MTV scraps Best Afrobeats at the VMAs after three editions, African nominees win nothing

The category meant to recognise the global success of afrobeats no longer exists. MTV has given no explanation, and at the ceremony on 27 September not a single African nominee went home with an award.

MTV has dropped the Best Afrobeats category from the 2026 Video Music Awards. This became clear when the nominations were announced on Tuesday 18 August, The Citizen reports. The award, meant to recognise the growing influence of afrobeats and African music, therefore lasted only three editions.

The category debuted in 2023. The first winners were Nigerian artist Rema and American singer Selena Gomez with their hit Calm Down, TimesLIVE writes. South Africa's Tyla then won twice: in 2024 with Water and in 2025 with Push 2 Start. According to TimesLIVE, she is the only artist to have won the award two years in a row. Rema and Tyla are the only African artists ever to win the prize, BellaNaija says.

No explanation from MTV

MTV has not publicly explained why the category is disappearing. This is reported by, among others, The Citizen, BellaNaija and Legit.ng. It is also unclear whether the award has been abolished for good or is simply missing this year, The Citizen writes. In the sources we found, there is no response from MTV.

Afrobeats was not the only category to go. According to BellaNaija and DancehallMag, MTV cut nine categories in total, including Best Pop Artist, Best Rock, Best Group and Album of the Year. Best Dance, on the other hand, returned after seven years, The Citizen reports. DancehallMag describes it as a broader restructuring of the list.

African artists are still nominated

Without a category of their own, African artists have not disappeared from view entirely. According to Vanguard, Nigerian singer Burna Boy received two nominations for Dai Dai, his collaboration with Colombian singer Shakira. The song is one of the official songs of the 2026 football World Cup. It is nominated in Best Collaboration and in Best Latin.

Nigerian singer Tems is nominated in Best R&B for Raindance, a track with British rapper Dave. Tyla is not among this year's nominees, Briefly reports. The VMAs were held on Sunday 27 September at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, according to Vanguard.

No African winners on the night

The first ceremony without Best Afrobeats ended in disappointment for the African nominees. According to TimesLIVE, not a single African artist went home with an award. Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter won Best Collaboration with Bring Your Love, which meant Burna Boy and Shakira missed out. Bruno Mars won Best R&B with I Just Might, so Tems and Dave also left empty-handed.

In Best Latin, the award went to Bad Bunny for NUEVAYoL, according to Capital FM. Madonna was the big winner of the night. According to TimesLIVE, she took home seven awards, including Artist of the Year and Best Dance.

A label that also chafed

The debate about the category is older than its removal. When Tyla won in 2024, she called the victory special but also bittersweet. According to Marie Claire, she pointed to the tendency to lump all African artists together under afrobeats. "It's more than just Afrobeats", she said. She said she comes from South Africa and represents amapiano.

BellaNaija writes that critics have long argued that a separate African category can act as a glass ceiling rather than true integration. DancehallMag counters that critics of the removal feel that visibility on a stage like the VMAs matters, especially for newer artists. Both views sit side by side, and MTV has yet to say which of the two played a part in the decision.

For African and Afro-Dutch music lovers, it is an open question whether afrobeats has now grown so big that it no longer needs a category of its own, or whether it will simply become less visible. The 2026 results offer no answer: African artists were nominated in general categories, but won nothing.

Want to read more? TimesLIVE wrote about the removal of the category and about the ceremony. The Citizen and BellaNaija offer additional background. Vanguard published the list of Nigerian nominations.

Bronnen

• TimesLIVE
• TimesLIVE: African stars miss out at 2026 MTV VMAs after Best Afrobeats category dropped
• The Citizen: MTV VMAs drop Best Afrobeats category from 2026 awards
• BellaNaija: MTV VMAs 2026 Removes Best Afrobeats Category After Three Years
• DancehallMag: MTV VMAs Removes Best Afrobeats Category After Three Years