Fall is my favorite season for music because that means it’s time for all the award shows! What I love most about these award shows is how the audience and fans have a voice. We’re able to support our favorite artists through voting and streaming their music. Award shows are some of the biggest productions on television because popular artists all come together to support each other’s success in the past year.
I’m especially excited for this year’s award show season because it kicks off with the MTV Music Awards on August 28th. This has to be my favorite award show because it’s both entertaining and sheds light on new artists as well. They even have a special category for “Push Performance of the Year.” This category contains 11 talented nominees that all deserve recognition. These musicians are not household names yet, but their talent proves that they have what it takes to make headlines.
The issue I always come across before award shows is how I can only vote for one musician. However, I think I’ve come to a final decision. For MTV’s Push Performance of the Year, I think Nessa Barrett deserves her flowers.
Nessa Barrett for Push Performance of the Year
As a huge fan of Nessa Barret for two years now, I might be a little biased. Nessa’s career was built on social media. No one really believed that she could actually be a part of the music industry. Once she started releasing singles, she received wide praise and a loyal following. However, her growing platform came with hate and criticism as well. People are always hesitant once “TikTokers” or “influencers” step into the music industry, but no one had anything to worry about when it came to Nessa Barrett.
From Social MEdia to the Top Charts
Nessa first released her single “Pain” in 2020 and it went viral through TikTok. Regardless if people were using this track as a meme or they genuinely connected with the lyrics, it took off. About a year later Nessa landed herself in some unnecessary social media drama. This inspired her to release even harder hitting tracks. Because of the amount of people invested in her drama, Nessa’s EP Pretty Poison shook both the social media and music world. The attitude in her lyrics and her vulnerability left everyone speechless, myself included. In my opinion, this EP is what turned Nessa into a true figure in the music industry. If people had suspicions before, those quickly disappeared soon after.
“i hope ur miserable until ur dead”
The single in Pretty Poison, “i hope ur miserable until ur dead,” is what led to her nomination for MTV’s Push Performance of the Year. This song was widely popular because of the raw lyrics with an upbeat rhythm. Personally, I love when artists make music that have subliminal negative messages, but delivered through a catchy beat. “i hope ur miserable until ur dead” encourages listeners to accept their anger. The song’s main takeaway is that it’s okay to be vengeful and frustrated if someone did you wrong. Everyone gets over a grudge at a different pace, and this song helps the audience feel accepted in that way. I think this is why this hit has become one of Nessa Barrett’s most listened to tracks, totaling almost 88 million streams on Spotify.
Nessa’s Newest Hit: “die first”
Though “i hope ur miserable until ur dead” is the song that is nominated for an award, Nessa released a new single just recently. In my opinion, “die first” is her deepest song to date. This is definitely her number one in my eyes. She takes us on a journey of how it feels to love someone so deeply that it would be absolutely unbearable to lose them. Everyone loves at least one person so much that it would change their life if they lost them. This song can be correlated with a pet, significant other, family member, friend, the list just goes on. “die first” is impactful because it genuinely hits home for the majority of its audience. My biggest fear is losing someone that I love so the fact that Nessa wrote a song that explains my exact emotions is so powerful.
TikTok and social media gave Nessa Barrett a platform that she needed to send her message out to the world. Though she has been through hardships and hate, she continues to come out the other side stronger than before. She takes her pain and sadness and puts it into her music. Creating music is an outlet for Nessa, and you can tell how much effort and soul that she puts into her work.
It’s safe to say that everyone knows where my votes are going in a couple of weeks! With that being said, each nominee for MTV’s Push Performance of the Year award deserves the recognition and praise for their individual talents. I have listened to the other nominees and they are all amazing. It takes countless amounts of hard work and determination to make it in the music industry, and all of these artists have truly proved their worth.
I’m so excited to watch the performances at the MTV Music Awards and hear the winners of the different categories! Who are you looking forward to seeing at this show? Do you have a winner in mind for any of the categories? Feel free to share your opinions down below.
