MTV announced the nominations for its annual Video Music Awards today, tapping a host of social media stars to drop the info on Instagram Live. The name most frequently flying off the lips of folks like Bretman Rock and Baby Ariel? Kendrick Lamar, whose “Humble” pulled down eight nominations, including Best Video, Best Artist, and Best Hip-Hop. (Katy Perry and The Weeknd came in second, tying with five nominations each.)
This year’s nominations saw the VMAs follow in the footsteps of MTV’s Movie & TV Awards, removing gendered categories and lumping them together into a single Best Artist award. They’ve also added in a “Best Fight Against The System” category, for works daring viewers to get off the couch and hit the streets in protest. (The obvious frontrunner here is “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)” from The Hamilton Mixtape, but Big Sean and John Legend have socially conscious nominations, too.)
Meanwhile, Best Rock fell back on old favorites, with Coldplay, Green Day, Foo Fighters, and Fall Out Boy all scoring nods, while Best Pop will be fought between Brits Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran, plus Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Fifth Harmony, and Shawn Mendes. (Sheeran’s also up for Artist Of The Year, facing off against The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, and Lorde.)
As always, VMA winners will be determined by fan votes; you can see the full ballot right here. Most of the categories will close shortly before the awards are broadcast live on August 27, but Best New Artist—which includes SZA, Kodak Black, and Julia Michaels—will stay open even during the ceremony; the final winner will be determined by a Twitter hashtag war during the show itself.