Grammy boycott debate turns toward K-pop acts that submitted
Summary
K-pop fans are criticizing acts that reportedly submitted music for the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category ahead of the 69th Grammy Awards. The category, which debuts in February 2027, has drawn accusations that it segregates K-pop, while other artists view Grammy submissions as practical. BTS and Stray Kids said they would not submit, but the boycott was not industrywide. Nominations will be announced on Nov. 16.
Key Facts
- The Recording Academy said the category covers recordings making meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.
- The category received 116 submissions, compared with 519 for Best Latin Song.
- BTS announced on July 29 that it would not submit music, and JYP Entertainment confirmed the following day that Stray Kids had not submitted.
- The Recording Academy confirmed on Oct. 1 that it would retain the category, with CEO Harvey Mason Jr. saying support from Asia’s music community outweighed opposition.
- Kim Hee-yon of Cornell SC Johnson College of Business said newer or smaller K-pop artists could benefit substantially from winning a Grammy.
A decorative grammy is seen before the start of the 63rd annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on March 14, 2021. AP-Yonhap
Fans were angry at the Grammys/Recording Academy for creating the new Asian pop category, but some of that anger is now directed at K-pop acts that reportedly submitted for the category.
The academy has not officially disclosed which acts entered the category, though some have been named in local media outlets.
Criticism has mounted in some online fan communities, with people questioning whether the acts should compete in a category that many see as discriminatory and some even asking whether they really want to win a "racist award."
Others have countered that pursuing a Grammy nomination is a practical choice for artists.
K-pop boy band BTS performs at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 18. Reuters-Yonhap
The debate traces back to June, when the academy announced that Best Asian Pop Music Performance, one of five new categories, will debut at the 69th Grammy Awards in February 2027.
The award covers recordings that make meaningful use of one or more Asian languages, but many in the Korean music industry questioned whether it would wall K-pop off into a separate box instead of recognizing it in the main categories.
Boy band BTS brought the debate to a head on July 29, announcing that they would not submit their music and saying they hoped music could be heard and loved for what it is rather than divided by region or language. The group had been seen as a strong contender with its fifth studio album, "ARIRANG," released in March.
After hinting in August that it could revisit the category, the academy confirmed on Oct. 1 that it would keep it, with CEO Harvey Mason Jr. saying that more voices in Asia's music community had backed the category than opposed it.
JYP Entertainment confirmed the following day that Stray Kids had not submitted, and Grammy analysis site The Grammy Guru reported on Oct. 15 that no artists from HYBE, SM, JYP or YG Entertainment had entered the category.
Members of K-pop boy band Stray Kids perform during the Rock in Rio music festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sept. 12. AP-Yonhap
According to Billboard, the category drew 116 submissions, far fewer than other new categories such as Best Latin Song, which received 519.
The boycott was not a collective industry decision. HYBE said BTS' move was "not a company-wide boycott," and that its other artists would make their own decisions under its multi-label system.
Now, the question is whether the fans are blaming the wrong people.
Kim Hee-yon, assistant professor at Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, thinks so. BTS no longer needs the Grammys to prove its global reach, she said, but "a newer or smaller K-pop artist may still benefit enormously from a Grammy award."
The boycott has also made submissions harder to read, Kim said, as an act's choice "may now reflect a position on the legitimacy of the category itself," rather than whether a song fits the category or stands a chance of winning.
She said the burden ultimately lies with the academy, which "has to demonstrate that this category is intended to expand recognition of Asian artists rather than contain them within an 'Asian' space."
Nominations for the 69th Grammy Awards will be announced on Nov. 16.
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