Malone ft. 21 Savage — "rockstar"

BEST NEW ARTIST (Presented by Taco Bell®)

  • Bazzi
  • Cardi B
  • Chloe x Halle
  • Hayley Kiyoko
  • Lil Pump
  • Lil Uzi Vert

BEST COLLABORATION

  • Bebe Rexha ft. Florida Georgia Line — "Meant to Be"
  • Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B — "Finesse (Remix)"
  • The Carters — "APES**T"
  • Jennifer Lopez ft. DJ Khaled & Cardi B — "Dinero"
  • Logic ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid — "1-800-273-8255"
  • N.E.R.D & Rihanna — "Lemon"

PUSH ARTIST OF THE YEAR

  • Chloe x Halle
  • Sigrid
  • Lil Xan
  • Hayley Kiyoko
  • Jessie Reyez
  • Tee Grizzley
  • Bishop Briggs
  • Grace VanderWaal
  • Why Don’t We
  • PRETTYMUCH
  • SZA
  • Kacy Hill
  • Khalid
  • Kyle
  • Noah Cyrus

BEST POP

  • Ariana Grande — "No Tears Left to Cry"
  • Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug — "Havana"
  • Demi Lovato — "Sorry Not Sorry"
  • Ed Sheeran — "Perfect"
  • P!nk — "What About Us"
  • Shawn Mendes — "In My Blood"

BEST HIP HOP

  • Cardi B ft. 21 Savage — "Bartier Cardi"
  • The Carters — "APES**T"
  • Drake — "God's Plan"
  • J. Cole — "ATM"
  • Migos ft. Drake — "Walk It Talk It"
  • Nicki Minaj — "Chun-Li"

BEST LATIN

  • Daddy Yankee — "Dura"
  • J Balvin, Willy William — "Mi Gente"
  • Jennifer Lopez ft. DJ Khaled & Cardi B — "Dinero"
  • Luis Fonsi, Demi Lovato — "Échame La Culpa"
  • Maluma — "Felices los 4"
  • Shakira ft. Maluma — "Chantaje"

BEST DANCE

  • Avicii ft. Rita Ora — "Lonely Together"
  • Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa — "One Kiss"
  • The Chainsmokers — "Everybody Hates Me"
  • David Guetta & Sia — "Flames"
  • Marshmello ft. Khalid — "Silence"
  • Zedd & Liam Payne — "Get Low (Street Video)"

BEST ROCK

  • Fall Out Boy — "Champion"
  • Foo Fighters — "The Sky Is A Neighborhood"
  • Imagine Dragons — "Whatever It Takes"
  • Linkin Park — "One More Light"
  • Panic! At The Disco — "Say Amen (Saturday Night)"
  • Thirty Seconds to Mars — "Walk On Water"

VIDEO WITH A MESSAGE

  • Childish Gambino — "This Is America"
  • Dej Loaf and Leon Bridges — "Liberated"
  • Drake — "God's Plan"
  • Janelle Monáe — "PYNK"
  • Jessie Reyez — "Gatekeeper"
  • Logic ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid — "1-800-273-8255"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • Alessia Cara — "Growing Pains" (Pau Castejón)
  • Ariana Grande — "No Tears Left to Cry" (Scott Cunningham)
  • The Carters — "APES**T" (Benoit Debie)
  • Childish Gambino — "This Is America" (Larkin Seiple)
  • Eminem ft. Ed Sheeran — "River" (Frank Mobilio & Patrick Meller)
  • Shawn Mendes — "In My Blood" (Jonathan Sela)

BEST DIRECTION

  • The Carters — "APES**T" (Ricky Saix)
  • Childish Gambino — "This Is America" (Hiro Murai)
  • Drake — "God's Plan" (Karena Evans)
  • Ed Sheeran — "Perfect" (Jason Koenig)
  • Justin Timberlake ft. Chris Stapleton — "Say Something" (Arturo Perez Jr.)
  • Shawn Mendes — "In My Blood" (Jay Martin)

BEST ART DIRECTION

  • The Carters — "APES**T" (Jan Houlevigue)
  • Childish Gambino — "This Is America" (Jason Kisvarday)
  • J. Cole — "ATM" (Miles Mullin)
  • Janelle Monáe — "Make Me Feel" (Pepper Nguyen)
  • SZA — "The Weekend" (SZA & Solange)
  • Taylor Swift — "Look What You Made Me Do" (Brett Hess)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  • Ariana Grande — "No Tears Left to Cry" (Vidal and Loris Paillier for Buf)
  • Avicii ft. Rita Ora — "Lonely Together" (KPP)
  • Eminem ft. Beyoncé — "Walk On Water" (Rich Lee for Drive Studios)
  • Kendrick Lamar & SZA — "All The Stars" (Loris Paillier for BUF Paris)
  • Maroon 5 — "Wait" (TIMBER)
  • Taylor Swift — "Look What You Made Me Do" (Ingenuity Studios)

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

  • Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B — "Finesse (Remix)" (Phil Tayag & Bruno Mars)
  • Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug — "Havana" (Calvit Hodge and Sara Bivens)
  • The Carters — "APES**T" (Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Jaquel Knight)
  • Childish Gambino — "This Is America" (Sherrie Silver)
  • Dua Lipa — "IDGAF" (Marion Motin)
  • Justin Timberlake — "Filthy" (Marty Kudelka, AJ Harpold, Tracy Phillips, and Ivan Koumaev)

BEST EDITING

  • Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B — "Finesse (Remix)" (Jacquelyn London)
  • The Carters — "APES**T" (Taylor Ward and Sam Ostrove)
  • Childish Gambino — "This Is America" (Ernie Gilbert)
  • Janelle Monáe — "Make Me Feel" (Deji Laray)
  • N.E.R.D & Rihanna — "Lemon" (Taylor Ward)
  • Taylor Swift — "Look What You Made Me Do" (Chancler Haynes for Cosmo)

And that covers this year's lineup of 2018 VMA nominees. It looks like the upcoming award show will tout some markedly strong competitors, so audiences will just have to tune in Aug. 20 to see whose music-video masterpieces come out on top.