Category: Viral

The official nominations list for the 2023 MTV VMAs is here. Taylor Swift leads the pack with eight nominations (Video Of The Year, Artist Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Pop, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Editing). SZA is the second most nominated act, with a total of six (Video Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best R&B, Best Direction, Best Art Direction, and Best Editing)

Meanwhile, Doja Cat, Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sam Smith are all tied for third spot with five nominations. Blackpink, Diddy, and Shakira follow with four nominations each. The ceremony will be broadcasted live on Tuesday, September 12, beginning at 8 p.m. ET from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Fan voting for several of this year’s categories, including the newly formed Best Afrobeats, Video Of The Year, and Artist Of The Year, begins today (August 8) and will run until the day of the show (September 12). However, the voting from Group Of The Year and Song Of The Summer will be conducted at a later date. Find more information here.

View the full list of nominations for the 2023 MTV VMAs below.

Video Of The Year

Doja Cat – “Attention”
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
Sam Smith & Kim Petras – “Unholy”
SZA – “Kill Bill”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

Artist Of The Year

Beyoncé
Doja Cat
KAROL G
Nicki Minaj
Shakira
Taylor Swift

Song Of The Year

Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”
Sam Smith & Kim Petras – “Unholy”
Steve Lacy – “Bad Habit”
SZA – “Kill Bill”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

Best New Artist

GloRilla
Ice Spice
Kaliii
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Reneé Rapp

Push Performance Of The Year

August 2022: Saucy Santana – “Booty”
September 2022: Stephen Sanchez – “Until I Found You”
October 2022: JVKE – “Golden Hour”
November 2022: Flo Milli – “Conceited”
December 2022: Reneé Rapp – “Colorado”
January 2023: Sam Ryder – “All The Way Over”
February 2023: Armani White – “GOATED”
March 2023: FLETCHER – “Becky’s So Hot”
April 2023: TOMORROW X TOGETHER – “Sugar Rush Ride”
May 2023: Ice Spice – “Princess Diana”
June 2023: FLO – “Losing You”
July 2023: Lauren Spencer Smith – “That Part”

Best Collaboration

David Guetta & Bebe Rexha – “I’m Good (Blue)”
Post Malone & Doja Cat – “I Like You (A Happier Song)”
Diddy feat. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami – “Gotta Move On”
KAROL G & Shakira – “TQG”
Metro Boomin with The Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)”
Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”

Best Pop

Demi Lovato – “Swine”
Dua Lipa – “Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)”
Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed”
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
P!NK – “TRUSTFALL”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

Best Hip-Hop

Diddy feat. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami – “Gotta Move On”
DJ Khaled feat. Drake & Lil Baby – “STAYING ALIVE”
GloRilla & Cardi B – “Tomorrow 2”
Lil Uzi Vert – “Just Wanna Rock”
Lil Wayne feat. Swizz Beatz & DMX – “Kant Nobody”
Metro Boomin feat. Future – “Superhero (Heroes and Villains)”
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”

Best R&B

Alicia Keys feat. Lucky Daye – “Stay”
Chlöe feat. Chris Brown – “How Does It Feel”
Metro Boomin with The Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)
SZA – “Shirt”
Toosii – “Favorite Song”
Yung Bleu & Nicki Minaj – “Love In The Way”

Best Alternative

Blink-182 – “Edging”
Boygenius – “The Film”
Fall Out Boy – “Hold Me Like A Grudge”
Lana Del Rey feat. Jon Batiste – “Candy Necklace”
Paramore – “This Is Why”
Thirty Seconds To Mars – “Stuck”

Best Rock

Foo Fighters – “The Teacher”
Linkin Park – “Lost (Original Version)”
Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Tippa My Tongue”
Måneskin – “THE LONELIEST”
Metallica – “Lux Æterna”
Muse – “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween”

Best Latin

Anitta – “Funk Rave”
Bad Bunny – “WHERE SHE GOES”
Eslabon Armado & Peso Pluma – “Ella Baila Sola”
KAROL G & Shakira – “TQG”
ROSALÍA – “DESPECHÁ”
Shakira – “Acróstico”

Best K-Pop

Aespa – “Girls”
BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom”
FIFTY FIFTY – “Cupid”
SEVENTEEN – “Super”
Stray Kids – “S-Class”
TOMORROW X TOGETHER – “Sugar Rush Ride”

BEST AFROBEATS

Ayra Starr – “Rush”
Burna Boy – “It’s Plenty”
Davido feat. Musa Keys – “UNAVAILABLE”
Fireboy DML & Asake –”Bandana”
Libianca – “People”
Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”
Wizkid feat Ayra Starr– “2 Sugar”

