BY It seems like all roads are headed to Brooklyn these days.
Next month’s can’t miss sports drama 42 takes place in New York’s most popular borough and Jay Z, omnipresent as always, has more reason than ever to stay near home while his Brooklyn Nets battle for homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Now the Video Music Awards can be added to the list after choosing Barclays Center as their venue of choice to hand out Moonmen.
The VMAs have been anchored in Los Angeles for the past three years but decided to make the trek East for reasons that are currently unknown to the music listening public, or anyone else for that matter.
The move may have something to do with the award show’s ties to the Big Apple. The first VMAs were held at Radio City Music Hall in 1984 where Herbie Hancock and Michael Jackson were the most decorated guests. It’s amazing to think about the generational gap between Hancock, a jazz musician born in the 40s, and Jackson, widely considered the King of Pop, were both able to take home multiple awards in the same place.
Now, Justin Bieber and One Direction are taking home the hardware. Oh, how the times have changed.
New York has been a musical hotbed for musicians since the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. Now, in addition to established stars like Jay Z and Mos Def, Brooklyn also holds roots for up and coming musicians in other genres like Fun and The Lumineers.
Bringing the VMAs to Brooklyn may not even require a public explanation; the logic speaks for itself.
