Rauw Alejandro made a memorable debut at the 40th MTV VMAs on Wednesday (Sept. 11), dazzling with a performance rich in cultural homage and electric energy, channeling the vintage Broadway glitz and grit of West Side Story.

Dressed in an outfit reminiscent of late ’60s New York with a hint of pachuco style, the Puerto Rican superstar commenced his act with “Touching the Sky,” amplified with a dash of dubstep. His smooth execution kept all eyes glued to the stage.

The performance then transitioned to highlight a troupe of Caribbean drummers and dancers dressed in traditional white garb, their chants filling the air as Rauw introduced a more stripped down rendition “Diluvio” from his 2023 album, Playa Saturno. Infused with plenty of folk flair, that part of the medley culminated in an exhilarating dance-off. “Puerto Rico en la casa,” he proclaimed.

Switching scenes once more under neon red lights emblazoned with the words “Cosa Nuestra” — the title of his upcoming album — Rauw walked across the stage, ever so slyly rocking a white tank top that showcased his tattoos, and began to croon the words to “Déjame Entrar,” his latest Afrobeats-tinged single. The West Side Story atmosphere truly came alive as performers danced atop oversized props mimicking New York’s iconic buildings, turning his segment into an exhilarating spectacle.

“Mi gente Latina, esta es cosa nuestra,” he declared. (“My Latin people, this is our thing.”)

Earlier on the red carpet, Rauw shared insights into his upcoming album, sharing, “Cosa Nuestra [features] roots from the island, a Caribbean mix with New York inspo. It’s Puerto Rican culture from back in the days.” The album nods to the genre-defining 1969 Fania All Stars salsa album by Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe.

“Touching the Sky” was nominated for three VMAs: best latin, best cinematography and best choreography. 

Benson Boone has lit up the charts — and the fashion blogs — all year with his breakthrough hit, “Beautiful Things,” and his unique sartorial taste. Which is why it was no surprise that the mustachioed crooner from Washington whose penchant for sleeveless denim vests and gauzy shirts have inspired robust “What to Wear to Benson Boone” TikTok and Pinterest pages brought the looks to the 2024 MTV VMAs on Wednesday (Sept. 11).

Seated at a black grand piano for a moving performance of his breakthrough No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Beautiful Things,” Boone crooned the ballad from his debut studio album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, with a passion — and fashion — reminiscent of peak 1970s Elton John. When he stood up to walk across the stage, Boone revealed that he was wearing a full-on glittery belted blue onesie cut down to the navel, cementing his simultaneously low-key and flashy style.

Rocking matching Adidas shoes featuring blue glitter, Boone — who was nominated for four awards at this year’s VMAs — climbed onto a riser as his band rocked the song up a notch, and he executed a perfect forward flip without missing a beat to screams of delight from the fans whose outstretched hands he slapped as he worked the stage.

Reaching into a rafter-rocking crescendo that had Sabrina Carpenter crooning along from her seat, Boone leaped onto his piano and tapped into his falsetto range on the stirring “Please stay/ I want you, I need you, oh God/ Don’t take/ These beautiful things that I’ve got” chorus as sparks rained down all around him. Not content with all that glitter and gold, Boone executed yet another perfect gymnastic flip off the piano and hit another sky-high note while ad-libbing the perfect lyrical sign-off, “I need … the VMAs!!!

And for her next trick, the Great Impersonator — aka Halsey — somehow made the MTV Video Music Awards stage into a cozy driveway as the pop star belted out new single “Ego” from the inside of a suburban garage.

The star began their performance by riding across the UBS Arena stage on a bicycle, sporting a red pixie cut, sleeveless white collared shirt and black tie. Halsey then opened the garage door of a life-size house to reveal her band waiting inside — think Bowling for Soup’s “1985” music video — and joined in on guitar.

“I think that I should try to kill my ego/ ‘Cause if I don’t, my ego might kill me,” she sang as the lights flashed inside the house. “I’m all grown up but somehow lately/ I’m acting like a f–king baby/ I’m really not as happy as I seem.”

