--- title: Cardi B's "I Like It" Crowned Song of the Summer at the VMAs description: At Monday night's MTV Video Music Awards, Cardi B's "I Like It' was named song of the summer for 2018. canonical: https://time.com/5372580/vmas-cardi-b-i-like-it/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-21T01:00:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:25.182Z og:title: The MTV VMAs Just Crowned the 2018 Song of the Summer og:description: The VMAs have named Cardi B's "I Like It" as the season's top tune og:url: https://time.com/5372580/vmas-cardi-b-i-like-it/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt612a0ab53b105e2a/6989382fdb29875e48260768/cardi-b-vmas-20181.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2018 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The MTV VMAs Just Crowned the 2018 Song of the Summer twitter:description: The VMAs have named Cardi B's "I Like It" as the season's top tune twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt612a0ab53b105e2a/6989382fdb29875e48260768/cardi-b-vmas-20181.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The VMAs Just Crowned the Song of the Summer and It Makes Perfect Sense  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 21, 2018 1:00 AM UTC  Cardi B attends the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on August 20, 2018 in New York City. Cardi B attends the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on August 20, 2018 in New York City.Nicholas Hunt—Getty Images for MTV  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 21, 2018 1:00 AM UTC If you’ve been paying attention, you might have called this one in advance: [Cardi B’s “I Like It”](http://time.com/5231034/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-48/item/i-like-it-cardi-b-bad-bunny-and-j-balvin/) featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny was just named 2018 Song of the Summer at [MTV’s 2018 Video Music Awards](http://time.com/5347009/2018-mtv-video-music-awards-guide/) in New York City on Monday night. The award, handed out during the pre-show red carpet festivities at Radio City Music Hall, went to the [Bronx-born rapper](http://time.com/collection-post/5217533/cardi-b/) over her [competitors](http://time.com/5340179/mtv-vmas-2018-nominees/), which included Dua Lipa and Calvin Harris’s “One Kiss,” Drake’s “In My Feelings” and more. But “I Like It,” which was released in the winter on Cardi B’s debut album [_Invasion of Privacy_](http://time.com/5296551/best-albums-2018-so-far/), quickly grabbed fan attention for its Latin beats and catchy verses; it samples a classic Pete Rodriguez boogaloo tune, too. It’s been on the [_Billboard_ Hot 100](https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100) chart for 18 weeks, peaking at number one earlier in the year. Previous VMA songs of summer include “Despacito” and Fifth Harmony’s [“All In My Head,”](https://ew.com/article/2016/08/23/mtv-vmas-song-summer-nominees/) so “I Like It” is in good company. Cardi is up for a number of further awards over the course of the evening including Best Song, so if this is any indication it’s just the beginning for the [breakout star and new mothe](http://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217533/cardi-b/)r, who will also be opening the show’s live broadcast. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5372580/vmas-cardi-b-i-like-it/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5372580/vmas-cardi-b-i-like-it/"},"headline":"The VMAs Just Crowned the Song of the Summer and It Makes Perfect Sense","datePublished":"2018-08-21T01:00:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:25.182Z","description":"The VMAs like this song most","url":"https://time.com/5372580/vmas-cardi-b-i-like-it/","keywords":["Newsfeed","awards"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt612a0ab53b105e2a/6989382fdb29875e48260768/cardi-b-vmas-20181.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt612a0ab53b105e2a/6989382fdb29875e48260768/cardi-b-vmas-20181.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2018 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals","caption":"2018 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Nicholas Hunt—Getty Images for MTV","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5372580/vmas-cardi-b-i-like-it/","name":"The VMAs Just Crowned the Song of the Summer and It Makes Perfect Sense"}}]}] ```