Humble, whose striking visual has tallied more than 250 million views on YouTube since late March, also picked up nods for best hip-hop video, cinematography, direction, art direction, visual effects and choreography.
Katy Perry and the Weeknd followed Lamar in this year’s nominations with five each. New this year to the VMAs is no award for best male and female video, instead combining the two into artist of the year. Also new is the best fight against the system category, which has been added to honor videos that inspire people to fight injustice.
The MTV VMAs will air live from The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Aug. 27 (8 p.m. ET/PT), after being held at New York’s Madison Square Garden last year.
The nominations:
Video of the year
Kendrick Lamar, Humble
Bruno Mars, 24K Magic
Alessia Cara, Scars to Your Beautiful
DJ Khaled (feat. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller), Wild Thoughts
The Weeknd, Reminder
Artist of the year
Bruno Mars
Kendrick Lamar
Ed Sheeran
Ariana Grande
The Weeknd
Lorde
Best new artist
Khalid
Kodak Black
SZA
Young M.A
Julia Michaels
Noah Cyrus
Best collaboration
Charlie Puth (feat. Selena Gomez), We Don’t Talk Anymore
DJ Khaled (feat. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller), Wild Thoughts
D.R.A.M. (feat. Lil Yachty), Broccoli
The Chainsmokers (feat. Halsey), Closer
Calvin Harris (feat. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean), Feels
Zayn and Taylor Swift, I Don’t Wanna Live Forever
Best pop
Shawn Mendes, Treat You Better
Ed Sheeran, Shape of You
Harry Styles, Sign of the Times
Fifth Harmony (feat. Gucci Mane), Down
Katy Perry (feat. Skip Marley), Chained to the Rhythm
Miley Cyrus, Malibu
Best hip hop
Kendrick Lamar, Humble
Big Sean, Bounce Back
Chance the Rapper, Same Drugs
D.R.A.M. (feat. Lil Yachty), Broccoli
Migos (feat. Lil Uzi Vert), Bad and Boujee
DJ Khaled (feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne), I’m the One
Best dance
Zedd and Alessia Cara, Stay
Kygo and Selena Gomez, It Ain’t Me
Calvin Harris, My Way
Major Lazer (feat. Justin Bieber and MØ), Cold Water
Afrojack (feat. Ty Dolla $ign), Gone
Best rock
Coldplay, A Head Full of Dreams
Fall Out Boy, Young and Menace
Twenty One Pilots, Heavydirtysoul
Green Day, Bang Bang
Foo Fighters, Run
Best fight against the system
Logic (feat. Damian Lemar Hudson), Black SpiderMan
The Hamilton Mixtape, Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)
Big Sean, Light
Alessia Cara, Scars to Your Beautiful
Taboo (feat. Shailene Woodley), Stand Up / Stand N Rock #NoDAPL
John Legend, Surefire