The first Black Woman to host the VMA's, Keke Palmer had the privilege of hosting alongside Bella Hadid at the very first Virtual VMA's.
If you missed it, here are a couple of winners from this year's VMA's:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR: The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights"
ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Lady Gaga
SONG OF THE YEAR: Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande's "Rain on Me"
BEST COLLABORATION: Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande's "Rain on Me"
PUSH BEST NEW ARTIST: Doja Cat
BEST POP: BTS's "On"
BEST HIP-HOP: Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage"
BEST ALTERNATIVE: Machine Gun Kelly's "Bloody Valentine"
BEST LATIN: Maluma ft. J Balvin's "Qué Pena"
BEST R&B: The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights"
There was a little speculation regarding the VMA's just now, in 2020, having the first Black Woman host. Many Twitter users argued, "In 2020, it's really sad to be hearing 'first black...' before hearing something.”
The Weeknd's performance was performed at NYC's most visually astounding rooftop. Taking place at the Edge at Hudson Yards, Abel's cameramen had to be helicopter ready. Not only did an amazing light-show take place on set, behind the set took much talent to compose as well. Cameramen were ready to take the visually astounding visuals to the next place. Hovering over the stage set with many professional cameras equipped on to the choppers and rehearsals on how it would go made the most perfect recreation of a music video.
Another argument that arose was with Abel Tesfaye’s (The Weeknd) "Blinding Lights" being labeled "R&B". Blinding Lights recently became the 20th most listened to song on Spotify and has been streamed at least 100 times on any popular radio station. The song itself is very universally streamed and liked which is due to its very catchy tune and lyrics. The composition of the song also suggests many Pop elements. Yet, many people believe that it is unlikely for a song to be labeled "Pop" when a Black Artist is behind it because of the stereotype that Black artists focus on Hip-Hop, Rap, and R&B. Many fans were upset and demanded more than performative measures of ending racist stereotypes be put to an end.