Ed Sheeran and Kendrick Lamar will go up against Ariana Grande for best artist at the MTV Video Music Awards after judges scrapped gendered categories.

Lamar leads the way with eight nominations in the first time the annual ceremony has done away with best female and best male video groups, it was announced on Tuesday.

The categories have been replaced by the best artist prize, which will see the trio face Bruno Mars, The Weeknd and Lorde.

Lamar scores a nomination for video of the year for HUMBLE., as does Mars’s 24K Magic, DJ Khaled’s Wild Thoughts, Alessia Cara’s Scars To Your Beautiful and Reminder by The Weeknd.

Sheeran’s Shape Of You is up against Harry Styles’ Sign Of The Times in the best pop category, which also features Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry.

MTV scrapped gendered prizes for the first time at its Movie & TV Awards in May, which saw Emma Watson and Millie Bobby Brown both scoop best actor awards.

For the VMAs, Katy Perry and The Weeknd trail behind Lamar with five nominations a-piece.

Sheeran is also up for best cinematography for Castle On The Hill and Sign Of The Times also wins a nomination for best visual effects.

MTV has also introduced a best fight against the system category, which features Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) from the Hamilton soundtrack and John Legend’s Surefire.

Fans can vote on the MTV website to decide the winners at the ceremony, to be held in Inglewood, California, on August 27.