Grammy CEO Harvey Mason jr. has issued a statement in response to BTS’ decision not to submit for the 2027 awards, which the K-Pop superstars announced on Wednesday, in an effort to clarify that the launch of a Best Asian Pop category was not intended to sideline K-Pop artists.
“I am saddened to hear that BTS has chosen not to participate in the Grammy Awards process this year, but as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision,” Mason wrote.
“I do want to clarify something that seems to be getting lost in the conversation. The Asian Pop category was created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia. The spirit of this new category is to shine a dedicated spotlight on these important artists. More categories mean more artists’ work is recognized. It’s never to divide, but to expand who is recognized by our 15,000 Grammy voters.
“I also want to be very clear: submitting music in a genre category such as Asian Pop, or Jazz or Country does not exclude an artist from also submitting and being considered in the General Field categories, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year,” he continued. “Those categories remain open to any eligible recording, regardless of genre. Recognition in a genre category and recognition in the General Field are not mutually exclusive. An artist can absolutely pursue both.”
All seven members – RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook – posted the same statement on their individual instagram accounts.
“We have decided not to submit for Grammy consideration this year. We hope our music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language. We thank Army and everyone who has always stood by us.”
The announcement lands just over a month after the Recording Academy unveiled a new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. “This category recognizes artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with meaningful use of one or more Asian languages. Awards are presented to the performing artist(s),” the Academy’s description of the category reads.
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BTS has been nominated for Grammys before, including in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video categories, but has never won.
The group is not the first to opt out of the Grammys over what they consider to be unfair treatment. Drake, Jay-Z, the Weeknd and other major stars have opted out at times, often for several years, but Mason has worked to bring alienated artists back into the fold, and has usually succeeded.
Variety will have more on the situation as it develops.
From Variety US