entertainment in houston: Wiz Khalifa Wants To 'Crush' His VMA Best New Artist Competition

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Wiz Khalifa Wants To 'Crush' His VMA Best New Artist Competition

'These are all people who have their own movements,' the 'Black and Yellow' MC says of fellow nominees.
By Rob Markman

Wiz Khalifa
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Let's be clear, while Wiz Khalifa has respect for his fellow Best New Artist nominees, he fully excepts to beat out the competition on Sunday night at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.

"I'm trying to crush everybody," the Rolling Papers MC told MTV News from the red carpet of the BMI Urban Awards in Los Angeles on Friday. "No disrespect, just crush them and do what I do."

Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" video is up against tourmate Big Sean's "My Last," Kreayshawn's "Gucci Gucci," Tyler, the Creator's "Yonkers" and indie-pop band Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks."

"I think it's really good competition, and it's just a good sign of the new wave of how an artist can come up and get recognition these days," Khalifa told MTV News in July when he first learned of the nomination. "Big Sean, I know his situation, how he came from nothing. Kreayshawn, she built her buzz similar with the Internet, and Tyler as well. These are all people who have their own movements."

Aside from his nomination, Wiz is just looking forward to some memorable moments at the VMAs. "I expect some real big performances, I expect some shockers, man. Some big things, people usually pull out all the stops at the VMAs," he said. "That's a big deal so I expect some entertainment."

Voting for the Best New Artist continues through the show, which airs live on Sunday (August 28) at 9 p.m. ET. You can vote by visiting vma.mtv.com or m.mtv.com on your mobile phone, or by texting BNA to 66333.

The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday from Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year's highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com.

Related Videos