Drake to perform at the 2013 MTV VMA

Hit single “Started From The Bottom,” live for first time on television!

Drake and MTV today announced via their various social media channels that Grammy® Award-winning, multi-platinum selling, recording artist Drake will perform his VMA-nominated top-10 smash “Started from the Bottom” for the first time on television live during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards live from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

The 2013 MTV Video Music Awards premieres live on MTV (DStv Channel 130) at 03:00 CAT on Monday 26 August.  The VMAs’ primetime premiere airs later the same night at 20:30 CAT.  The show subsequently premieres on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) at 16:00 CAT on Tuesday 27 August.

Drake’s music video for “Started From the Bottom” is up for 2 VMAs this year including “Best Direction and “Best Hip Hop Video”, the category he won last year with “HYFR” with Lil Wayne. The song is the first single for his forthcoming third studio album “Nothing Was The Same”, to be released later this year, which also includes his latest hit single, “Hold On, We’re Going Home”. This marks Drake’s second overall VMA performance since performing “Fancy” in 2010. 

Drake joins previously announced performers Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke.

Fresh off touring with Jay Z and Justin Timberlake on their Legends of Summer stadium tour, DJ Cassidy, who will soon release his debut album on Columbia Records, will serve as the VMA deejay and spin throughout the show. MTV also announced that “Video of the Year” and “Best Female Video” nominee Taylor Swift is confirmed to present at this year’s show, along with “Best Song of the Summer” nominee Selena Gomez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto who is nominated for “Best Rock Video”, Kevin Hart, Emeli Sandé and A$AP Rocky who is nominated for “Best Hip-Hop Video” for “F**kin Problems” featuring Drake, 2Chainz and Kendrick Lamar.

Justin Timberlake and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis lead this year’s nominations with six each. Bruno Mars, Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke have each garnered four nominations. P!nk and Thirty Seconds to Mars are each up for three Video Music Awards. Other notable nominees receiving multiple 2013 “MTV Video Music Award” nods range from the worlds of Pop, Hip-Hop, EDM, R&B and Rock and include previously nominated artists such as Taylor Swift, Drake, fun., Calvin Harris and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as first-time VMA nominees Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey, The Weeknd and Capital Cities. 2013 VMA winners will take home a special-edition Moonman trophy, re-imagined by world-renowned, Brooklyn-based artist KAWS created exclusively for this year’s show.  Justin Timberlake will be presented the coveted “Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award” joining a prestigious list of past recipients including Michael Jackson, Madonna, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Britney Spears.

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