New Jersey’s Prudential Center became the center of the music universe on Tuesday, September 12, as recording artists converged and cheered each other on at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, with the one and only Nicki Minaj as emcee.
Lil Wayne and Olivia Rodrigo opened the festivities — one with an explosive medley and another with a show-stopper — and that was just the warm-up. Check out those acts and more performances below.
Lil Wayne
Weezy opened the show in fiery fashion, performing “Back That Azz Up,” “Uproar,” and “Kat Food.” (And yes, that is a Missy Elliott Sample you hear.)
Olivia Rodrigo
Rodrigo brought the house down — literally — as the set collapsed around her during her rendition of “Vampire.” It was all an act, though, and she came back on stage to sing “Get Him Back!”
Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion
In case the percussion wasn’t a dead giveaway, these two rap stars brought the “Bongos” — and no microphones were harmed in the making of this performance.
Demi Lovato
True to the hard-rock angle of her upcoming remix album Revamped, Lovato gave sharper edges to her pop hits “Heart Attack,” “Sorry Not Sorry,” and “Cool for the Summer” on the VMAS stage.
Kaliii
Need everyone in every area code to watch @kaliii‘s #VMA performance, RIGHT NOW‼️ pic.twitter.com/Jy7EgA8bEL
— Video Music Awards (@vmas) September 13, 2023
No, Kaliii wasn’t performing “Area Codes” from another area code — she lit up VMAs’ Doritos Extended Play Stage. It was a short performance, but she got more airplay later in the broadcast with a performance of “K Toven.”
Anitta
The Brazilian singer told us who she “Used to Be,” she brought the “Funk Rave” to the stage, … and then she got a “Grip”!
Doja Cat
This rapper certainly got our “Attention” — and that of audience member Tiffany Haddish — with her first VMAs song. Then she had a chance to “Paint the Town Red” and to exorcise some “Demons.”
Shakira
This year’s Video Vanguard Award honoree blessed the audience with a medley of her greatest hits, including “She Wolf,” “Te Felicito,” and “Whenever, Wherever.” And no, her hips still aren’t lying.
Nicki Minaj
Attn: Barbz — this year’s VMAs host sang her song “Last Time I Saw You” and then debuted a new, unnamed single from her upcoming album, Pink Friday 2.
Karol G
Pecs and six-packs surrounded this reggaetón superstar as she performed a medley of “Oki Doki” of “Tá OK” — and that’s oki doki with us.
Renee Rapp
I am…SPEECHLESS after watching @ReneeRapp's #VMA performance on the Extended Play Stage 🤩 pic.twitter.com/BKdEgtp6zi
— Video Music Awards (@vmas) September 13, 2023
In case you didn’t know it, this star of The Sex Lives of College Girls has a music career! She performed her single “Too Well” on the Extended Play Stage, and later in the broadcast, she sang “Pretty Girls.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs
Diddy started his Global Icon Award medley with a new track — “Another One of Me” from his upcoming release, The Love Album: Off the Grid — before segueing into hits like “I’ll Be Missing You,” “It’s All About the Benjamins,” and “Bad Boy for Life,” and Keyshia Cole and his son King joined him on stage.
Peso Pluma
This 24-year-old became the first música Mexicana star to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards when he performed “Lady Gaga” on Tuesday night, according to Rolling Stone.
Stray Kids
Not long after winning the VMA for Best K-Pop, this eight-member group performed their winning song, “S-Class,” which helped their album 5-Star debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in June.
The Warning
@TheWarningBand2 ROCKED the #VMAs with their debut performance on the Extended Play Stage 🎸🤘 pic.twitter.com/L04T3TI4dC
— Video Music Awards (@vmas) September 13, 2023
Fans of this Mexican hard rock band probably wanted “More” after the group’s Extended Play Stage performance. Luckily, they got another chance to shine, performing “Evolve” later in the broadcast.
Metro Boomin, Future, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Swae Lee & Nav
Metro hit the VMAs stage with some of his friends, performing “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” with Future and “Calling” with A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Swae Lee, and Nav.
Fall Out Boy
Marking their first VMAs performance since 2007, this pop-punk band performed their updated spin on Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” on a flaming stage outside the arena.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER & Anitta
Anitta came “Back For More” on Tuesday, returning to the stage with one of K-Pop’s most successful groups.
Måneskin
Damiano David, lead singer of this Italian rock band, went from vocalist to videographer, helping to film the group’s VMAs performance himself.
Kelsea Ballerini
The country-pop star sang “Penthouse (Healed Version),” a single she introduced in May as a reworked version of a single she released in February.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Doug E. Fresh, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J & Darryl “DMC” McDaniels
At the end of the show, hip-hop legends celebrated a half-century of the genre with a medley of their greatest hits. (And now that NCIS: Los Angeles is done, maybe we’ll get another LL Cool J album one of these days!)
