Mariah Carey slated to receive the MTV VMA Video Vanguard award

The Video Vanguard Award is basically the VMAs’ version of a lifetime achievement honor, though MTV tried to rebrand it over the years to make it feel more flexible, the better to hand it out to younger stars when convenient. (Janet Jackson got hers in 1990 at the age of 24, which tells you all you need to know.) At its core, it’s always been the “Come get venerated, famous person!” trophy, designed less for competition and more for the optics of having icons show up and bask in applause. 

Carey getting the award feels both overdue and inevitable. She’s one of the defining pop stars of the last 30-plus years, with more No. 1 singles than anybody not named The Beatles, and an entire holiday basically belongs to her at this point. The award has previously gone to the likes of Madonna, Beyoncé, and Jennifer Lopez, so Carey is in the right company. She was never the most groundbreaking music-video artist in a visual sense and has never actually won a competitive VMA, but that’s not really the point. This is MTV acknowledging a legacy act who still has cultural cachet, who will get people talking, and who will absolutely deliver a performance that will end up all over social media.

While Carey isn't history's chillest, most-normal person, she's a largely uncontroversial, fantastically successful individual. She is a worthy winner, to be sure. Check it all out September 7.

(h/t Pitchfork)