It’s not enough for Beyonce to bless us with what might be the most memorable VMAs closer ever. It’s not enough for her to get Nicki Minaj on the “Flawless” remix and subtly address the Solange/elevator incident. No, she has to take it a step further and show the kind of gracious benevolence that we mortal beings usually associate with divine beings.

Since the VMAs were practically a Beyonce-Nicki show last night, it’s no surprise that the two had a backstage moment of their own, but we didn’t know how flawless it was until now. Nicki took to her Instagram to post a photo of the diamond necklace that Beyonce came into her dressing room to deliver last night.

Yes, imagine, Beyonce coming into your dressing room to deliver a necklace made of diamonds that declares you are flawless… Anyone else fainting from the sheer magnificence of this moment yet?? If only we could’ve seen Nicki’s face the moment this all went down. She wrote a heartfelt response along with the above photo of the necklace.

“If Beyonce didn’t walk into your dressing room and give you a diamond “FLAWLESS” necklace, then there’s no way you could be having a better week than me,” Nicki wrote in the caption. “Lol. Awwwww thank u QUEEN. ur just a precious gem. I could never thank you enough for your influence on powerful women all around the ...

After weeks of people joining together on the streets to mourn for Michael Brown, they did so in a more formal setting on Monday (August 25), at the funeral for the 18-year-old.

Held at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis, the service brought thousands together to pay their respects to Brown, the unarmed teen who was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9.

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Numerous civil rights leaders were in attendance, including Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton, with the latter delivering the eulogy for Brown. Others at the service included Spike Lee, Martin Luther King III, Tom Joyner, and the families of Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis. In addition, a handful of congresspeople were in the congregation, as well as Broderick Johnson, White House Cabinet Secretary and chair of the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative.

“The policies of this country cannot go unchallenged,” Sharpton said during his eulogy, which mixed moments of anger and poignancy with those of laughter and calls to action. “We cannot have aggressive policing of low level crimes and can’t deal with the higher level.”

As part of his honoring of Brown, he also brought up the death of Eric Garner, who died after being placed in a chokehold by police in New York City in July. “Strange ...

She had been working up to it for a while beforehand, shedding that Hannah Montana image, but Miley Cyrus officially unveiled her new, double top-knotted persona at 2013′s MTV Video Music Awards. It was the twerk heard ’round the world, if you will.

This year, Cyrus stunned us all yet again by … not stunning us, really. At least not in the jaw-dropping-look-at-her-flesh-colored-undies way. Nope, she stunned us by revealing yet another iteration of Miley — one that is, dare we say, a bit more grown up.

On The Red Carpet

When Miley hit the red carpet in 2013, she was in full BANGERZ mode, her hair twisted up like a ’90s cartoon character, ever-present and protruding tongue at the ready. Energy high and outfit covered in the kind of jewels we bedazzled onto our jean jackets back in the day, her demeanor seriously forecasted what was to come later that night. I mean, nothing could have really prepared us, but we were duly warned.

On Sunday night, Miley turned up in simple (by-her-standards) black leather, preferring to put the focus on her words and her music instead of her antics.

In Interviews

Speaking of antics, last year’s Miley, in interviews, was all frenetic energy and tongue (in the pic above she’s trying to lick MTV’s Christina Gaibaldi ...

The MTV Video Music Awards is not only the biggest night in music videos, it’s also the night that likely makes your parents scratch their heads, drop their jaws and go, “Whaaaa?” Yup, from Miley’s twerk to Britney’s snake, the VMAs are an event that makes the older set super uncomfortable.

And tonight — tonight was no different. I mean, two words, y’all, “Nicki Minaj.” She and her, uh, assets were all over this VMAs. And that’s just the tip of the anaconda. Check out the eight VMA moments that will make your ‘rents lock up your TV-viewing devices below:

1.) Taylor Swift’s General Pantslessness

2.) Usher Copping A Feel

3.) Nicki’s Wardrobe Malfunction

4.) And Basically Everything Else Nicki Did

5.) I Meeeeean

6.) Bey Also Brought It With These Stripper Poles

7.) Yup, So Much Booty

8.) Kids Today…

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff Hipsters Hate." She likes trying ...

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Have you taken notice of Jhene Aiko yet? Have you heard her breakout hit “The Worst”? Did you catch her on tour with Drake? Did you see her perform on “Saturday Night Live”?

The answer to all of those questions, hopefully, is yes. But if it’s not, have no fear. It’s actually the perfect time to get familiar with this budding talent.

She’s been buzzing for some time now, but things are about to fully take off. With big features and impressive projects already on her resume, the California native is about to launch herself to the next level with her debut album. Take notice.

1.) Who she is:

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Born and raised in Los Angeles, Aiko has been working on music for over a decade. In fact, she secured her first record deal when she was only a teenager. She even prepared a debut album around that time, but after splitting with her label, it never got released. Like any great artist, though, she wouldn’t let that speed bump take control of her career.

Over the last few years, the 26-year-old has cementer herself as one of the exciting risers in R&B. But she’s not so easily definable. Her sound mixes soul, pop, and elements of hip-hop to create something rare, refined and accessible.

2.) Why you need to listen to her:

There were plenty of awesome moments from the 2014 VMAs.

What was your favorite? Beyoncé’s epic medley to close the show? Taylor Swift’s dancing? Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” workout? Ariana Grande breaking free?

Luckily, you don’t have to choose.

