EXCLUSIVE: Hip-hop icon, rapper and actor Busta Rhymes , whom MTV has called “one of hip-hop’s greatest visual artists”, will receive the inaugural MTV VMA, Rock the Bells Visionary Award. The award, which will celebrate his “boundary-breaking cultural impact and indomitable musical career,” will be presented to Rhymes during the 2025 VMAs on Sunday, Sept. 7. Rhymes also will perform live during the telecast.

Rhymes has sold 20 million albums worldwide, received seven Top 10 debuts on the Billboard 200, 12 Grammy Award nominations and has a catalog with over 60 million records certified gold and platinum. He was also the Global Icon honoree at the 2024 MTV “EMAs.”

The rapper first appeared on the VMAs in 1997, and has since performed numerous times, including a show-stopping medley of

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