Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars Among Leading 2025 MTV VMA Nominees

There are 19 gender-neutral categories, and fans can vote by visiting vote.mtv.com through Sept. 5 at 6pm EST. Voting for best new artist will remain active into the Sept. 7 ceremony. The nominees for social categories will be announced at a later date.

You can check out the full list of 2025 MTV VMA nominees.

Video of the year

• Ariana Grande – “brighter days ahead”
• Billie Eilish – “BIRDS OF A FEATHER”
• Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die With A Smile”
• ROSÉ & Bruno Mars – “APT.”
• Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
• The Weeknd, Playboi Carti – “Timeless”

Artist of the year

• Bad Bunny
• Beyoncé
• Kendrick Lamar
• Lady Gaga
• Morgan Wallen
• Taylor Swift
• The Weeknd

Song of the year

• Alex Warren – “Ordinary”
• Billie Eilish – “BIRDS OF A FEATHER”
• Doechii – “Anxiety”
• Ed Sheeran – “Sapphire”
• Gracie Abrams – “I Love You, I’m Sorry”
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die With A Smile”
• Lorde – “What Was That”
• ROSÉ & Bruno Mars – “APT.”
• Tate McRae – “Sports Car”
• The Weeknd, Playboi Carti – “Timeless”

Best new artist

• Alex Warren
• Ella Langley
• Gigi Perez
• Lola Young
• sombr
• The Marías

Best pop artist

• Ariana Grande
• Charli XCX
• Justin Bieber
• Lorde
• Miley Cyrus
• Sabrina Carpenter
• Tate McRae

MTV Push performance of the year

• Aug 2024 – Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
• Sept 2024 – Ayra Starr – “Last Heartbreak Song”
  Oct 2024 – Mark Ambor – “Belong Together”
  Nov 2024 – Lay Bankz – “Graveyard”
• Dec 2024 – Dasha – “Bye Bye Bye”
• Jan 2025 – KATSEYE – “Touch”
• Feb 2025 – Jordan Adetunji – “KEHLANI” (
• Mar 2025 – Leon Thomas – “YES IT IS”
  Apr 2025 – Livingston – “Shadow”
• May 2025 – Damiano David – “Next Summer”
• June 2025 – Gigi Perez – “Sailor Song”
• July 2025 – ROLE MODEL – “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out”

Best collaboration

• Bailey Zimmerman with Luke Combs – “Backup Plan (Stagecoach Official Music Video)”
• Kendrick Lamar & SZA – “luther”
  Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die with A Smile”
• Post Malone ft. Blake Shelton – “Pour Me A Drink”
  ROSÉ & Bruno Mars – “APT.”
• Selena Gomez, benny blanco – “Sunset Blvd”

Best pop

• Alex Warren – “Ordinary”
• Ariana Grande – “brighter days ahead”
• Ed Sheeran – “Sapphire”
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die with a Smile”
• ROSÉ & Bruno Mars – “APT.”
• Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”

Best hip-hop

• Doechii – “Anxiety”
• Drake – “NOKIA”
• Eminem ft. Jelly Roll – “Somebody Save Me”
  GloRilla ft. Sexyy Red – “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME”
  Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
• LL COOL J ft. Eminem – “Murdergram Deux”
• Travis Scott – “4X4”

Best R&B

• Chris Brown – “Residuals”
• Leon Thomas & Freddie Gibbs – “MUTT (REMIX)”
  Mariah Carey – “Type Dangerous”
• PARTYNEXTDOOR – “N o C h i l l”
• Summer Walker – “Heart of a Woman”
• SZA – “Drive”
• The Weeknd, Playboi Carti – “Timeless”

Best alternative

• Gigi Perez – “Sailor Song”
• Imagine Dragons – “Wake Up”
• Lola Young – “Messy”
• mgk & Jelly Roll – “Lonely Road”
• sombr – “back to friends”
• The Marías – “Back to Me”

Best rock

• Coldplay – “ALL MY LOVE”
• Evanescence – “Afterlife (From the Netflix Series “Devil May Cry”)”
• Green Day – “One Eyed Bastard”
• Lenny Kravitz – “Honey”
• Linkin Park – “The Emptiness Machine”
• twenty one pilots – “The Contract”

Best Latin

• Bad Bunny – “BAILE INoLVIDABLE”
• J Balvin – “Rio”
• KAROL G – “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido”
  Peso Pluma – “LA PATRULLA”
• Rauw Alejandro & Romeo Santos – “Khé?”
• Shakira – “Soltera”

Best Afrobeats

• Asake & Travis Scott – “Active”
• Burna Boy ft. Travis Scott – “TaTaTa”
• MOLIY, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea – “Shake It To The Max (FLY) (Remix)”
• Rema – “Baby (Is It A Crime)”
• Tems ft. Asake – “Get It Right”
• Tyla – “PUSH 2 START”
• Wizkid ft. Brent Faiyaz – “Piece of My Heart”

Best K-pop

• aespa – “Whiplash”
• JENNIE – “like JENNIE”
• Jimin – “Who”
• JISOO – “earthquake”
• LISA ft. Doja Cat & RAYE – “Born Again”
• Stray Kids – “Chk Chk Boom”
• ROSÉ – “toxic till the end”

Best country

• Chris Stapleton – “Think I’m In Love with You”
• Cody Johnson with Carrie Underwood – “I’m Gonna Love You”
• Jelly Roll – “Liar”
• Lainey Wilson – “4x4xU”
• Megan Moroney – “Am I Okay?”
• Morgan Wallen – “Smile”

Best album

• Bad Bunny – “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS”
• Kendrick Lamar – “GNX”
• Lady Gaga – “Mayhem”
• Morgan Wallen – “I’m The Problem”
• Sabrina Carpenter – “Short n’ Sweet”
• The Weeknd – “Hurry Up Tomorrow”

Best long form video

• Ariana Grande – “brighter days ahead”
• Bad Bunny – “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (Short Film)”
• Damiano David – “FUNNY little STORIES”
• Mac Miller – “Balloonerism”
• Miley Cyrus – “Something Beautiful”
• The Weeknd – “Hurry Up Tomorrow”

ideo for good

• Burna Boy – “Higher”
• Charli XCX – “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
• Doechii – “Anxiety”
• Eminem ft. Jelly Roll – “Somebody Save Me”
  Selena Gomez, benny blanco – “Younger and Hotter Than Me”
• Zach Hood ft. Sasha Alex Sloan – “Sleepwalking”

Best direction

• Ariana Grande – “brighter days ahead”
• Charli XCX – “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
• Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”
• ROSÉ & Bruno Mars – “APT.”
• Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”

Best cinematography

• Ariana Grande – “brighter days ahead”
• Ed Sheeran – “Sapphire”
• Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”
• Miley Cyrus – “Easy Lover”
• Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”

Best editing

• Charli XCX – “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
• Ed Sheeran – “Sapphire”
• Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”
• Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
• Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching (From F1® The Movie)”

Best choreography

• Doechii – “Anxiety”
• FKA twigs – “Eusexua”
• Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”
• Tyla – “PUSH 2 START”
• Zara Larsson – “Pretty Ugly”

Best visual effects

• Ariana Grande – “brighter days ahead”
• Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”
• ROSÉ & Bruno Mars – “APT.”
• Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
• Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching (From F1® The Movie)”
• The Weeknd – “Hurry Up Tomorrow”

Best art direction

• Charli XCX – “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
• Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”
• Lorde – “Man of The Year”
• Miley Cyrus – “End of the World”
• ROSÉ & Bruno Mars – “APT.”