Cody Johnson Speaks Out About His Surprising VMA Nomination For His ‘I’m Gonna Love You’ Duet With Carrie Underwood

“Cody Johnson Speaks Out About His Surprising VMA Nomination For His 'I'm Gonna Love You' Duet With Carrie Underwood

Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood are nominated for an MTV Video Music Award, for their “I’m Gonna Love You” duet. The two are nominated in the Best Country category, a first for the popular fan-voted awards show.

And according to Johnson, it’s high time the VMA Awards included country music.

“I think it speaks to the growth of country music as a genre, period,” Johnson says. “I know Shaboozey, so I’ll say this: a lot of people can say, ‘Well, that’s not country music.’ Well, look what he brought. Post Malone is not really country. Look what he brought to the table. ‘Well, Beyoncé is not really country.’

“I may agree or disagree with any of those statements, but look what it brought to the genre,” he adds. “Look at the eyes that are on the genre, and music as a whole has to recognize that.”

Cody Johnson Praises Country’s Inclusion In The VMA Awards

Whether Johnson wins or loses, the Texan praises MTV for – finally – including country at the VMA Awards.

“I think that the MTV Awards were very smart for doing that,” Johnson says. “Because they’re going, ‘Hey, man, country music’s growing out the seams. Maybe we should include these country bumpkins.’ And you know, it’s going to do nothing but help them too, and I think it’s cool.”

Johnson and Underwood are in good company at the upcoming VMA Awards. They share the nomination with Chris Stapleton, for “Think I’m in Love With You,” Jelly Roll’s “Liar,” Lainey Wilson’s “4x4xU,” Megan Moroney’s “Am I Okay?” and Morgan Wallen’s “Smile.”

Making the VMA Awards even more impactful, fans choose who the winners will be in each of the categories. Voting is open now at vote.mtv.com. Voting is open until 6:00 p.m. ET on September 5. The MTV VMA Awards are taking place at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. LL Cool J is serving as the evening’s host. The show will air on September 7 at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS and MTV. It will also stream on Paramount+.

“I’m Gonna Love You” is Johnson’s fourth No. 1 single. He is back at radio with another hit, “The Fall.”