H.E.R. Wins ‘Video for Good’ for ‘I Can’t Breathe’ at 2020 MTV VMAs
H.E.R. took home a VMA for her incredibly moving music video, ‘I Can’t Breathe’.
Gabriella Wilson, better known as H.E.R., won two Grammy awards in 2019 and last night she was honored with her first VMA award. The singer-songwriter released the music video ‘I Can’t Breathe’ on June 26 just one month after the brutal killing of George Floyd. The song and music video are meant to bring attention to the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality. It includes video clips of protests for George Floyd from around the world as well as a 2-minute clip of the names of Black men and women who have been wrongfully murdered by police.
During a preformance of the song with the iHeart radio Living Room Concert Series she said, “These lyrics were kind of easy to write because it came from a conversation with what’s happening right now, what’s been happening, and the change that we need to see. I think music is powerful when it comes to change and when it comes to healing, and that’s why I wrote this song — to make a mark in history.”
H.E.R has been vocal about her opinions on the BLM movement for many years now. She has shared many resources on her social media platforms that are meant to help the Black community and educate others on sytemic racism. One post she shared on Instagram includes a list of Black-owned restaurants from her hometown of Vallejo, California.
The music video was up against ‘The Bigger Picture’ by Lil Baby, ‘Lockdown’ by Anderson .Paak, ‘all the good girls go to hell’ by Billie Eilish, ‘I Love Me’ by Demi Lovato, and ‘The Man’ by Taylor Swift. All of these incredible music videos were well deserving of their nominations, but overall ‘I Can’t Breathe’ prevailed as the 2020 VMA winner.
After announcment of the victory through the show, H.E.R. took to social media to announce her excitment for the win. She said, “Still dreaming!!! But it’s not about me, it’s about the movement. All of the other videos were so moving!”
Still dreaming!!!
But it’s not about me, it’s about the movement. All of the other videos were so moving! Thankful to have been nominated. Thank you to everyone who helped create this visual!!!! #VMAs pic.twitter.com/kDfOeVbGy2
— H.E.R. (@HERMusicx) August 31, 2020
Last night, Anderson .Paak, who was nominated against H.E.R. in the same category congratulated her on Twitter. He said that she is one of the best artists and her music helps reflect the events that we are living through right now, and we have to agree.
Shouts out to @HERMusicx who I think is one of the best artists doing it rn hands down! Performance, musician, producer, writer, creative and all that. Congrats on your much deserved @vmas and shout out to all the artists making music that reflect the times we going through! ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/LO9E2suEL8
— Anderson .Blacked (@AndersonPaak) August 31, 2020
We are so proud of H.E.R. and the passion that she put into this music video. Congratulations and we can not wait to see what else she has in store for this year. You can listen to her latest song, ‘Do To Me’ here.