Video For Good

Alicia Keys – If I Ain’t Got You (Orchestral)
Bad Bunny – “El Apagón – Aquí Vive Gente”
Demi Lovato – “Swine”
Dove Cameron – “Breakfast”
Imagine Dragons – “Crushed”
Maluma – “La Reina”

Best Direction

Doja Cat – “Attention” – Directed by Tanu Muiño
Drake – “Falling Back” – Director X (Julien Christian Lutz)
Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out” – Directed by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” – Directed by Colin Tilley
Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” – Directed by Floria Sigismondi
SZA – “Kill Bill” – Directed by Christian Breslauer
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Directed by Taylor Swift

Best Cinematography

Adele – “I Drink Wine” – Cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra
Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed” – Cinematography by Natasha Baier
Janelle Monae – “Lipstick Lover” – Cinematography by Allison Anderson
Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out” – Cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers” – Cinematography by Marcell Rev
Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire” – Cinematography by Russ Fraser
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Cinematography by Rina Yang

Best Visual Effects

Fall Out Boy – “Love From The Other Side” – Visual Effects by Thomas Bailey and Josh Shaffner
Harry Styles – “Music For A Sushi Restaurant” – Visual Effects by Chelsea Delfino and Black Kite Studios
Melanie Martinez – “VOID” – Visual Effects by Carbon
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl” – Visual Effects by Max Colt and Sergio Mashevskyi
Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” – Visual Effects by Max Colt / FRENDER
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Visual Effects by Parliament

Best Choreography

BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” – Choreography by Kiel Tutin, Sienna Lalau, Lee Jung (YGX), Taryn Cheng (YGX)
Dua Lipa – “Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)” – Choreography by Charm LaDonna
Jonas Brothers – “Waffle House” – Choreography by Jerry Reece
Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” – Choreography by Sean Bankhead
Panic! At The Disco – “Middle Of A Breakup” – Choreography by Monika Felice Smith
Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” – Choreography by (LA)HORDE – Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, Arthur Harel

Best Art Direction

boygenius – “the film” – Art Direction by Jen Dunlap
BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” – Art Direction by Seo Hyun Seung (GIGANT)
Doja Cat – “Attention” – Art Direction by Spencer Graves
Lana Del Rey ft. Jon Batiste – “Candy Necklace” – Art Direction by Brandon Mendez
Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” – Art Direction by Niko Philipides
SZA – “Shirt” – Art Direction by Kate Bunch

Best Editing

BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” – Editing by Seo Hyun Seung (GIGANT)
Kendrick Lamar – “Rich Spirit” – Edited by Grason Caldwell
Miley Cyrus – “River” – Edited by Brandan Walter
Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire” – Edited by Sofia Kerpan and David Checel
SZA – “Kill Bill” – Edited by Luis Caraza Peimbert
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – Edited by Chancler Haynes

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Boys audience wants more. That’s perhaps the best TV dilemma out there, and it sure does feel like we’ve been waiting too long for Season 4, although the college-aged spinoff, Gen V (which has already freaked out Arnold Schwarzenegger), will arrive before too long. However, people also cannot stop creating tangential drama where there isn’t any.

Such was the case last week when Fantastic Four casting rumors (once again) began to swirl, and Wee Hughie himself, Jack Quaid, surfaced in the fictional mix for Johnny Storm/Human Torch. Jack — who I must remind you has strong, almost Joker-esque smile genes from both Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan — didn’t let things simmer for long. He quickly spoke up and added a good cause: “Not playing Johnny Storm but hey I’m flattered. Now that you’re here though, donate to the @sagaftra foundation if you can!”

As well, The Boys Twitter account added their own rebuttal, given that Quaid is already indispensable to The Boys of The Boys fame: “He’s already in a pretty fantastic four.”

Not content to let that be their only smartass remark, the account added a little hello from Lamplighter: “Flame On, mates.”

So there you have it. Good things can still happen on Twitter from time to time, and The Boys has one of the best TV show accounts in the game.

Although the cast of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has paused public promotional appearances in support of the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes, they still need an outlet to let their creative energy shine. Charlie Day, who plays Charlie Kelly on the long-running comedy series, dropped by a Portugal The Man concert at the Hollywood Bowl over the weekend.

While there, he treated the crowd to one of Kelly’s beloved songs from the show: “Dayman” from the classic “The Nightman Cometh” episode. For context, during this particular episode, the group of friends puts on a musical where Day’s character plays the fictional Dayman, who wears an all-yellow outfit and battles the “Nightman” (played by Rob McElhenney’s Mac).

“Dayman, fighter of the Nightman, champion of the sun / He’s a master of karate and friendship for everyone,” the actually-catchy song goes.

Though getting Day there might seem unexpected, it’s really not for Portugal The Man. The band has been a documented lover of the track, to the point of performing it over 100 times since 2013 (123 times, to be exact, per setlist.fm data).

