1999 Ad

Jet, August 23, 1999

When the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards nominations recently were revealed, Will Smith, TLC, Lauryn Hill and Busta Rhymes all were leading contenders for Moonmen statuettes.

Actor-rapper Will Smith and the sexy female rap-song trio TLC tied with six nominations.

Smith received four for his video for the hit song Miami: Best Male Video, Best Special Effects In A Video, Best Choreography In A Video and Best Cinematography In A Video. Smith's video for the dance tune Wild Wild West, which features the group Dru Hill and rapper Kool Mo Dee, was nominated twice, Best Video Of The Year and Best Video From A Film.

TLC's video for the smash cut No Scrubs earned it six nominations in the following categories: Best Group Video, Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Direction In A Video, Best Art Direction In A Video, Best Editing In A Video and the Viewer's Choice.

Songstress Lauryn Hill and rap star Busta Rhymes tied with five nominations each.

Hill, who led all female artists, was nominated for the video Doo Wop (That Thing) in the categories Best Video Of The Year, Best Female Video, Best R & B Video, Best Hip-Hop Video and Best Art Direction In A Video.

Rhymes earned four nominations for his video What's It Gonna Be and one, Best Breakthrough Video, for the video Gimme Some More. His video collaboration with Janet Jackson on What's It Gonna Be was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Direction In A Video, Best Art Direction In A Video and Best Special Effects In A Video.

Rapper Jay-Z received three nods for his video Can I Get A ..., which features Ja Rule and Amil. He was nominated for Best Rap Video, Best Video From A Film and the Viewer's Choice.

Rock star Lenny Kravitz, singer Aaliyah and late rap star Tupac Shakur all received two nominations for their videos.

Others nominated included Whitney Houston, Brandy, DMX, Nas, Black Eyed Peas, Ruff Ryders and Eminem for his hit, Guilty Conscience, featuring Dr. Dre.

Comedian-actor Chris Rock will host the show.