Photo courtesy of Beyonce

Entertainment

This Year’s MTV Video Music Awards Will Be Another Coronation For Beyoncé

She leads with 11 nominations

by daniel barna

The MTV Video Music Awards have never been the most accurate barometer of what's happening in the world—unless bickering pop stars and too much cleavage suddenly become pressing social issues. But on Tuesday, MTV announced this year's crop of nominees, and what do you know, there's some substance to go along with all that glitter.

It comes courtesy of Beyoncé, whose magnum opus Lemonade earned the singer a whopping 11 nominations, including 6 for her divisive "Formation" video, which will compete for Video of The Year against Adele's "Hello," Drake's "Hotline Bling," Justin Bieber's "Sorry," and Kanye West's "Famous."

While most of her competition stayed safely within the realms of music video banality (except maybe Kanye, whose attempt at boundary pushing felt forced), Beyoncé's video bravely explored her black heritage, commented on racial tensions in America, and featured one of the most killer dance routines of the year. It was the perfect piece of pop culture ephemera mixed with biting social commentary, something only Queen Bey herself can pull off. 

Beyoncé’s clips for "Sorry," "Hold Up," and "Freedom," also earned nominations, cementing Lemonade's place as one of the most important artistic statements of the year. While Drake, Ariana Grande, Adele, and Kanye West will all look to take home major hardware after picking up multiple nominations themselves, the night will ultimately belong to Beyoncé.

The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards will air from Madison Square Garden on August 28 at 9pm, and fans can vote for all the awards here

Check out the full list of nominees below:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Adele – “Hello”

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Drake – “Hotline Bling”

Justin Bieber – “Sorry”

Kanye West – “Famous”                                      

FEMALE VIDEO

Adele – “Hello”

Beyoncé – “Hold Up”

Sia – “Cheap Thrills”

Ariana Grande – “Into You”

Rihanna ft. Drake – “Work” (short version)

MALE VIDEO

Drake – “Hotline Bling”

Bryson Tiller – “Don’t”

Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”

Kanye West – “Famous”

The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face”

COLLABORATION

Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar – “Freedom”

Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla Sign – “Work From Home”

Ariana Grande featuring Lil Wayne – “Let Me Love You”

Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”

Rihanna featuring Drake – “Work” (short version)

HIP HOP VIDEO

Drake – “Hotline Bling”

Desiigner – “Panda”

Bryson Tiller – “Don’t”

Chance the Rapper – “Angels”

2 Chainz – “Watch Out”

POP VIDEO

Adele – “Hello”

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Justin Bieber – “Sorry”

Alessia Cara – “Wild Things”

Ariana Grande – “Into You”

ROCK VIDEO

All Time Low – “Missing You”

Coldplay – “Adventure of a Lifetime”

Fall Out Boy featuring Demi Lovato – “Irresistible”

twenty one pilots – “Heathens”

Panic! At the Disco – “Victorious”

ELECTRONIC VIDEO

Calvin Harris & Disciples – “How Deep Is Your Love”

99 Souls featuring Destiny’s Child & Brandy – “The Girl Is Mine”

Mike Posner – “I Took a Pill in Ibiza”

Afrojack – “SummerThing!”

The Chainsmokers featuring Daya – “Don’t Let Me Down”

BREAKTHROUGH LONG FORM VIDEO

Florence + The Machine – “The Odyssey”

Beyoncé – “Lemonade”

Justin Bieber – “Purpose: The Movement”

Chris Brown – “Royalty”

Troye Sivan – “Blue Neighbourhood Trilogy”

NEW ARTIST

Bryson Tiller

Desiigner

Zara Larsson

Lukas Graham

DNCE

ART DIRECTION

Beyoncé – “Hold Up”

Fergie – “M.I.L.F. $”

Drake – “Hotline Bling”

David Bowie – “Blackstar”

Adele – “Hello”

CHOREOGRAPHY

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Missy Elliott featuring Pharrell – “WTF (Where They From)”

Beyoncé – “Sorry”

FKA Twigs – “M3LL155X”

Florence + the Machine – “Delilah”

DIRECTION

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Coldplay – “Up&Up”

Adele – “Hello”

David Bowie – “Lazarus”

Tame Impala – “The Less I Know the Better”

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Adele – “Hello”

David Bowie – “Lazarus”

Alesso – “I Wanna Know”

Ariana Grande – “Into You”

EDITING

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Adele – “Hello”

Fergie – “M.I.L.F. $”

David Bowie – “Lazarus”

Ariana Grande – “Into You”

VISUAL EFFECTS

Coldplay – “Up&Up”

FKA Twigs – “M3LL155X”

Adele – “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)”

The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face”

Zayn – “Pillowtalk”