In protest against the 2027 Grammy Awards creating a Best Asian Pop Performance category, BTS decided to boycott the award.
BTS ‘s decision not to submit any works to the 2027 Grammy Awards not only sparked debate about the new Best Asian Pop Performance category but also presented the entire K-pop industry with a sensitive choice.
Immediately after BTS’s announcement, the Army fan community collectively pushed the song ” Aliens “—a track from the album Arirang with the theme of feeling like an “outsider”—to number one on the iTunes charts in 78 countries and territories, even though the album had been released months earlier. This move was seen as a show of support for the group’s decision, according to The Korea Herald .
Many fans and observers believe that BTS is protesting the new Grammy category specifically for Asian pop music. They argue that separating Asian artists into a distinct category inadvertently creates divisions instead of promoting equality within the awards system.
The Grammy Awards continue to face pressure regarding fairness.
Following the announcement, all seven members of BTS shared a message on social media expressing their desire for music to be heard and recognized for its true value, without being limited by region or language.
Professor Hong Seok Kyeong of Seoul National University argues that the Grammy Awards are not just a trophy, but also a symbol of power in the music industry. However, she believes that power only exists when artists and the public continue to give it their consent. BTS’s refusal to attend, according to the scholar, is an act of withdrawing that consent.
She also argued that Kpop is no longer dependent on recognition from the American music market as it once was. The industry’s growth comes primarily from its global fanbase, rather than recognition from Western cultural institutions.
However, not everyone agrees with this perspective.
Zeena Koda, a member of the Recording Academy and one of the key figures in promoting the creation of the new category, affirmed that the award was not created exclusively for BTS. According to her, the goal is to open up more opportunities for Asian artists who haven’t had many chances to appear at the Grammys.
Koda stated that this category is the result of years of campaigning to increase the presence of Asian artists at the awards ceremony. She emphasized that the winner will be chosen by experts and Academy members, rather than based on public vote.
However, Grammy-winning producer Sleep Deez stated in a live stream that the Academy still considers BTS the ideal candidate for their first win in this category.
Quoting an insider at the Academy whom he claims to have spoken with, Sleep Deez said: “They say they didn’t create this award specifically for BTS. But if they say they don’t want BTS to win this award, they’re lying. Because if BTS wins this award, it means other groups in the future will follow suit and want to win it because BTS has already won it.”
According to the Recording Academy’s rules, a recording can only be submitted to one performance category. This means that if a song is registered in the Best Asian Pop Performance category, it will not be eligible for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance – a category in which BTS has been nominated three times, from 2021 to 2023.
Meanwhile, the Recording Academy also clarified that participation in the Asian Pop category does not mean artists are excluded from important categories such as Album of the Year, Record of the Year, or Song of the Year. However, the performance category rules still force record labels to choose between Best Asian Pop Performance and other performance categories.
This debate is taking place against the backdrop of years of ongoing questioning of the transparency of the Grammy voting process.
Nominations are now voted on by approximately 15,000 members of the Recording Academy, rather than being based on commercial performance such as sales or streaming numbers. This system has faced considerable criticism.
In 2021, The Weeknd announced a boycott of the Grammys after receiving no nominations. Frank Ocean also refused to submit his album Blonde, arguing that the nomination process was outdated. At the 2024 Grammys, Jay-Z publicly mentioned that Beyoncé had never won Album of the Year despite having the most Grammy awards in history.
Kpop companies face a difficult choice.
BTS’s decision has also prompted South Korean entertainment companies to reconsider their strategies for attending this year’s Grammy Awards.
According to Korea JoongAng Daily , the deadline for submitting applications is August 21, but many companies have yet to make a final decision.
Currently, Kpop artists have three options: not participate in the Grammys like BTS; only submit their works to traditional categories such as Album of the Year or Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; or participate in the Best Asian Pop Performance category to increase their chances of receiving a nomination.
This is considered a difficult choice. Some ARMYs believe that participating in the new category would inadvertently legitimize the regional classification system that BTS is opposing. Conversely, many other Asian artists see this as a rare opportunity to be recognized at the Grammys.
Currently, only BTS, Rosé, and Katseye are Kpop artists who have received Grammy nominations. However, many groups have submitted entries to the 68th annual Grammy Awards, including Seventeen, Twice, Stray Kids, Ateez, Riize, Tomorrow X Together, aespa, IVE, Le Sserafim, BlackPink members Jennie , Jisoo, and Lisa, and BTS’s Jin, J-Hope, and RM as solo artists.
Many Kpop artists and entertainment company presidents in the industry have also joined the Recording Academy in recent years, such as JYP Entertainment, Park Jin Young, members of Twice, and Stray Kids.
And now, with the Grammys introducing a new category and the boycott from BTS, the decision to submit a work that was quite normal in previous years has become a sensitive strategic choice.
Netizens are searching for V (BTS)’s mysterious book.
Singer V (Kim Taehyung) – a member of the global K-pop group BTS – caused a stir among fans when he appeared in a military uniform, holding a book.
It didn’t take long for netizens to discover the book’s identity: The Kitchen of 16 Nights by Mao Wu, a Chinese writer living in Tokyo. Although not a hugely popular international work, the fact that V chose to read it during his break propelled it into the spotlight.
The Kitchen of 16 Nights is a collection of short stories with a magical realism feel, set in a mysterious restaurant on the banks of the Wangchuan River called “Hell’s Kitchen”.
