Jay-Z leads nominations for MTV video awards

Jay-Z’s jarring video for 99 Problems, which depicts his own murder as a metaphor for his retirement from rapping, leads the MTV Video Music Awards with six nominations.

Beyonce, No Doubt and OutKast had five nominations each.

Hip-hop stars Missy Elliott and Usher braved the heat and humidity to announce nominations at the luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel in Miami today. The awards will be handed out on August 29 in the US city.

“The awards show here is going to be hot. I mean literally hot,” joked Elliott, who was wearing a camouflage hat and shorts and a black T-shirt in the 90F (32C) heat.

Beyonce was up for her dance hit Naughty Girl and Me, Myself and I. No Doubt was picked for Gwen Stefani’s angry acting in It’s My Life and OutKast for its Ed Sullivan Show-on-acid video of Hey Ya.

Performers will include Usher, Jessica Simpson, newcomer Kanye West and a rock threesome of Jet, Hoobastank and Yellowcard.

“I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeve,” Usher said of his performance. “Miami will be the light of life that night.”

Organisers said many of music’s biggest stars will be pulling up to the awards arena in luxury yachts as part of their red-carpet entrance. Usher, wearing a white T-shirt beneath a long-sleeved button-down shirt, jeans and orange-and-yellow neon shoes, was already bragging about his boat.

“There’s going to be a lot of muscle out there. So I’m going to have to have a sexy one,” he said.

It’s the awards’ 21st year, but the first time it will be held outside Los Angeles and New York. MTV president Van Toffler joked that the awards are “finally legal” and promised more memorable moments, such as the Britney Spears-Madonna onstage kiss last year or the Neil Young-Pearl Jam performance of Rockin in the Free World from 1993.

Elliott, whose I’m Really Hot was nominated for best dance video and best choreography, says she takes pride in her videos and enjoys watching what dance moves performers such as Usher will come up with next.

“This man, he’s one of the people I look forward to when I see a video,” Elliott said of Usher. “The last person that I used to do that with was Aaliyah.”

“You want to see what the new jump-off is, what the new dance is, what’s going to blow up all over the world.”

Nominees for the MTV Video Music Awards to be held in Miami on August 29:

Video of the Year:

OutKast, Hey Ya

Usher featuring Lil’ Jon & Ludacris, Yeah

Britney Spears, Toxic

D12, My Band

Jay-Z, 99 Problems

Best Male Video:

Usher featuring Lil’ Jon & Ludacris, Yeah

Jay-Z, 99 Problems

Justin Timberlake, Senorita

Kanye West featuring Syleena Johnson, All Falls Down

Prince, Musicology

Best Female Video:

Britney Spears, Toxic

Beyonce, Naughty Girl

Alicia Keys, If I Ain’t Got You

Jessica Simpson, With You

Christina Aguilera, The Voice Within

Best Group Video

No Doubt, It’s My Life

D 12, My Band

Hoobastank, The Reason

Maroon 5, This Love

Good Charlotte, Hold On

Best Rap Video:

Jay-Z, 99 Problems

D 12, My Band

50 Cent featuring Snoop Dogg & G-Unit, P.I.M.P. Remix

Ludacris, Stand Up

Lil’ Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins, Get Low

Best R&B Video:

Usher, Burn

Alicia Keys, If I Ain’t Got You

Brandy featuring Kanye West, Talk About Our Love

Beyonce, Me, Myself and I

R.Kelly, Step In The Name of Love

Best Hip Hop Video:

OutKast, Hey Ya

Black Eyed Peas, Hey Mama

Kanye West featuring Syleena Johnson, All Falls Down

Nelly featuring P Diddy / Murphy Lee, Shake Ya Tailfeather

Chingy featuring Ludacris and Snoop Dogg, Holidae In

Best Dance Video:

Usher featuring Lil’ Jon & Ludacris, Yeah

Black Eyed Peas, Hey Mama

Beyonce, Naughty Girl

Britney Spears, Toxic

Missy Elliott, I’m Really Hot

Best Rock Video:

Jet, Are You Gonna Be My Girl

The Darkness, I Believe In A Thing Called Love

Hoobastank, The Reason

Evanescence, My Immortal

Linkin Park, Breaking The Habit

Best Pop Video:

Britney Spears, Toxic

Jessica Simpson, With You

Hilary Duff, Come Clean

No Doubt, It’s My Life

Avril Lavigne, Don’t Tell Me

Best New Artist in a Video:

Jet, Are You Gonna Be My Girl

Maroon 5, This Love

JoJo, Leave (Get Out)

Kanye West featuring Syleena Johnson, All Falls Down

Yellowcard, Ocean Avenue

The Darkness, I Believe In A Thing Called Love

MTV2 Award:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Maps

Elephant Man, Pon De River

Yellowcard, Ocean Avenue

Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, Slow Jamz

Franz Ferdinand, Take Me Out

Modest Mouse, Float On

Breakthrough Video:

Franz Ferdinand, Take Me Out

Modest Mouse, Float On

Kanye West featuring Syleena Johnson, All Falls Down

New Found Glory, All Downhill From Here

White Stripes, The Hardest Button to Button

Steriogram, Walkie Talkie Man

Best Direction:

Jay-Z, 99 Problems

No Doubt, It’s My Life

OutKast, Hey Ya

White Stripes, The Hardest Button to Button

Steriogram, Walkie Talkie Man

Best Choreography:

Usher featuring Lil’ Jon & Ludacris, Yeah

Black Eyed Peas, Hey Mama

Missy Elliott, I’m Really Hot

Beyonce, Naughty Girl

Sean Paul, Like Glue

Best Special Effects:

Incubus, Megalomaniac

OutKast, Hey Ya

White Stripes, The Hardest Button to Button

Modest Mouse, Float On

Steriogram, Walkie Talkie Man

Best Art Direction:

Steriogram, Walkie Talkie Man

No Doubt, It’s My Life

OutKast, Hey Ya

Alicia Keys, You Don’t Know My Name

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Maps

Best Editing

Jay-Z, 99 Problems

White Stripes, “The Hardest Button to Button”

Jet, Are You Gonna Be My Girl

Simple Plan, Perfect

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Maps

Best Cinematography:

Jay-Z, 99 Problems

No Doubt, It’s My Life

Beyonce, Naughty Girl

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Maps

Christina Aguilera, The Voice Within