“Ego” is the latest of several singles Halsey has released ahead of their fast-approaching new album, The Great Impersonator, which drops Oct. 25. The “Closer” singer has also shared “The End,” “Lonely Is the Muse” and the Britney Spears-interpolating “Lucky” ahead of the record, and she recently sent fans on a scavenger hunt across the world to reveal the LP’s main artwork and cover variants.

The 2024 VMAs kicked off at 8 p.m. Wednesday at New York’s UBS Arena, with Megan Thee Stallion helming the program as host, show opener Eminem, Vanguard honoree Katy Perry and several more artists tapped to perform. Taylor Swift led the nominations with a total of 12 nods, while her “Fortnight” collaborator Post Malone followed right behind with 11.

LE SSERAFIM celebrates its first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, as CRAZY crowns the Sept. 14-dated chart. The set debuts atop the list with 37,500 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 5, according to Luminate. It’s the fourth top three-charting effort the Korean pop group, the entirety of their charting efforts.

Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, Destroy Lonely scores his first top 10 with the No. 3 bow of Love Lasts Forever, while Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds notch their highest charting set yet as Wild God starts at No. 4.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X and Instagram.

Of CRAZY’s first-week sales of 37,500 copies, CD sales comprise 36,500 and digital download album sales comprise 1,000. CRAZY’s first-week was bolstered by its availability across more than 20 CD variants, all containing collectible branded paper ephemera such as photocards, postcards, stickers, and posters.

Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet is a non-mover at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 28,000 sold in its second week (down 85%).

Destroy Lonely logs his first top 10, and best sales week, as Love Lasts Forever arrives at No. 3 with 19,000 sold. The hip-hop album’s first week was bolstered by its availability in a signed CD edition and two digital download album variants – all exclusive to the artist’s webstore. The latter two were each sold for $5 and each included five additional bonus songs (five different songs per variant).

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ new studio album, Wild God, debuts at No. 4, marking the highest charting effort for the group on Top Album Sales. It launches with 13,000 sold – the act’s best sales week since Skeleton Key sold 15,000 copies in its first week (a debut at No. 13 on the chart dated Oct. 1, 2016). The new album was available across five vinyl variants, which combined to sell 8,000 copies (it bows at No. 2 on the Vinyl Albums chart).

Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dips 4-5 on Top Album Sales (13,000; down 29%), Stray Kids’ former No. 1 ATE rises 7-6 (11,000; down 7%), Post Malone’s chart-topping F-1 Trillion falls 6-7 (9,000; down 34%), ENHYPEN’s former leader Romance: Untold ascends 9-8 (8,000; down 3%), Lainey Wilson’s Whirlwind falls 3-9 in its second week (nearly 8,000; down 77%) and Travis Scott’s Days Before Rodeo falls 1-10 in its second week (nearly 8,000; down 98%).

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faced off Tuesday night (Sept. 10) for their first-ever debate in the 2024 presidential campaign — and musicians took to social media to share their reactions.

The event, hosted by ABC News at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center, marked the first meeting between the two presidential hopefuls, with Harris walking over to Trump’s podium to introduce herself with a handshake to start the debate.

Dionne Warwick kept things short and sweet with her debate post on X, simply writing: “Doing all that yelling and lying.” Big Boi asked his followers for their thoughts, writing on X: “How do you feel about this Debate so far?” The Outkast rapper responded to the top reply — “Nobody answered a damn question. A sh– show. But good thing fact checking in real time is [fire emoji] — by posting, “Maaaan ! Same.

Bette Midler also referenced the live fact checking from ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis, who debunked a report that Trump brought up about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio. “Now he’s spreading that lie about eating cats,” Midler wrote. “Muir says NO PETS have been harmed,” she added, referencing Muir letting the former president know that Springfield police have come out to say there are no reports of pets being stolen and eaten.

Social media was overrun with memes about the pet moment, with Flavor Flav joking: “Pet Shop Boys better stay inside and lock the doors. You too Snoop Dogg. And Pitbull.”

Find all the musician reaction Billboard rounded up below: