Kendrick Lamar was the king of Sunday's 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, winning six awards on a night full of emotional performances, political moments, and a new, eye-popping Taylor Swift music video. Lamar's "Humble" won video of the year, best hip-hop video, direction, cinematography, art direction, and visual effects. He also gave an explosive performance of "Humble" and "DNA," backed by ninjas dancing near fire. But the VMAs, hosted by Katy Perry with performances from Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran, was tamer than most years, not relying on the shock value and wild antics of past shows, the AP reports. Instead, touching performances and powerful speeches (especially one by Pink) took center stage. Some highlights:
- Lamar's performance kicked off the three-hour show, followed by the premiere of Swift's video for "Look What You Made Me Do," which featured the singer dressed like a zombie in one scene and surrounded by slithering snakes in another. The video for the track, rumored to be a diss toward Kanye West, also featured Swift in a tub of diamonds, a cat mask, and a car that crashed.