MTV drops Best Afrobeats category after Tyla’s back-to-back VMA wins

MTV has removed the Best Afrobeats category from its Video Music Awards nominations after a three-year run, a change that follows South African star Tyla’s consecutive wins in the category.

What changed

According to IOL (Independent Online), the Best Afrobeats category was dropped entirely from the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards nominations. The publication says the move comes after Tyla’s back-to-back victories in the category.

Tyla’s wins and the category’s short history

According to IOL (Independent Online), Tyla won the MTV VMA for Best Afrobeats with “Water” in 2024 and “PUSH 2 START” in 2025, becoming the first two-time winner before MTV officially scrapped the category. IOL also reports that Nigerian star Rema was the first winner in the category, for the remix of his song “Calm Down” featuring Selena Gomez.

Other categories removed

IOL (Independent Online) reports that the Best Afrobeats slot is not the only category to be cut. Nine categories in total were completely scrapped for the 2026 ceremony:

• Best Rock
• Best Pop Artist
• Push Performance of the Year
• Best Album
• Video for Good
• Best Long-form Video
• Best Group
• Song of the Summer

Debate over genre classification

IOL (Independent Online) says Tyla’s wins have sparked continuous debate because her sound is described as being rooted in South African Amapiano, Pop, and R&B rather than West African Afrobeats. The publication adds that Tyla herself, during a past VMA acceptance speech, pushed back against the Western industry’s tendency to group diverse African music under a single “Afrobeats” umbrella.

African artists in other VMA categories

Despite the removal of the dedicated Afrobeats category, IOL (Independent Online) notes that African artists have nominations in other major categories: Burna Boy has two nominations for his 2026 FIFA World Cup collaboration, “Dai Dai,” with Shakira Best Collaboration and Best Latin and Tems has a nomination for her appearance on “Raindance” alongside British rapper Dave.

Leading nominees and event details

IOL (Independent Online) reports that Madonna leads the nominations with 11 nods, followed by Taylor Swift with nine. The publication also states that the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards will take place live on Sunday, September 27, 2026, from the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, and that the show broadcasts on CBS and MTV and streams on Paramount+.

All claims in this article are attributed to IOL (Independent Online).