The most telling detail from this year’s MTV VMA nominations is not who showed up, but what disappeared.
The Best Afrobeats category, which MTV introduced in 2023, is completely absent from the 2026 slate, leaving Burna Boy and Tems to compete in broader genre categories instead.
Burna Boy picks up two nominations alongside Shakira for their single “Dai Dai,” landing in both Best Collaboration and Best Latin.
It is an unusual placement for an Afrobeats artist, but it reflects how the genre is bleeding into Latin music spaces globally, and how Burna Boy’s collaborations keep pulling him into unexpected corners of the industry.
Tems, on the other hand, earns her nomination through “Raindance” with British-Nigerian rapper Dave, competing in Best R&B. The pairing makes sense sonically, and it puts two artists with Nigerian roots in the same category without either of them needing a dedicated African music box to get there.
For fans who loved the Best Afrobeats category, its removal stings a little. Tyla won it twice, in 2024 for “Water” and again in 2025 for “Push 2 Start,” making her the most decorated artist in the category’s short history.
Rema remains the only Nigerian artist to have won it, taking the inaugural award in 2023 alongside Selena Gomez for “Calm Down.”
MTV has not explained the decision to drop Best Afrobeats, and it is not the only category that went missing.
Best Rock, Best Pop Artist, Best Album, Best Group, Song of the Summer, Push Performance of the Year, Video for Good, and Best Long-Form Video are all gone from this year’s lineup.
Best Dance, though, makes a return after a seven-year absence, which suggests MTV is actively reshaping what the VMAs look like rather than just trimming for time.
The broader African and diaspora presence across the nominations is still real. PinkPantheress scores five nods for “Stateside” with Zara Larsson, RAYE picks up two nominations, and Shaboozey appears in both Best Country and Best Cinematography.
French Montana earns a Best Collaboration nod alongside Max B for “Ever Since U Left Me,” sitting in the same category as Burna Boy and Shakira.
At the top of the overall nominations, Madonna leads with 11 nods, followed by Taylor Swift with nine. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter each land seven, while Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress, and Zara Larsson all sit at five apiece.
It is a year dominated by pop heavyweights, which makes Burna Boy’s presence in the Latin category feel like a genuine crossover moment rather than a token inclusion.
The ceremony is set for Sunday, 27 September, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. With the Afrobeats category gone and Nigerian artists now scattered across collaboration, R&B, and Latin categories, the question of how MTV frames African music going forward is very much open.
