Written By: Delaney Norris, Staff Writer
AWARD: Out of the six people considered for best artist of the year at the VMA’s, did Justin Bieber really deserve it?
The 2021 VMA’S were held at the Barclays Center on September 12. Many influential artists flocked together to honor one another and their musical achievements. Awards were given out, one being an award for artist of the year. There were six deserving nominees holding their breath, wondering if it would be their name that would be called. Justin Bieber’s name was called, leaving Ariana Grande, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift in their seats. Although Bieber has shown in the past that he is a talented musical artist, the other nominees objectively had a more successful year.
Over the course of this year, Bieber has released one studio album, “Justice” and one single “Don’t Go”. While this is an accomplishment, other nominees have also released albums that created much more of a buzz than Biebers. Doja Cat’s album “Planet Her” had six hits as well as going viral on tiktok, where it got used on thousands of videos. Olivia Rodrigo has come into the spotlight after her song “Drivers License ” became a huge hit back in January, causing her to be one of the most prominent artists of this year. Since then she has also released her hit album “SOUR” with four hits. Taylor Swift released her hit album “Evermore ” with five hits, and “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” with four hits, which were a new version of a past album. She also released a single “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version), which was another remake. Megan Thee Stallion has only released one single this year “Butter (Megan Thee Stallion Remix)” but 2020 was a huge year for her. Her album “Good News” had two hits as well as many viral tik tok clips. Her album “Suga’ ‘ had two hits and her collaboration with Cardi B “WAP” went viral online and was a hit. Ariana Grande released her album “Positions” with three hits, which became an internet sensation among teens.
Justin Bieber did release an album this year, supposedly with six hit songs according to Apple Music; yet this album wasn’t spoken about at all and many people were unaware that it was even released. All of the other nominees above had extremely successful years, with hit singles and albums that were raved about by fans and listeners. While Bieber is a talented artist, his work this year is nothing compared to the work of the other nominees. So one must ponder why he was honored with this award.