Day also wasn’t the only zany special guest, as “Weird Al” Yankovic joined the group to duet “Who’s Gonna Stop Me.”

Check out Day’s “Dayman” performance at the Portugal The Man concert above.

Portugal The Man is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Toronto Raptors have become notorious in recent years for losing prominent players in free agency. While Kawhi Leonard was a bit of a unique situation when he joined the Los Angeles Clippers, the Raptors opted to not trade Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet before they could hit free agency and saw both players leave — Lowry went to the Miami Heat in a sign-and-trade, while VanVleet was able to walk out the door for nothing and join the Houston Rockets.

Next up for Toronto, potentially, is All-Star forward Pascal Siakam, who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, “there have been no substantive conversations surrounding an extension” for Siakam, who could put pen to paper on a 4-year deal worth $192 million. As for a trade, the team that has been most closely linked to a Siakam deal is the Atlanta Hawks, to the point that Charania reports they held discussions at Summer League and made an offer that was rebuffed.

Atlanta has offered a package centered around De’Andre Hunter, AJ Griffin and draft compensation to Toronto for Siakam, league sources say. But the Raptors are believed to have upped the price on any possible deal at each turn.

The tricky part for Atlanta is that they’re obviously not going to move Trae Young, and thanks to the extension that Dejounte Murray signed, he’s ineligible to get moved until early January. While they have some interesting young players who could get tossed into a deal — Hunter and Griffin are among them — the team moved a hefty amount of draft capital to acquire Murray last offseason.

It’s nearly Dametime. Damian Lillard, known musically as Dam Dolla, is nearly ready to drop his latest album, Don D.O.L.L.A. On the basketball court, he’s earned the respect of some of the game’s most celebrated players. Within the music industry, Dolla is doing to same as he continues to collect impressive collaborations, including Snoop Dogg.

In the album’s official trailer, director Brookfield Duece shows Dolla’s laser-focused grind to be the best on the court and in the booth. The athlete/musician took to Instagram to share a note about the forthcoming release, writing, “My 5th album, #DonDOLLA, is dropping in a couple of weeks. The most complete project I’ve put together. Top-notch features and production.”

The project will feature 15 songs, including previously shared singles “The Way It Goes” and “Cabo” featuring Sy Ari Da Kid. Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Ty Dolla Sign, Tobe Nwigwe, Jordan Sparks, Rexx Life Raj, and more will make guest appearances on the album. As for basketball fans holding out to learn more about his career on the court, Dolla also has a message for them.

“Basketball is what I do, but it’s not entirely who I am. Every time I get into the recording booth, it’s like stepping into another world. Being able to pursue a career in music and basketball allows me to be who I am, on my own terms,” wrote Dolla in a separate post on Instagram. Regardless of the NBA team he lands when trade talks have concluded, he’s confirmed that his music career will travel with him.

Watch the trailer above.

Don Dolla is out 8/17 via Front Page Music/Empire. Find more information here.

With Donald Trump now facing federal charges for his plot to overturn the 2020 election, which ultimately led to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building, former Vice President Mike Pence has suddenly shown a surprising willingness to attack his old boss.

Prior to Trump’s third indictment, Pence had been reluctant to criticize Trump’s election fraud shenanigans or even the MAGA riot that breached the Capitol while chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” His demeanor has since changed, and according to Bill O’Reilly, the former vice president could be the nail in Trump’s coffin when it comes to the latest indictment from special counsel Jack Smith.

“So there’s only one guy that can convict Donald Trump, and that’s Mike Pence,” O’Reilly told WABC via Raw Story. “And if Pence goes into the courtroom and says, Donald Trump knew the election was not a fraud, but he said it anyway, and I can prove it. And here’s the proof. Donald Trump goes down.”

As O’Reilly noted, Pence’s testimony could be easily supported by Mark Meadows, who is widely believed to have already cooperated with the Department of Justice’s investigation into the January 6 attack.

“Somebody like Mark Meadows would say, yeah, I was in the same conversation and Trump said X, Y, and Z, the jury in the trial, whatever gets there, that would be really damning,” O’Reilly said. “Pence himself is an honest man. [Trump’s] in over his head now.”

(Via Raw Story)

Andor is (a galaxy) far (far) and away the best Star Wars show. The Tony Gilroy-created series is thrilling, intelligent, and there’s no Skywalkers. What a concept! It probably won’t win Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmys, but it also doesn’t look out of place in the same category as Succession, Better Call Saul, and The Last of Us.

Andor is coming back for season two, but will season one scene-stealer Andy Serkis return, too? When asked by the Dagobah Dispatch podcast (in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike) about the fate of Kino Loy, the Lord of the Rings actor replied, “There weren’t really many discussions about the afterlife of Kino. All that we do know is that he survives. I mean, we don’t see him die. We see him left for a further life of the character.”

