Black girls made the VMA's this year and were the only reason that Black Twitter bothered tuning in and gave MTV their engagement. I hope MTV said thank you. Because without Missy, Normani, Lizzo, H.E.R. and Queen Latifah, that shit would have been as dry as a Popeye's biscuit.
It's no surprise that black women came through and handled business, because that's just how black women do. We've been seeing black women turn shit out on shows like the Soul train awards and BET awards for years. But seeing this many black women perform at the VMA's with MTV's wide ass reach made this cold motherfucker smile.
It was also a great mix of artists who intersect generations and eras. Normani as the newest girl on the block serving late 90s early 2000s. A legend like Queen Latifah reminding folk that she came up from Rap back in 1989. Lizzo, a fellow new-ish girl on the block alongside Normani, but of an age and generation that remembers when Missy was releasing music on a regular, and that Queen Latifah had a career before Girls trip and that it didn't start in films. And then Missy who is kinda Omnipotent in the sense that she transgresses points in time and just simply exists. Many kids of the post Cookbook generation may not really know Missy, but they definitely know at least one of her songs. And chances are they're listening to artists and watching music videos that have been influenced by Missy herself.
But it was also reaffirming to see the contrast between the performances that black folk put on versus the unmelanated. When I look at performances like Taylor Swift's and then I look at Normani or Lizzo's, it's quite literally like night and day. White girls be winning with mediocrity. Whilst black girls be giving excellence to win. And they all won this night.
I'm not gonna be talking about Taylor, Shawn Mendes or that other Fifth harmony girl, because quite frankly, their performances were as vanilla as their skin tones, and there are many other sites stanning them and giving their performances air time.
This is the 2019 VMA performance run down: The black edition.
'Yo Camila! What's good!?'
Normani's "Motivation" left many of us shook. I always knew Normani was the solo star assassin in Fifth Harmony and that her time would come, and Normani arrived RIGHT on time.
With all of the love that Normani is getting, there are of course doubters and sceptics. It comes with the territory and it's early days. I get it. Which is why I'm glad that she basically recreated the music video live on stage and gave us the same routine - sans certain parts of it, because 'singing' and a shorter edit of the song. Seeing her do that back hand spring and then that handstand into split move took my wig clean off. Normani knew she had to do it in order to let everybody know that was no stunt double in the video and that she can fucking do it.
There were some sound issues (not her fault) and I couldn't tell 100% if she was miming, but I think she was. I'm not gonna roast Normani for miming. My only gripe was that if she was live, her vocals were blending into the backing track. And if she was miming, then she needs to learn from Beyoncé and master the art. Backingtrackyoncé is a masterclass mimer. And this is not shade. It's just a fact. Lipsyncyoncé switches so seamlessly between miming and singing live during performances that you have to run tapes back and study that shit to catch when it's happening, and often times you can't tell when it is. Normani's live vocals are shaky as hell when she's just standing still, and she's a dancer. So it makes sense for her to spend 20 minutes a day watching Beyoncé performances on YouTube and master the art of miming and how to re-record vocals. Because it was kinda weird here.
But for her first solo performance at the VMA's, Normani delivered enough to show that she's one to watch. If she really stays on her grind and we give her a shot, Normani could be huge. It's great to see another black girl in the game come with such 'kill it' potential, and I hope she gets the shots to go the distance. Let's not do her like Amerie, Mya and dem.
Queen Latifah letting y'all know
I honestly forget that Queen Latifah was rapper. It's been a minute since she rapped, and there was even a minute where she seemed more taken with singing. Then there is all of the acting and hosting that she's been doing for the majority of her career now. Most probably have no idea that Queen Latifah started out as a rapper, so this performance was a great re-introduction to Latifah for those who didn't know.
The performance as a whole was cute. Putting a spotlight on rap folk from New Jersey was cool and it was great seeing different generations and eras of rap come together. But something about it felt off. Just having rappers from New Jersey perform just because the VMA's were held in New Jersey. Why tho? I'd expect something like this at the BET awards. But here?! It didn't fit in as well as it could and should have. There was no real sense of flow. It was just rap performances stitched together. Most of the audience barely knew the songs and they probably only knew most of the artist son the stage because of collaborations they'd done. 'Oh! That's the guy who was in Destiny's Child's "No, no, no" video'. 'OH. That's the dude that rapped on Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty"' not knowing it was based on Redman's song in the first place. 'Oh! She was in Girls trip and I think she's on Star too?!' So the crowd energy just wasn't there. If the whole production was more considered, this coulda been great. But as it was... Nah. Queen Latifah looked and sounded good tho and was a highlight.
We have the results. Lizzo. You are 100%...that bitch.
Seeing Lizzo's ascent has warmed this piece of limestone where a heart s'posed to be. It's so good to see an artist who is putting so much positive energy into their craft and the world, get it back in the form of quantitative success. Lizzo is a reminder of how important it is to have the whole package and cover all entry points and bases. Not everybody got into Lizzo through her music first. For some it may have been a watching a fun interview. Seeing an Insta story of hers. Seeing a pic on Instagram with a killer caption. A clip of her flute twerking. A photo of her showing hella body and embracing all of it. But whatever the entry point to Lizzo was, people stuck around because Lizzo is entertaining as fuck, she's good at what she does and OH SHIT. HER MUSIC IS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD!
As for this performance, it was one of my favourites of the night. As Lizzo gets bigger, the shows she books are larger in scale and her exposure grows, she rises to the occasion each time and delivers. Her BET awards performance was great and this was equally so. Lizzo's performance of "Good as hell" was what Taylor Swift's performance of "You need to clam down" wishes it coulda been.
