Gaon Chart K-pop Awards hit sour note
Big Bang
By Kwon Ji-youn
YG Entertainment’s dominance at the Gaon Chart K-pop Awards has cast doubt on the event’s fairness and raised questions about whether the winners made significant contributions to the development of K-pop last year.
YG artists swept 10 trophies in 17 categories at the ceremony at Olympic Park in southern Seoul, Wednesday. BigBang won five with its album “MADE”; Psy was named “Artist of the Year” for December; WINNER member Song Min-ho won was “Discovery of the Year” in hip-hop; iKON was named “New Artist of the Year”; and YG chief Yang Hyun-suk was “Producer of the Year.”
SM Entertainment artists followed YG in the trophy count with eight.
EXO won five awards, including the “Popularity Award” by fan vote; Super Junior was named “Artist of the Year” in the third quarter; and TaeYeon was “Artist of the Year” for October. Red Velvet won an award for “hot performance.”
But whether WINNER member Song earned an award in hip-hop is questionable, especially as the rapper has come under fire for allegedly misogynist lyrics during appearances on Mnet’s “Show Me the Money,” a rap audition program. Psy’s latest album was not a huge hit, either.
The Gaon Music Chart tabulates the weekly popularity of songs or albums. It is compiled by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. According to its website, winners of the Gaon Chart K-pop Awards are selected on a “fair and objective evaluation of Gaon Chart data.”