Nigeria’s Afrobeats stars are making noise on American music’s biggest stage again. Burna Boy (Damini Ogulu) and Tems (Temilade Openiyi) have both scored 2026 MTV VMA nominations, further cementing their status as Nigeria’s biggest global music exports.
The VMAs, one of the most-watched award shows in the American music calendar, will air live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 27, broadcast on CBS with a simulcast on MTV and a stream on Paramount+.
Burna Boy’s nominations stem from “Dai Dai,” his collaboration with Colombian pop star Shakira, which was selected as the official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, arguably one of the highest-visibility placements any artist can land in a World Cup year. That single earned him a double nod: Best Collaboration and Best Latin.
In the Best Collaboration race, Burna Boy and Shakira are up against a stacked field that includes the reunited Clipse lineup with Kendrick Lamar and Pusha T on “Chains & Whips,” French Montana and Max B’s “Ever Since U Left Me,” pop heavyweights Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter on “Bring Your Love,” the PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson team-up “Stateside,” and Teyana Taylor with Lucky Daye on “Hard Part.”
The Best Latin category puts “Dai Dai” in competition with genre stalwarts Bad Bunny and Karol G, as well as Anitta and Shakira’s “Choka Choka,” Fuerza Regida, Rosalía featuring Yahritza Y Su Esencia, and the trio of Ryan Castro, Kapo and Gangsta, a nod to how thoroughly “Dai Dai” has crossed genre lines since its release.
Tems, meanwhile, picked up a Best R&B nomination for “Raindance,” her collaboration with British rapper Dave. She’ll be competing against an A-list slate: Bruno Mars (“I Just Might”), Chris Brown (“It Depends/Obvious”), Justin Bieber (“Yukon”), Kehlani (“Folded”), and Mariah the Scientist featuring Kali Uchis (“Is It a Crime”).
It’s a notable placement for Tems, whose airy, soul-inflected vocals have made her one of the most in-demand collaborators to emerge from the Afrobeats scene over the past few years.
Perhaps the most striking detail for Nigerian fans following this year’s nominations is what’s missing: The Best Afrobeats category, a fixture in recent VMA ceremonies, has been dropped from the 2026 lineup entirely.
Whether that reflects a restructuring of MTV’s genre categories, changing viewership priorities, or simply a one-year omission remains unclear, but it means Burna Boy and Tems’s recognition this year comes entirely through cross-genre categories, arguably a signal of how deeply Afrobeats collaborators have embedded themselves into pop, Latin, and R&B rather than being confined to a standalone lane.
Elsewhere, the nominations are dominated by pop’s old guard and new guard alike. Madonna leads all nominees with 11 nods on the strength of her “Confessions II The Film” project, while Taylor Swift trails with nine nominations, including a Video of the Year nod for “The Fate of Ophelia.”
Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, and Sabrina Carpenter also feature prominently across the marquee categories.
Fans can cast votes daily in most categories through 6 p.m. ET on September 25, ahead of the live ceremony two days later. With Burna Boy and Tems both in the mix, Nigerian fans will have reason to tune in even without a dedicated Afrobeats category to root for.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Burna Boy and Tems both land 2026 VMA nominations: Burna Boy for “Dai Dai” with Shakira (Best Collaboration, Best Latin) and Tems for “Raindance” with Dave (Best R&B), but they’re doing it without a Best Afrobeats category, which MTV has dropped this year.
Their recognition now comes purely through mainstream, cross-genre categories, a sign Afrobeats artists are competing at the center of pop rather than in a genre lane of their own.
