The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards nominations were revealed this week. One category in particular stood out — the Artist of the Year. All of the nominees were females. This is the first time this has happened since the VMAs introduced the category in 2017. Beyoncé, Doja Cat, Karol G, Nicki Minaj, Shakira, and Taylor Swift snagged a nomination for Artist of the Year for the September show. This is also the first time that two of the nominees are Latin music artists. The first Latin artist to be nominated in this category was Bad Bunny, who won last year.
Women account for six of the seven nominees for Video of the Year. Nominations go to Doja Cat’s “Attention,” Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl,” Olivia Rodrigo’s “vampire,” SZA’s “Kill Bill,” and Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero.” The seventh nod is for Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy,” which made the duo the first openly non-binary and transgender artists, respectively.
AND THE NOMINEES FOR ARTIST OF THE YEAR ARE 🥁…
— Video Music Awards (@vmas) August 8, 2023
🚀 @Beyonce
🚀 @DojaCat
🚀 @karolg
🚀 @NICKIMINAJ
🚀 @Shakira
🚀 @taylorswift13
Vote for the 2023 #VMAs at https://t.co/jpKQNi80FS ⭐ Find out who wins September 12 on @MTV! pic.twitter.com/3UObVHjUlj
Taylor Swift has the most nominations for the awards show, with eight nods. She is followed by SZA with six; Doja Cat, Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sam Smith have five each; and BLACKPINK, Diddy, and Shakira have four each. The 2023 VMAs will be live on Tuesday, September 12 at 8 p.m. ET from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. The host has not yet been announced. Fan voting is open now through September 1 and can be done here.
Take a look below at the six female nominees for Artist of the Year: