By Kang Aa-young
Korean boy bands BTS, Wanna One and iKON were honored at the 2018 Melon Music Awards (MMA), putting the icing on the cake for their activities this year.
K-pop sensation BTS won the top album award for "Love Yourself: Tear" and the top artist award. The group also snagged Best Rap/Hip-Hop with “Fake Love” and the Netizen's Choice award, along with the Top 10, Kakao Hot Star and Global Artist awards.
BTS were the grand finale of the event, performing "Fake Love," "Airplane Pt.2" and "Idol," stealing the show at the annual K-pop event at the Gocheok Sky Dome in southwestern Seoul, Saturday night.
“In an era where many people consume music like junk food, I think it's truly an honor and amazing that people spend their money on albums. We sincerely thank you for showing love for our tracks. Thank you so much,” BTS's RM said after receiving the award.
K-pop boy bands iKON and Wanna One were also recognized as grand prize winners.
11-member group Wanna One was named the winner of the best record of the year award and hip-hop boy band iKON won its very first grand prize, grabbing the best song of the year, with the hit "Love Scenario."
With the success of “Love Scenario,” the group was also named as one of the top 10 artist award winners, while leader B.I won the songwriter of the year award.
“We thank fans for being a seawall without any expectations or reasons against the waves that hit us,” said B.I, the leader of the group.
Including their best record of the year award Wanna One was named as a top 10 artist and won the best dance award.
“Wanna One in particular is a group uniquely born because of the nation's producers. I sincerely thank you for allowing us to realize our dreams,” said group leader Yoon Ji-sung.
MMA, marking its 10th anniversary, has successfully established itself as one of the big four music awards ceremonies in Korea by strategically focusing on digital sales and public votes to determine its award winners.
According to a Melon official, winners were chosen from a pool of artists with the highest chart scores from its music chart for the year by putting all together their online fan votes, digital sales, and judge scores.
Rising rookies (G)I-DLE and The Boyz were spotlighted as the best rookie artists, while acts including iKON, Black Pink, Wanna One, Bolbbalgan4, Mamamoo and Apink were also named as winners of the top 10 award.