Hot off her first-ever VMA nominations for Best Pop Artist and Song of the Year for “Sports Car,” Tatiana Tate McRae just slayed the USB Arena stage with a Medusa-inspired performance of “Revolving Door” and “Sports Car.” The Canadian pop princess brought on steamy, high-energy choreo while hitting her marks in black sand and staying on key, and honestly, her main stage moment was one for the books.

Oh, and you already know her signature tan was tanning in a two-piece white set with dangling rhinestone-detailed fringe. TL;DR: It’s Tate’s world, and we’re just living in it.

“It’s definitely a little out there, it’s so fun. I get to tell a story. There’s a bit of a storyline that’ll be fun for the fans to see,” Tate told MTV’s red carpet correspondent, Nessa, during the VMA pre-show ahead of her performance.

Although she’s attended MTV’s iconic awards show in 2021, 2022, and 2024, this year’s ceremony actually marks Tate’s first time performing on the main stage. Playing the VMAs—where she’s nominated for two Moon Person awards—is a milestone moment for the singer-songwriter, who opened up about what iconography and performing means to her during a May 2025 cover interview for PAPER.

“I try to create anything that makes me feel fresh and inspired and new whenever I’m creating. As a dancer, you live a million lives. I went from being a ballerina to being hip-hop to being a contemporary dancer to doing ballroom at one point. And as a singer, it’s been fun to see how far I can take things and push things that make me feel excited,” she explained.

Tate continued, “That’s the blessing of my job. Now I can take things that I’m really passionate about, and I’m able to have really incredible resources and dancers and choreographers and directors that I work with that can push me in directions I didn’t know were possible. That’s what creates iconic things: really great people working together and being fully present and engaged on set and feeling the magic come. I strive to do something better than my last project or my last performance, and that’s the headspace I like to stay in.”

Well, Tate, it looks like your mission was accomplished at the VMAs.