Music opinion: Do the VMAs still shape pop culture?

For nearly four decades, the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) have been one of the music industry’s most audacious spectacles. 

They are a ceremony where the rules are constantly rewritten, where artistry collides with theatrics and where pop stars seize the opportunity to immortalise themselves through a single performance. 

The VMAs have given us moments that feel stitched into pop culture’s DNA, such as Madonna rolling around in a wedding dress, Britney Spears dancing with a python, Kanye West storming Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, and Beyoncé revealing her pregnancy on stage with a mic drop and belly rub. 

But the question remains. In today’s world of TikTok virality, Instagram reels, and 24/7 online content, do the VMAs still shape pop culture or have they become a nostalgic artefact of a time when television ruled?

Lindokuhle Mlombo delves into the debate for Music News Blitz.