The MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B was first awarded in 1993 under the name Best R&B Video, and it was given every year until 2006. The following year MTV revamped the VMAs and eliminated all the genre categories. However, in 2008, when MTV returned the Video Music Awards to their previous format, Best R&B Video did not return despite four other genre awards doing so. It was only in 2019 that the R&B award returned to the VMAs, now under the shorter name of Best R&B.

En Vogue, Destiny's Child, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, the Weeknd, and SZA are tied as this award's biggest winners, each having won it twice. Keys is also the category's biggest nominee, receiving her eighth nomination in 2023. In 2025, Mariah Carey won, winning her first ever competitive Video Music Award and winning the same night she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

Recipients

thumb|Inaugural and two-time winner [[En Vogue.]]

thumb|[[Puff Daddy was the first solo act winner of the category.]]

thumb|[[Lauryn Hill was the first female solo act to win the category.]]

thumb|[[Alicia Keys is the most nominated act in the category with nine. She is also two-time consecutive winner with "If I Ain't Got You" and "Karma".]]

thumb|[[Beyoncé won the award two-times as a solo artist. She also won the award as a member of Destiny's Child for two consecutive times.]]

thumb|[[The Weeknd is the most awarded male singer with two.]]

1990s

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+

! scope="col"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:175px;"| Winner(s)

! scope="col" style="width:200px;"| Video

! scope="col" style="width:280px;"| Nominees

! scope="col" class="unsortable"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| En Vogue

| "Free Your Mind"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue

| "Whatta Man"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| TLC

| "Waterfalls"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| The Fugees

| "Killing Me Softly"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Puff Daddy

| "I'll Be Missing You"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Wyclef Jean

| "Gone Till November"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Lauryn Hill

| "Doo Wop (That Thing)"

|

| align="center"|

|}

2000s

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+

! scope="col"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:175px;"| Winner(s)

! scope="col" style="width:200px;"| Video

! scope="col" style="width:280px;"| Nominees

! scope="col" class="unsortable"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Destiny's Child

| "Say My Name"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Destiny's Child

| "Survivor"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Mary J. Blige

| "No More Drama"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Beyoncé

| "Crazy in Love"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Alicia Keys

| "If I Ain't Got You"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Alicia Keys

| "Karma"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Beyoncé

| "Check on It"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"| –

| colspan="4"

|}

2010s

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+

! scope="col"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:175px;"| Winner(s)

! scope="col" style="width:200px;"| Video

! scope="col" style="width:280px;"| Nominees

! scope="col" class="unsortable"|

|-

! scope="row"| –

| colspan="4"

|-

! scope="row"|

| Normani

| "Waves"

|

| align="center"|

|}

2020s

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+

! scope="col"| Year

! scope="col" style="width:175px;"| Winner(s)

! scope="col" style="width:200px;"| Video

! scope="col" style="width:280px;"| Nominees

! scope="col" class="unsortable"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| The Weeknd

| "Blinding Lights"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Silk Sonic

| "Leave the Door Open"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| The Weeknd

| "Out of Time"

|

| align="center"|

|-

! scope="row"|

| SZA

| "Shirt"

|

| align="center"|

|-

!2024

| SZA

| "Snooze"

|

| align="center"|

|-

!2025

| Mariah Carey

| "Type Dangerous"

|

| align="center"|

|}

Statistics

Artists with multiple wins

; 2 wins

  • Beyoncé
  • Alicia Keys
  • En Vogue
  • Destiny's Child
  • SZA
  • The Weeknd

Artists with multiple nominations

; 9 nominations

  • Alicia Keys

; 5 nominations

  • Chris Brown
  • SZA
  • Usher

; 4 nominations

  • Beyoncé
  • Toni Braxton
  • Mariah Carey
  • H.E.R.
  • R. Kelly
  • Summer Walker
  • The Weeknd

; 3 nominations

  • Mary J. Blige
  • Brandy
  • Aaliyah
  • Boyz II Men

; 2 nominations

  • D'Angelo
  • Destiny's Child
  • 21 Savage
  • Chlöe
  • Normani
  • Cardi B
  • Anderson .Paak
  • En Vogue
  • Ashanti
  • Faith Evans
  • 112
  • Ludacris
  • Diddy

See also

  • MTV Europe Music Award for Best R&B

Notes

References