The Blind Spot and Uncomfortable Truth of the Grammy 'Asian Pop' Category [Yoon Sang-geun's Context]

*This content was translated by AI.

Will a Korean artist actually be able to win in the 69th Grammy Awards' "Best Asian Pop Music Performance" category? And if they do, what significance would that carry?

The Recording Academy, which organizes the Grammy Awards, announced in June new restructuring plans. Starting with the 69th Grammy Awards scheduled for next February, five new categories will be introduced: Best Asian Pop Music Performance, Best Latin Song, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance, Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance, and Best Traditional Folk Album.

From the perspective of domestic fans, the most attention-grabbing category is "Best Asian Pop Music Performance." According to the Recording Academy's official rulebook, this category recognizes artistic excellence in pop music performances originating from or widely known in the Asian market, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop. It targets works that meaningfully use one or more Asian languages.

For us, this change does not appear particularly negative. Given that K-pop's global influence has grown significantly yet failed to break through the traditional and prestigious Grammy Awards, it is encouraging to see the Grammys take a step back and create an opportunity for recognition.

The Grammy Awards are the highest authority in the U.S. music industry, hosted by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

While numerous K-pop artists have attempted to compete at the Grammys, no winner has emerged yet. The first significant encounter between K-pop and the Grammys occurred in 2012 when Psy's "Gangnam Style" was nominated for Best Music Video, leaving a meaningful mark on K-pop history. Subsequently, BTS was nominated for three consecutive years from the 63rd to the 65th Grammy Awards in the category of Best Pop Duo/Group Performance but failed to win.

In fact, the Billboard Music Awards and American Music Awards have increasingly embraced changes in the global pop market, resulting in more K-pop artists winning awards and attending performances. Compared to these two ceremonies, the Grammys have been more conservative in their nominations and award results. However, at the 68th Grammy Awards, "Golden," the OST from "K-Pop Demon Hunters," won an award, and BLACKPINK's Rosé and Cat's Eyes were nominated for major categories beyond genre-specific awards, acknowledging a shift in K-pop's status to some extent.

However, upon closer examination, this new category also hides blind spots and uncomfortable truths.

First, there is potential misunderstanding surrounding the term "Asian Pop" as defined by the Recording Academy. Questions arise regarding why Indian hip-hop, Punjabi hip-hop, and Bollywood pop are not explicitly mentioned alongside K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop. Even if these genres were included, critics could argue that it makes no sense to categorize them under "Asian Pop" solely from the Grammy Awards' perspective, given their distinct styles and cultures.

In this regard, Rolling Stone India stated, "While this category may raise awareness of Asian pop, it risks becoming merely a showcase without achieving meaningful integration into the Asian pop sphere." They added, "Selecting K-pop or J-pop artists could bring significant streaming traffic and financial gains, but it might also undermine the prestige of the award itself. This approach is no different from when urban and Latin genre categories were introduced in the 1990s and 2000s."

Forbes also pointed out, "The specific genres mentioned for this category are limited to K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop. There is no mention of music from Southeast Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, or South Asia, which represent large markets." They further noted, "Hindi film music, Tamil folk pop, Indonesian dangdut, Persian classical music, hip-hop crossovers, and Punjabi hip-hop all originate from Asia and use Asian languages, yet none fit the Grammy Awards' core definition at present."

Additionally, the nomination condition of "meaningfully using one or more Asian languages" could serve as an unexpected obstacle. While this may align with the intended meaning and purpose of "Asian Pop," it would prevent K-pop songs with lyrics entirely in English from being nominated in this category. For instance, BTS's "Dynamite" and "Butter," which are 100% in English, cannot qualify as nominees. This also disadvantages Asian artists who primarily use English lyrics.

Forbes further remarked, "If BTS or BLACKPINK were to win the Best Asian Pop Music Performance award but fail to be nominated for Record of the Year or Album of the Year this year, it could be perceived as the Recording Academy acknowledging the commercial dominance of Asian pop while deliberately excluding it from major competitive categories."

As K-pop has expanded based on fandoms and systems, the Grammys increasingly appear to recognize it not only as "Asian Pop" but also as a major local genre in its own right. However, a challenge remains: K-pop must clearly communicate its true identity to the Grammys. Only by addressing this challenge can K-pop produce artists like Bad Bunny who win Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards. The road ahead is still long.

Meanwhile, eligibility for the 69th Grammy Awards, scheduled to take place on February 7 next year at Crypto.com Arena, applies to albums released between August 31, 2025, and August 28, 2026.

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*This content was translated by AI.