In a seismic shift last month, the Grammys announced major rule changes and new categories for the upcoming 69th edition next February. Among the five new awards is Best Asian Pop Music Performance, meant to honor excellence in genres “including, but not limited to” K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop. The move has caused fans of the genres, especially the extremely online K-pop faction, to weigh in, and their reactions have been far more acrimonious than the Recording Academy likely hoped.
While the organization sought to celebrate the best of Asian music, fans have lashed out on social media and Reddit threads with criticism of the newly created award. The gist of their backlash: Instead of honoring Asian artists, the new Grammy pigeonholes them, providing a consolation prize from the General Field and mainstream pop categories.
The Grammys creating an “Asian Pop Performance” category the same year BTS returns with one of the year’s biggest albums feels less like inclusion and more like a new way to keep Asian artists out of the main categories.
If the music is good enough to dominate charts, stadiums,… pic.twitter.com/kLZvjSVwRU
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This critique is one that has dogged the Grammys before. R&B and rap fans and artists have long complained of a tiered system at the Grammys, with the existence of those genre categories providing a means to avoid awarding Black creators in the perceived top awards. Instead of a celebration, such categories are marginalization.
Asian pop has historically been shunned by the Grammys. Until last year, K-pop, the most commercially successful subgenre in the United States, had only one act receive nominations. The hugely popular BTS managed a grand total of five nods, winning none. Only one of those was in the General Field. (They were technically nominated for Album of the Year, but it was only as featured artists on Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres.)
BTSKim Min-Hee – Pool/Getty Images
Last year, which was celebrated as K-pop’s breakthrough, saw two other acts score nominations, Rosé from Blackpink and the BTS-affiliated Katseye, along with the music team behind KPop Demon Hunters. In the end, the only winner was the KPop Demon Hunters crew for “Golden” in Best Song Written for Visual Media. (Some diehard K-pop fans refuse to acknowledge that win as the first for the genre, seeing as it was a track composed by committee for a movie, rather than a release from a recording artist or group.) Meanwhile, subgenres like C-pop and J-pop have yet to be recognized.
From the Recording Academy’s perspective, the new category means that a worthy Asian act is guaranteed to be rewarded going forward, avoiding the historic bias that has led to such artists constantly losing against Western music.
While it is true that the category could be somewhat of a “here, damn” moment, there is a significant benefit to more Asian artists recognized on the Grammy stage. A nomination often means more visibility and opportunities. More exposure can help establish artists. Defenders of the new category believe it will launch more Asian artists both commercially and onto the radar of Recording Academy voters, eventually giving them the cachet to be nominated in other categories.
New award or not, this is shaping up as an historic year for Asian representation at the Grammys. BTS’ comeback record, Arirang, is in contention for Album of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“Swim”), in addition to being the favorite for Best Asian Pop Performance.
Album of the Year
1.
Olivia Rodrigo
You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love
2.
Olivia Dean
The Art of Loving
3.
4.
5.
Raye
This Music May Contain Hope
6.
Taylor Swift
The Life of a Showgirl
7.
Noah Kahan
The Great Divide
8.
Harry Styles
Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally
9.
10.
Blackpink’s Jennie is also eyeing nominations in the General Field and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her collab with Tame Impala on “Dracula.”
There’s also the Katseye-assisted “Iconic by Mistake,” which could be Le Sserafim’s and Illit’s first Grammy nomination in the Duo/Group category.
Meanwhile, artists like Ateez, Hearts2Hearts, Bini, and Cortis are on the shortlist of contenders for the newly created award.
If the Recording Academy wants the Asian Pop Music category to be accepted, then voters will need to eventually embrace artists beyond the confines of the genre. Asian stars deserve consistent consideration in Record, Song, and Album of the Year. Otherwise, what’s intended to be a way to honor and embrace the genre, will be seen as another exclusionary tactic from the Western music industry.