Kanye West covered a lot of topics in his almost seven minutes on the 2016 VMA stage Sunday night (Aug. 28), from getting flak for comparing himself to geniuses throughout history to his infamous phone call to Taylor Swift about his controversial song “Famous“.
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“If you see people dying right next to you, you can start to feel like, ‘What’s the point?’ I know for me sometimes I’ll sit down and talk to older, rich people – aka white – and they tell me, don’t compare yourself to Steve Jobs and Walt Disney and my people told me bruh bruh, they tell me don’t compare yourself to those people”. Adele, though, won’t attend the show at Madison Square Garden, her representative said.
But West’s remarks took a serious turn from there, as he proceeded to recount an anecdote when a young black Chicagoan told him past year that three of his friends had been killed and wondered if he would be next.
“First of all I’d like to thank my lovely daughter and my incredible husband for all of their support”, said Beyonce, who walked the carpet with Blue Ivy by her side. Bro, like, I love all y’all.
West could have another memorable moment Sunday if he wins video of the year later in the show.
The R&B singer’s politically-charged “Formation” will compete for video of the year prize with Adele’s 2015 comeback single “Hello”, Canadian rapper Drake’s “Hotline Bling”, Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” and West’s sleeping nude celebrity look-alikes in “Famous“.
Rihanna, who was given the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, worked her way through her multitude of hits, from “Please Don’t Stop the Music”, to “Work” and “Diamonds”.
Other performers include Britney Spears, Ariana Grande with Nicki Minaj, Future, Nick Jonas and The Chainsmokers. Grande cycled while singing and was backed by female dancers imitating her, while her male dancers lifted dumbbells and did other exercises.
The Atlanta rapper was introduced by legendary swimmer Michael Phelps who is fresh off winning five more gold medals at the Rio Olympic games. According to the presenter, rap icon Puff Daddy, the Toronto star got stuck in NY traffic. The best male video nominees are West, Drake, the Weeknd, Bryson Tiller and Calvin Harris, whose nomination is for “This is What You Came For“, which he co-wrote with former girlfriend Swift.
The Video Music Awards, broadcast to more than 120 countries, have always been known more for their on-stage antics than the winners, and this year MTV made a decision to let the artists loose.
Fifth Harmony, the five-girl group that won TV talent show The X Factor, took home 2 Moonman awards.
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Coldplay, Desiigner, Fergie and Alessia Cara earned multiple nominations, while David Bowie – who died from cancer earlier this year – is nominated for best direction, cinematography, art direction and editing for “Lazarus”.
