Why Kendrick Lamar Didn’t Go to the 2025 MTV VMAs, Even With 10 Nominations

THE RUNDOWN

• Kendrick Lamar didn’t attend the 2025 MTV VMAs, where he was nominated in 10 categories.
• Earlier this year, he swept the Grammys with five wins for “Not Like Us” and performed at the Super Bowl.
• His latest singles, including “Squabble Up,” debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Kendrick Lamar had 10 nominations at tonight’s MTV VMAs, but that wasn’t enough to get him to go to the show. Lamar was missing from the ceremony and only won one award in a technical category: Best Cinematography for “Not Like Us.” He remained off social media that night as well, staying out of the public eye.

Despite these results, 2025 has been one of Lamar’s most decorated years yet. At this year’s Grammys, he won five awards for his single “Not Like Us,” including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

The rapper reflected on the tension between his public persona and private self in a conversation with SZA for Harper’s Bazaar last fall. “I can’t identify with my performances onstage,” he explained. “I can’t hold my true whole identity to that person who’s onstage. Because if I did, that means I will judge every movement, every time I fuck up a lyric, every time I’m off-key. It’s too much to deal with. So I have to have a distance between the performer and the person I close my eyes and look at the ceiling with.”

He also spoke candidly about growth and and being open about his emotions. “The power of honesty and being honest with myself, perspective about the person sitting across from me, and learning that vulnerability is not a weakness. That last one probably been one I’m still developing.”

Asked about balancing masculine and feminine energy in his work, Lamar responded, “At first, all I knew was the masculinity, and I always kept that wall up because of my pops. But the more I delve deeper into my music and the more expressive I get with myself…that is the feminine energy right there. That’s not the bravado that I grew up seeing all the time. This is who I am, the soft-spoken me, and I have to own it. This is where my superpower lies.”