But while you take a break from re-watching all of your favorite parts of the show, make sure you’re up to date with all the winners from the big night.

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Video of the Year
Miley Cyrus, “Wrecking Ball”

Best Hip-Hop
Drake ft. Majid Jordan, “Hold On (We’re Going Home)”

Best Male
Ed Sheeran, “Sing”

Best Female
Katy Perry ft. Juicy J, “Dark Horse”

Best Pop
Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea, “Problem”

Best Rock
Lorde, “Royals”

MTV Artist to Watch
Fifth Harmony, “Miss Movin On”

Best Collaboration
Beyoncé ft. Jay Z, “Drunk In Love”

MTV Clubland Award
Zedd ft. Hayley Williams, “Stay the Night”

Best Video With a Social Message
Beyoncé, “Pretty Hurts”

Best Cinematography
Beyoncé, “Pretty Hurts”



Best Editing
Eminem, “Rap God”

Best Choreography
Sia, “Chandelier”



Best Direction
DJ Snake & Lil Jon, “Turn Down For What”




Best Art Direction
Arcade Fire, “Reflektor”

Best Visual Effects
OK Go, “The Writing’s On the Wall”


Best Lyric Video
5 Seconds of Summer, “Don’t Stop”

Adam Fleischer

Well, I knew it was going to be incredible when Beyoncé was honored at the VMAs with a Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, but nothing, absolutely nothing could’ve prepared me for tonight.

Even before she took the stage, fans were freaking out waiting for her to finally perform.

In order to keep up her own personal track record of exceeding any and all expectations that we even try to set for her, Bey performed a medley of songs from last year’s surprise album, BEYONCÉ. She clearly woke up with one goal: slay the VMAs.

But there are medleys, and then there are MEDLEYS. Beginning with the possessive relationship anthem “Mine” and hitting every single track off the record in some form, King B flawlessly flitted through as many dance and aesthetic styles from her visual album that she could work into the time allotted for her. Everyone lost it, the BeyHive was obsessed.

Her signature couch dancing move was included, the stripper pole moments, the rainbow neon sexiness of “Blow”—it was all there. Oh, then there was that moment when she was standing onstage alone with the word “feminist” emblazoned in caps lock behind her. That’s how you send a message, people.

Throughout the performance, it was almost possible to tear my eyes away from Bey to watch Blue Ivy and Jay Z in the audience, basking in the glow of their favorite superstar. Yes, that’s Blue doing those “Flawless” ...

Not to be too cheeky, but the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards was the year of the butt. From Miley Cyrus heroically giving up twerking, to Beyonce’s booty-full performance, to the (rough count) thousands of butts on display during Nick Minaj’s performance of “Anaconda,” it’s clear the show was making due on the promise of the latter half of “Gluteus Maximus.”

Hey, they call the award the Moon Man for a reason.

And because we spent the past few hours doing nothing but scouring every frame of the show for a glimpse of those sweet, sweet hams, here, for your enjoyment, are the 8 best butts of 2014:

9. Amber Rose

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Butts brought to you by Rose McGowan.

8. Jason Derulo

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Even with a jacket covering that butt, we still want to see it wiggle for us.

7. Miley Cyrus

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In sad butt news, Miley told Sway during the pre-show that she had given up twerking for good… And then proceeded to talk about Nicki Minaj’s butt, instead.

“I love that ass” Cyrus said. “I can bring that body, I can bring that wrecking ball, but I can’t bring that ass. Not that Anaconda.”

6. Jennifer Lopez

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Taylor Swift may have gone full-on dancer in her video for “Shake It Off,” but she’ll always be a world-class chair-dancer in our hearts, and she demonstrated that with her latest bout of sit-grooving at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.

After busting out some stand-up moves during her performance of her new single …

… Taylor took her place next to BFF Lorde and shook her limbs — we’re guessing — to every single epic performance that went down Sunday night at The Forum. Check out every time we caught her in the act.

The Criss-Cross

The Double Wave Bye-Bye

The BFF Shimmy

Take Two

Brenna Ehrlich

Brenna Ehrlich is a reporter for MTV News as well as the senior writer/editor for the O Music Awards. In the past, she served as associate editor at Mashable, penned a netiquette column for CNN and co-authored the blog and book "Stuff ...

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Ariana Grande‘s only “Problem” this VMA will be deciding where to put that shiny Moonman. The “Break Free” singer snagged her first MTV Video Music Award Sunday (August 24), nabbing Best Pop Video for the candy-colored “Problem,” featuring Iggy Azalea.

“Thank you so much. This is incredible, I didn’t think I was going to win one of these so I didn’t prepare anything,” Ariana said on stage at The Forum, after busting out a show-stopping rendition of “Break Free” and “Bang Bang,” along with Nicki Minaj and Jessie J. Despite her lack of prep, however, Ariana did manage to thank collaborator Iggy Azalea, her fans, her label and MTV (awww!). She also teased her album, My Everything, which drops midnight Monday.

Related: Ariana Grande’s Amazing Transformation Will Have You Shooting Rockets From Your Boobs

Ariana certainly has come a long way since she played the VMA pre-show last year (as evidenced by this transformation piece we penned the other week), beating out Avicii ft. Aloe Blacc for “Wake Me Up,” Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX for “Fancy,” Jason Derulo ft. 2 Chainz for “Talk Dirty” and Pharrell Williams for “Happy.”

Congrats, Ari, to you and your ponytail!