The MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop is an award given out at the annual MTV Video Music Awards. The category was first presented at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The award, was originally intended for hip-hop songs that incorporated both R&B and rap elements, separate from rap music videos (which were instead honored by Best Rap Video), citing rap-singing artists such as TLC and Lauryn Hill as examples. This explains the recognition of songs such as "Thong Song" and "I'm Real (Remix)".
The award was not given out in 2007, as the VMAs were revamped and most original categories were eliminated, however, Best Hip Hop Video was reinstated in 2008. By then, though, the rules had relatively changed, as R&B and rap videos also became eligible for nominations in this category since the awards for Best Rap Video and Best R&B Video were not brought back. From the 2017 edition onwards, the word "Video" was removed from the names of all genre categories, leaving this award with its current name: Best Hip-Hop.
As of 2025, Nicki Minaj holds the record for most wins in this category, with five, followed by Drake and Eminem, both having received three awards. Drake also holds the record for most nominations, with sixteen times.
Recipients
1990s + Year Winner(s) Video Nominees Beastie Boys "Intergalactic"
2000s + Year Winner(s) Video Nominees Sisqó "Thong Song" Outkast "Ms. Jackson" Jennifer Lopez "I'm Real (Remix)" Missy Elliott "Work It" Outkast "Hey Ya!" Missy Elliott "Lose Control" The Black Eyed Peas "My Humps" colspan="4" Lil Wayne "Lollipop" Eminem "We Made You"
2010s + Year Winner(s) Video Nominees Eminem "Not Afraid" Nicki Minaj "Super Bass" Drake "HYFR" Macklemore and Ryan Lewis "Can't Hold Us" Drake "Hold On, We're Going Home" Nicki Minaj "Anaconda" Drake "Hotline Bling" Kendrick Lamar "Humble" Nicki Minaj "Chun-Li" Cardi B "Money"
2020s + Year Winner(s) Video Nominees Megan Thee Stallion "Savage" Travis Scott "Franchise" Nicki Minaj "Do We Have a Problem?" Nicki Minaj "Super Freaky Girl" Eminem "Houdini" Doechii "Anxiety" Cardi B featuring Kehlani "Safe"
Statistics
Artists with multiple wins 5 wins Nicki Minaj
3 wins Drake Eminem
2 wins Outkast Lil Wayne Missy Elliott Cardi B
Artists with multiple nominations 16 nominations Drake
10 nominations Kanye West
9 nominations Eminem
7 nominations Lil Wayne
6 nominations Kendrick Lamar Nicki Minaj Travis Scott
5 nominations 2 Chainz Cardi B Megan Thee Stallion
4 nominations Busta Rhymes Jay-Z Missy Elliott Snoop Dogg
3 nominations Ashanti Big Sean The Black Eyed Peas Chance the Rapper DJ Khaled Future GloRilla J. Cole Kid Cudi Lil Baby Outkast P. Diddy Pharrell
2 nominations 21 Savage Bryson Tiller Childish Gambino Common Flo Rida Ja Rule Lauryn Hill Lil Uzi Vert Ludacris Lupe Fiasco Migos Nelly Pusha T Sexyy Red Swizz Beatz Wiz Khalifa
See also MTV Europe Music Award for Best Hip-Hop
Notes
References