I don't know H.E.R.
I was surprised as hell to see that H.E.R was performing on the main stage. I thought MTV woulda told her to go perform outside. And to debut a new song that nobody had heard of and for MTV to let a bitch!? How did she even!? I know she's a Grammy award winner. But DAMN. I wondered how an artist like H.E.R would do on a stage and in a setting like that of the VMA's, as her style more Jazz lounge than big ass auditorium. But H.E.R somehow managed to scale everything down and keep the performance so intimate that it felt like you were at a small venue gig and not some big ol' award show. I'm glad that she didn't feel the pressure to try and create this huge production, and chose to just do what felt right for her. And the message of the song could not have been any more fitting for a VMA show which was so black girl centric, with each one giving something completely different from the last.
Missy be puttin' it down
With a long overdue VMA Video Vanguard award ready to be handed over, Dr. Melissa Elliott took to the stage to show people why she was, is and will continue to be THAT bitch.
This wasn't a performance. This was a whole fucking production. The "Throw it back" opening set up looked so good, that shit coulda been a music video. This is what Missy does. She gives you moments so good they could be music videos in themselves.
Now I'mma be honest. Her BET performance was better, because it was far more focused. I may be biased because she performed "She's a bitch" and that is one of my fave Missy songs and videos, which she recreated for the performance. But this isn't a Missy issue. It's a VMA one. Video Vanguard performances always have that same feel, because artists feel the pressure to run through their better known songs, and they don't always sound great when they're put together in a medley. The exception to this is Beyoncé, who basically performed her entire album and said 'Fuck "Crazy in love"'. But as much of a spectacle and a feat as that performance was, I would have taken a couple of songs with great transitions, over what felt like a skip through her entire album. Missy still did an amazing job though and showed that she's is a consummate performer. I really hope she considers a tour. I know she has health issues, which is probably why she has never really toured. But I hope it's something that she'd consider if she feels it's something that she could do. I'd pay to see her live in a heartbeat.
The craziest thing about Missy (of which there are many) is that whenever she surfaces, it's like she's never been gone. Missy hasn't put a new album out in 10 years. She's been in the game for over 20 years. She's never really toured. Her releases never get wild promo like some of her peers. But she's always remained relevant, because what she puts out sticks.
We honestly don't deserve Missy and neither do the VMA's to be quite frank. Missy been giving iconic videos since day one and only after 20 years you honour a bitch?
Madam. Thee Stallion will need to kept outside the venue.
The criteria for being invited to perform at the main stage of the VMA must be to be an act with hits on the Billboard Hot 100, or maybe to have crossed over with some white people. I don't know. But Meg was told to perform for the people outside the venue. I won't shade this. Because an opportunity to perform at the VMA's, whether it's on the main stage, at the red carpet, or the delivery loading bay out back is still an opportunity. And let us not forget 2008, when P!nk performed outside the VMA's and gave the best performance of the night that put all of the main stagers to complete shame.
With Missy, Lizzo and Queen Latifah all having that main stage, it seemed odd to just have Meg warm up for the people outside. But I get it. Meg didn't seem bothered in the slightest. And it was actually nice to see a low key performance void of spectacle. Meg not being surrounded by stage commotion helped show everybody that she can just hit a stage, hit every pocket of her songs live and do what needs to be done. Meg also self censored her shit and was far more subdue than we're used to seeing. She wasn't up in the crowd giving us MTV Spring break and having people drive the boat, because she knew there were kids in the crowd. I'm sure Meg has a tick needs to her name in MTV's book because of it. And d'you knwo what? It was a cool (and probably unintentional) look at the different ways in which Rap can be performed and how it exists. Form something large scale, creative and extravagant like a Missy performance, to something old school with just a mic and a DJ and nothing else. Meg did good. Just one thing though... I saw the fishnets and they were ripped.
Black women showed up and shut it down. But Black men did too. Lil' Nas X took to the VMA stage to perform his latest single "Panini". First of all, shout-outs for the decision to do this song and not "Old town road", even though Billy Ray Cyrus was there and ready with the horses in the back. It was important for Lil Nas X to show that he's more than just "Old town road", even if that's all he'll be remembered for and the only song of his people will ever care about. And this is definitely how you show off a new song. Well...not BRAND new. But not fucking "Old town road".
As with all of his sisters, Lil Nas X put on a PRODUCTION. Visually, this looked amazing. You can't go wrong with Tron. (Tron Legacy? We don't know her). And it was great to see Lil Nas X give us choreography. He could have just stood at the front of the stage and gave us hype man arms with some rocks and leans whilst his dancers did all the way, but he was in that shit. This was not your typical Rap performance, which is what made it so good. It's great to see Lil Nas X not confine himself to the box that Rap often puts itself in.
It's easy not to take Lil' Nas X seriously, but I'm a fan. He's a young dude living his best life, breaking records, doing things on his terms, and he's black, queer and proud. His Twitter account is funny as fuck and he's very much in on everything. He has a brand and it's a really good one - something that will put him in good stead for whatever he does outside of music, if this shit doesn't pan out. Much like Lizzo, Lil Nas X is an example of how being a great character and having a fun Internet presence can do wonders.
I'm not going to go on about how MTV pandered to black folk this year. Yes, they kinda did. But it also made sense given who some of this year's hottest artists have been thus far. I'm just glad that so many black women got given this platform and were able to pimp the VMA's for those extra streams, YouTube views and Twitter follows. And for each act to come out looking and sounding so different from one another was a real displaying of blackness not being one sound or one look.
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