Drake, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion lead a stacked VMA Best Hip-Hop nomination field

Six hip-hop heavyweights are competing for one Moon Person in the Best Hip-Hop category at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, even as the genre was shut out of the ceremony's biggest general races, AllHipHop and HotNewHipHop reported. The Best Hip-Hop ballot pits Drake's "Janice STFU" against Cardi B and Kehlani's "Safe," Megan Thee Stallion's "LOVER GIRL," Travis Scott's "DUMBO," Tyler, The Creator's "SUGAR ON MY TONGUE" and Don Toliver's "E85," his first VMA nomination.

Drake enters the category riding a run of three 2026 albums, ICEMAN, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR, with ICEMAN continuing to chart and "Janice STFU" spending time at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. HotNewHipHop noted that, going by chart positioning alone, Drake enters as the field's frontrunner.

Drake returns to the category after losing last year's award to Doechii, whose viral "Anxiety" beat out "NOKIA" and Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." Doechii herself moves beyond the Hip-Hop field in 2026, with her Lady Gaga collaboration "RUNWAY" instead competing for Best Dance and Best Art Direction; her 2025 win continued a Best Hip-Hop lineage that previously included Eminem, Nicki Minaj and Lil Baby.

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion each land two nominations apiece, three years after female rappers helped drive a ratings increase for the VMA broadcast. AllHipHop also noted that Travis Scott and Don Toliver give Cactus Jack two entries in the category, since the pair release through separate Atlantic and Epic deals.

Clipse and Kendrick Lamar carry rap into the separate Best Collaboration category with "Chains & Whips," facing off against French Montana and Max B, Teyana Taylor and Lucky Daye, Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson, and Shakira and Burna Boy. Kendrick appears nowhere else on this year's ballot, a sharp drop from 2025, when he led the ceremony with five wins including Video and Song of the Year.

A$AP Rocky picked up hip-hop's only solo nomination in a technical category, with "PUNK ROCKY" up for Best Cinematography. AllHipHop noted that the nominations also center Houston in the ballot, with Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott and Don Toliver joined by longtime Houston ally Drake.

Across the broader ballot, rap failed to land a single nominee in Video, Artist, Song or Best New Artist, the clearest sign that the genre has been squeezed out of MTV's marquee races even as it dominates one of the show's largest individual categories. MTV opened fan voting Tuesday across all 13 categories, and the 2026 VMAs will air live from Los Angeles on September 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET across CBS, MTV and Paramount+.