2026 MTV VMAs Nominations: Burna Boy, Tems Earn Nods As Afrobeats Category Dropped
Nigerian superstars Burna Boy and Tems have secured nominations for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, keeping Afrobeats visible on one of music’s biggest awards stages even after organisers dropped the dedicated Best Afrobeats category from this year’s lineup.
Burna Boy earned recognition for “Dai Dai,” his collaboration with Colombian superstar Shakira, competing in both the Best Collaboration and Best Latin categories. Nigerian Grammy winner Burna Boy is nominated alongside Shakira for their collaboration “Dai Dai,” which is up for Best Collaboration. For Burna Boy, “Dai Dai” carries major international significance as the official song connected with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the collaboration blending Latin pop with Afrobeats and gaining major visibility through World Cup performances ahead of the ceremony.
Tems secured a Best R&B nomination for “Raindance,” her collaboration with British rapper Dave, adding another milestone to her career. Fellow Nigerian star Tems is nominated in the Best R&B category alongside British rapper Dave for their collaboration “Raindance.”
The nominations come despite the notable absence of the Best Afrobeats category, which the MTV Video Music Awards have dropped from their 2026 nominations, following two consecutive wins by South African superstar Tyla, with the category absent from the nominations announced on Tuesday, August 18, for the 2026 ceremony, just three years after it was introduced to recognise the growing global influence of Afrobeats and African music. The Best Afrobeats category made its debut at the VMAs in 2023, when Nigerian star Rema and Selena Gomez became the inaugural winners for their global hit “Calm Down,” before Tyla claimed the award in both subsequent years, taking home the Moon Person in 2024 for “Water” and again in 2025 with “Push 2 Start.” MTV has not publicly explained the absence of Best Afrobeats from the 2026 line-up.
Several other genre categories remain in place, including Best R&B, Best Hip-Hop, Best Latin, Best K-Pop and Best Country, with Best Dance also back after a seven-year hiatus, while Best Rock and Best Group are not part of this year’s announced categories.
Beyond Burna Boy and Tems, this year’s ceremony is dominated by pop’s biggest names. Madonna leads the 2026 nominations with 11 nods, followed by Taylor Swift with nine, while Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter bagged five nominations each across multiple categories. Grande is nominated for artist of the year for a record-extending sixth time, with Swift landing her fifth nomination in the category, alongside Bruno Mars, Carpenter and Morgan Wallen, who is nominated for the second year in a row. K-pop acts including LISA, BTS and CORTIS also picked up nominations across the ballot.
Full list of key categories featuring African artists:
Best Collaboration: Clipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, Malice — “Chains & Whips”; French Montana x Max B — “Ever Since U Left Me”; Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter — “Bring Your Love”; PinkPantheress — “Stateside + Zara Larsson”; Shakira & Burna Boy — “Dai Dai”; Teyana Taylor & Lucky Daye — “Hard Part”
Best Latin: Anitta with Shakira — “Choka Choka”; Bad Bunny — “NUEVAYoL”; Fuerza Regida — “TU SANCHO”; KAROL G — “Papasito”; Rosalía ft. Yahritza Y Su Esencia — “La Perla”; Ryan Castro, Kapo & GANGSTA — “LA VILLA”; Shakira & Burna Boy — “Dai Dai”
Best R&B: Cardi B ft. Kehlani — “Safe”; Don Toliver — “E85”; Drake — “Janice STFU”; Megan Thee Stallion — “LOVER GIRL”; Travis Scott — “DUMBO”; Tyler, The Creator — “SUGAR ON MY TONGUE”; Tems & Dave — “Raindance”
The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards will take place on Sunday, September 27, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, airing live on CBS and MTV and streaming on Paramount+, with voting for most categories open at vote.MTV.com.
The removal of the standalone Afrobeats category has sparked debate among fans and industry watchers, with some expressing concern that its disappearance could limit dedicated exposure for African artists, while others argue it may signal that Afrobeats acts are now competing confidently within mainstream global categories rather than being confined to a genre-specific box.
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