Welcome back to all of our FAB readers! We are back and better than ever to give you guys the load down on this year’s MTV VMAs.  With plenty of memorable performances throughout the night, we can’t wait to get started and fill you all in.  

First up is the one and only Kendrick Lamar. He took a grand total of 6 awards throughout the night, finally breaking his running losing streak. However what really captured and held our attention was his unique and powerful performance of the night. His performance, which included his rendition of his top 5 hits to date, was truly notable as not just visually stunning, with ninja’s climbing burning scaffold as he rapped, but politically stunning as well. Kendrick Lamar chose to keep a sample of Fox’s The Five, in which they criticised his 2015 BET showing, as the opener to his hit track DNA. While this performance wasn’t as politically charged as some of his past ones were, it still made it clear to all in attendance that he will remain politically active in all aspects of his career including performances.

Next up we have Khalid who has been no stranger to the media in the recent months since he’s been killin it with his album and all the performances- including his crazy Santa Monica free concert that shut the pier down so it’s no surprise to us that he won for best new artist.  His performance was a medley of his wildly popular songs, ‘Location’ and ‘Young, Dumb, and Broke’ putting everyone in a light and happy mood.  This young artist may have just graduated high school but his recent streak of success shows that his career has just begun and he’s not planning on slowing down anytime soon.  Khalid took to Twitter to express his happiness about winning the award and his tweet shows his humble and sweet personality, you go Khalid!  We’re definitely rooting for you.

The VMA’s are always entertaining and full of surprises so when Thirty Seconds to Mars performed with an unlikely collab partner- Travis Scott everyone was pleasantly surprised.  The rock band and the hiphop artist performed “Walk on Water” with a feature from Travis Scott’s song “Butterfly Effect” and the two different genres of music went well together  in a unique way.  The performance was interesting since all the artists were under a heat sensitive camera and no one expected Travis Scott to be featured in their song since they’re pretty different styles of music.  Thank you to Thirty Seconds to Mars for giving us the collab that we never knew we needed until now!

Fifth Harmony’s performances have always been spicy and exciting but this time they were extra fierce in a different way.  As many of you readers may know, Fifth Harmony has had some drama with their ex-member Camila Carmelo since they all had a not-so-clean break up.  Reportedly Camila left the group to pursue her own solo career without telling the group and the group made it clear through their performance that they were doing just fine without her.  In the beginning of the pop girl group’s performance, there are clearly 5 silhouettes and within 5 seconds of the performance starting, the 5th person is thrown off stage.  Many fans noticed the group obviously throwing shade at the member who left and had mixed feelings about it.  However, the rest of Fifth Harmony’s performance was stunning as the girls danced in a futuristic setting since they were all wearing sparkly black and silver outfits and were dancing in glass boxes.

However, not all performances are purely glitz and glam, we have to end our list of amazing performances with Logic’s.  His performance was simple and straight to the point, but it left a lasting impact on all the viewers.  He performed his hit song ‘1-800-273-8255’ and it was super meaningful because he draws attention to suicide prevention and the importance of mental health.  The song highlights that everyone feels lonely sometimes and that people should never feel like they’re alone while going through dark times because there are always going to be others who can be there for you.  Instead of having back up dancers in exaggerated costumes, the people in the background of Logic’s performance were suicide survivors that wore white T-shirts with the suicide hotline number (which is also the title of his song) written on the front, and his central message of “You are not alone” on the back.  Logic is the paradigm of a conscious celebrity by using fame in a positive manner through using his large platform to highlight social issues that need to be addressed and shedding light on important struggles.

Last but certainly not least, the night was topped off this year with P!nk being chosen to the recipient of this years Video Vanguard award. This award honors an artist’s lifetime achievement within the music industry and it is considered the show’s highest honor. Following a hilarious introduction by Ellen Degeneres, P!nk graciously accepted the prestigious award and included in her acceptance speech a moving rendition of a conversation she had with her daughter. It touched on the importance of accepting and celebrating one’s true self and not bending nor conforming to society’s standards of beauty. Giving homage to gender norm defying music icons such as Michael Jackson and David Bowie for not only being true to themselves but for also paving the way for future artist, like herself, to do the same. Not only was her incredible speech moving but it rang true to everyone in the audience.

That’s a wrap for us on this year’s MTV VMA performances, we hope you enjoyed reading as much as we enjoyed writing this piece for you! If we didn’t touch on your favorite performance of the night, let us know what it was in the comments down below! Don’t forget to share with your friends 🙂

Wishing you the best today and every day,

The FAB Team

Edith & Itzel