The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards took place this past Sunday, September 12th, in Brooklyn, New York, at the Barclays Center. Here are my top three VMA performances:

Busta Rhymes – Trevor George Smith Jr., also known as Busta Rhymes, was born in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, on May 20th, 1972. I liked his performance at the VMAs because you can hear every word. He is spitting the rhyme word for word in the mic. Busta and his hyper man are constantly hyping up the crowd as they are rapping to the music. I liked the red background that he was performing in front of on the VMAs stage because it matched with his outfit. It honestly took me back to season four of “The Wayans Bros.” when he had performed in a medley type of style on the show.

Chlöe – Chloe Bailey was born July 1, 1998, in Atlanta, Georgia. She was part of the musical duo Chloe x Halle, and had her first solo VMA performance on Sunday, performing her new single, “Have Mercy.” I liked how the performance matched the music video and the fact that she had much energy on the stage. You could tell from the way she performed that she was very prepared. The performance itself was giving Beyoncé vibes after she broke up with Destiny’s Child. Moreover, that girl can dance! So, if you haven’t listened to her new single, go ahead and listen to it.

Justin Bieber – Justin Bieber, born in Ontario, Canada on March 1, 1994, had his first real VMA performance in about six years. He was the opening act, and he performed with The Kid LAROI, performing their new single, “STAY.” He was one of the other artists at the VMA stage who was using his mic and singing without a backing track. I enjoy when artists sing live, and I could tell from watching the VMAs that people were using their mics this year! So that was amazing! I hope that is a new trend. Growing up, I have always had a love-hate relationship with Justin Bieber as an artist. But as of late, he has gone back to his old ways as a singer. It was inspiring to see how he used his voice to talk about his personal life. He also mentioned all the people who have supported him thus far in his career, spoke on the COVID-19 pandemic and showed how music could be used as a healing tool for people worldwide because it will bring people together, not divide them. I enjoyed the speech that he gave when he won Artist Of The Year. He honored his collaborators from his song peaches, Daniel Caeser, and Given. Overall, I liked those performances because they genuinely stood out to me in my opinion, and they were not too short.