Burna Boy, Tems Earn 2026 MTV VMAs Nominations as Best Afrobeats Category Is Dropped

Nigerian music stars Burna Boy and Tems have secured nominations at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with Burna Boy receiving two nods and Tems earning one. The nominations were announced on Tuesday ahead of the awards ceremony scheduled to take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 27.

Burna Boy received both nominations for his collaboration with Colombian singer Shakira on the song “Dai Dai”, the official track of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Grammy-winning singer is nominated in the Best Collaboration category, where he will compete against Clipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T and Malice for “Chains & Whips”; French Montana and Max B for “Ever Since U Left Me”; Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter for “Bring Your Love”; PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson for “Stateside”; and Teyana Taylor and Lucky Daye for “Hard Part”. “Dai Dai” also earned Burna Boy a nomination in the Best Latin category, where it competes against songs by Anitta and Shakira, Bad Bunny, Fuerza Regida, Karol G, Rosalía featuring Yahritza y Su Esencia, and Ryan Castro, Kapo and GANGSTA.

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Tems, meanwhile, received a nomination for Best R&B for her collaboration with British rapper Dave on “Raindance”. The pair are up against Bruno Mars’ “I Just Might”, Chris Brown’s “It Depends/Obvious”, Justin Bieber’s “YUKON”, Kehlani’s “Folded”, and Mariah the Scientist and Kali Uchis’ “Is It a Crime”.

Madonna leads this year’s nominations with 11 nods, while Taylor Swift follows with nine. The 2026 VMAs will air live on CBS, with a simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+. Fans can vote in most categories daily until September 25 at 6 p.m. ET.

Notably, the Best Afrobeats category, which was introduced at the VMAs in 2023, has been left out of this year’s lineup after just three editions. The category had recognised the global rise of African music, with Rema and Selena Gomez winning the inaugural award in 2023 for “Calm Down”, while South African singer Tyla won in 2024 and 2025. MTV has not publicly provided a specific explanation for removing the category from the 2026 nominations.

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