Every year, several up-and-coming music artists are nominated for the MTV Video Music Awardsโ Best New Artist award. While there can only be one winner, every rising star deserves the recognition! For the 2024 VMAs, the following artists were nominated:ย Benson Boone, Chappell Roan, Gracie Abrams, Shaboozey, Teddy Swims and Tyla.
The winner of the Best New Artist award went to Chappell.
While accepting her award, Chappell dedicated her win to โall the drag artists who inspire [her],โ and nodded to โall the queer, trans people who inspire pop.โ
โFor all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now โ I see you I understand you because I am one of you,โ she continued. โAnd donโt ever let anyone tell you that you canโt be exactly who you want.โ
All of the Best New Artist nominees had a productive year. Tyla won the VMA for Afrobeats this year for her song โWater.โ
โAfrican music can be pop music too,โ Tyla pointed out after accepting the award. โThis is just so special but also bittersweet because I know thereโs a tendency to group all African artists under afrobeats. โฆย African music is so diverse, itโs more than just Afrobeats.โ
Benson has also been working hard. Before taking home the Moonman for Best Alternative son, he served as an opening act for global pop icon Taylor Swift during her Eras Tour. The โBeautiful Thingsโ hitmaker has steadily gained polarity for her powerhouse vocals and range.
As for Chappell, the โGood Luck, Babe!โ artist has gained momentum on social media and in the music space. Thanks to her colorful fashion and bold vocal choices, her style has quickly garnered fansโ attention after playing at multiple music festivals this past year. Earlier this summer, Olivia Rodrigo โ a VMA winner herself โ invited Chappell to perform on stage during her GUTS. World Tour. The duo belted out Chappellโs other hit single, โHOT TO GO!โ
Chappell and Benson arenโt the only artists who have worked with the likes of Taylor, 34, and Olivia, 21. Gracie has worked with both mega stars in the past. In fact, Gracie co-wrote the song โUsโ with Taylor, and they even gave fans a glimpse at how interesting of a songwriting process they went through over the summer.
As seen in an Instagram video that Gracie shared in June, the โClose to Youโ singer and the โKarmaโ artist almost experienced an indoor fire and had to figure out how to properly extinguish it.
โWriting this entire song from 2am to 6am was some of the most fun Iโve ever had in my life,โ Gracie captioned her video post at the time. โ@taylorswift now we know how to use a fire extinguisher. I love you. โ