Serkis said there were “no discussions” about what “might happen afterward. I was just excited enough about the arc that I had to play, which was a really beautifully crafted illustration of a man who has a belief system that gets broken that then has nothing to believe in, that then gets kind of reignited by someone who inspires him to find himself again, and then self-sacrifices.”

I doubt Gilroy expected Kino Loy to become a fan-favorite character, which leaves him in a tough spot for season two. How can Kino come back without it seeming like cheap fan service? Should he come back at all? Can Serkis and Stellan Skarsgård have dueling monologues? (Hopefully yes.)

(Via EW)

Artists and their labels have never traditionally gotten along all that great, but sometimes, the struggle between art and commerce boils over, leading to public outbursts and occasionally even legal action. This has especially been the case for indie label Top Dawg Entertainment, courtesy of a tendency to sign ornery, outspoken artists who aren’t afraid to vent their frustrations with the label like SZA or take their time recording new music like Isaiah Rashad.

And while TDE has been pretty patient in the past, leading to some of the more successful releases in recent years like albums from the aforementioned artists and former artist Kendrick Lamar, apparently, even they have limits. Moosa Tiffith, son of the titular Top Dawg and one of the managers at the label, finally reached his during a live interview with Del Amo rapper Reason, calling in during the rapper’s appearance to refute his complaints live.

During Reason’s appearance on the podcast BACKONFIGG, he vented about the rollout for his upcoming album, Porches, saying, “We had certain features lined up that could’ve went through. We had the budget, we had the feature lined up, takes too long to get pushed through, feature price ended up going up or something goes away. Content ideas lined up, not executed. Rollout ideas lined up, not executed.” Reason specifically pointed to an attempt to secure a feature from EST Gee, but before it could be finalized, the Louisville rapper had released a song with Future, increasing his popularity and driving up the feature price.

When Moosa called in, though, things got heated as the manager asserted that former co-president, Dave Free, didn’t even want to sign Reason, who he called a “substitute teacher.” He also challenged the show’s hosts to name 10 Reason songs, and mocked the rapper when they couldn’t. “Dave never wanted us to sign Reason,” Moosa declared. “He called him a substitute teacher. Dot only said Reason had talent, but it’s gon’ take more than just talent in this game right now and everybody know that.”

You can check out the full episode above and see the argument in question below.

Grimes appeared for a new interview tied to being on the cover of Wired, where she did not shy away from speaking about all sorts of things tied to Elon Musk. Despite the two splitting a while back, they are still clearly close — enough for her to have an opinion on the reported cage match that Musk is having against Mark Zuckerberg.

She does believe that the fight will actually take place, considering how hyped up it’s been.

“I think so. Elon is very strong, but Zuck seems like he’s been training a ton,” Grimes shared. “I would prefer that it didn’t happen. I love gladiatorial matches, but watching the father of your children in a physical fight is not the most pleasant feeling. But it’s not going to cause brain damage, so actually I think this is good. Dudes need some outlet for trad masculinity. I told Sam Altman there should be a follow-up, him against Demis.”

During the piece, Grimes also admitted she might have been responsible for one of Musk’s Twitter (X?) posts, where he challenged Zuckerberg to a d*ck measuring contest in addition to their physical fight.

“I’m going to take credit for that one,” she added. “I was like, why don’t you cut to the chase and get out a ruler. I didn’t think he was going to tweet it.”

While it’s unclear still when exactly the two tech bros are going to box it out, there will definitely be people tuned in and betting on a winner.

Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert swung back into action earlier this week by posting a photo of herself launching grenades after complaining about grocery prices. Now, she’s back to dabbling in history, which hasn’t historically gone well for her, especially when one confuses a founding father with a beer brand. The MAGA congresswoman has also intentionally reminded people of her GED (which she received a few months before being elected to office) and trashed people who have student loans and wanted to abolish the entire education department.

Now, she’s here to suggest that a Democrat get a “history textbook.” Yep, she did. This perhaps rhetorical question went out to Al Sharpton after he suggested that Trump was of the same school as some noted U.S.A. enemies.

It’s unclear whether Boebert took the “or” to be an “and” when Sharpton asked, “Are you on the side of America…or are you on the side of King George or the Confederates? – that’s where I would cast Donald Trump.” She didn’t elaborate upon the substance of her remark, so people were left to interpret it as they will. And that led to a pile-on effect.

Yes, plenty of GED mentions happened, and you know, there is nothing wrong with having a GED. Yet attacking someone else’s intelligence kinda opens the door to criticism on the subject. People also inquired what Boebert was attempting to specifically say about Sharpton’s argument to no avail, which only opened her up to more criticism. As a result, it got a bit ugly out there on social media.

It’s difficult to understand why lawmakers have so much time to tweet when there are so many bills to read, or at least, matters to catch up on during recess.