Nuevo Culture

Bad Bunny & Rosalía Face-Off for MTV VMA Song of the Summer

Bad Bunny upped his nominations count at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards when the event announced three more categories. Spanish pop star Rosalía also received an additional nomination.

The MTV Video Music Awards announced the first round of nominations last month. On Friday (Aug. 19), the MTV VMAs announced the nominations for three additional categories: Song of the Summer, Album of the Year, and Group of the Year.

Bad Bunny originally had two nominations in “Best Latin” for “Tití Me Preguntó” and “Artist of the Year.” The Puerto Rican superstar is now up for Song of the Summer. They also nominated Benito for the global hit “Me Porto Bonito,” which makes his collaborator Chencho Corleone a first-time VMA nominee.

Rosalía has three nominations following her inclusion in the Song of the Summer Category. The Spanish singer was nominated twice this year for Best Collaboration for “La Fama,” featuring The Weeknd, and Best Editing for “Saoko.” MTV also nodded Rosalía for “Bizcochito,” the song that went viral this summer thanks to the meme of her sassily chewing gum at her concerts.

An unexpected snub: one of the biggest Latine songs of the year is “Provenza” from Karol G. VEVO confirmed it was the third most-watched music video on YouTube from the first half of the year. This success makes it surprising that it did not receive a nomination for Best Latin. It’s even more upsetting now that MTV has also overlooked “Provenza” as a Song of the Summer contender. Justice for “Provenza”?

Bad Bunny now has four nominations at this year’s MTV VMAs when he received nominations for Album of the Year. His blockbuster LP Un Verano Sin Ti faces competition from recent albums by Adele, Harry Styles, Drake, and Billie Eilish. Bruno Mars’ project Silk Sonic with Anderson .Paak received a nomination for Group of the Year.

Fans can vote for their favorite nominations at MTV.com. Voting is now open for Group of the Year. Voting opens for Song of the Summer on Aug. 25 and Album of the Year on Aug. 27. The MTV Video Music Awards will air on Sunday, Aug. 28.