Since 1984, the definitive celebration of music videos has been the MTV Video Music Awards. Some of pop music's grandest legacies made their names via the art form, and that means that the winners of the 2018 VMAs join the ranks of artists like Madonna, Eminem, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Pearl Jam, among hundreds of others. It's easy to get caught up in the outrageous outfits, flashy performances, and unexpected collaborations that the show is known for, but don't forget that the annual celebration is also about distributing Moon Person trophies to the year's most ambitious and beloved clips and artists.
The VMAs have changed significantly over the years, as has the way in which music fans consume videos. YouTube wasn't even a glimmer in anyone's eye in 1984, when MTV itself was still in its infancy. There's also a better understanding of what videos are capable of achieving, as far as social change is concerned. So categories like Push Artist Of The Year and Video With A Message have been created to reflect what the art form represents now and how artists use it. MTV also removed gender designations from its categories in this awards show and in the network's Movie & TV Awards.
So though the show is an institution, it's also changing with the times. But who will take home the coveted 2018 Moon Person trophies? This full list of nominees will be bolded with winners as the night goes on:
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)
Song Of Summer (Presented By TRUTH)
- Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa — “One Kiss”
- Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin — “I Like It”
- DJ Khaled ft. Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo — “No Brainer”
- Drake — “In My Feelings”
- Ella Mai — “Boo’d Up”
- Juice WRLD — “Lucid Dreams”
- Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B — “Girls Like You”
- Post Malone — “Better Now”
Remember: it's an honor just to be nominated! So cheers to the VMAs winners and to the "losers" too — they all contributed to another stellar year in music videos.
