Drake’s videos have been passed around, memed and parodied for more than a decade, yet he owns a surprisingly light VMA shelf with exactly three Moonpersons.
Tonight he gets two shots at a fourth. ICEMAN is nominated for Best Album, and “Janice STFU” is up for Best Hip-Hop.
The ceremony goes down at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with Snoop Dogg hosting. That alone gives the night a rap flavor before a single envelope gets opened.
The Best Album race is where things get crowded. ICEMAN is up against Madonna, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Bruno Mars and more, a field stacked with fan bases that treat voting like a group project.
That matters because the category is decided through votes on MTV’s Instagram Stories. It turns Best Album into something closer to a live popularity contest than a jury decision. The result says as much about who mobilized their followers as it does about the music.
Supporters would argue that setup plays to Drake’s strengths, since his records tend to live well past release week. A win would put ICEMAN in front of viewers who know every hook even if they don’t track every chart move.
Skeptics might counter that Swift’s and Carpenter’s fans are just as organized, and nobody walks into a fan vote with a guaranteed edge.
His second opening comes through “Janice STFU,” which already had a big spring. On May 18, 2026, Genius flagged that the track hit No. 1 on US Apple Music, knocking off another Drake song, “Ran To Atlanta.” Replacing yourself at the top is a flex very few artists can pull off.
The Best Hip-Hop category won’t be easy, though. Drake is going up against Cardi B with Kehlani, Don Toliver, Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott and Tyler, the Creator.
It reads like a cross section of where rap sits right now, with established stars, very different sounds and plenty of listeners ready to argue for their pick.
Travis Scott and Tyler both arrive with deep, loyal audiences, and Megan and Cardi have never lacked for vocal support either. For fans of every nominee, this is one of the easiest categories on the ballot to fight about.
The history adds a little tension. Drake’s first VMA came in 2012 for “HYFR” with Lil Wayne, and he picked up two more in 2016 for “Hotline Bling,” the video whose dance moves took over the internet for months.
Since then, ten years have passed without another Moonperson, despite a steady run of hits and visuals. One win tonight would honor the ICEMAN era as a whole, while the other would reward the video carrying its sound onto the VMA stage. Both now come down to the voters and the room once Snoop starts calling names.
