BTS Skips Grammys Over New Asian Pop Category

BTS members announced individually on their personal accounts late last month that they wouldn't be taking part in this year's Grammys. The message accompanying the posts made clear they want their music judged on its own terms, not divided up by language or region of origin. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. responded within a day, saying the decision was disappointing but that he understood where the artists were coming from. He added that having a new category for Asian-language pop doesn't exclude those artists from being considered for general-field categories like Record of the Year or Album of the Year.

The controversy traces back to a new category the Academy announced in June, meant to recognize pop music in Korean, Japanese, Chinese and other Asian languages. But critics quickly warned the move could effectively push global K-pop acts like BTS further from the general-field awards rather than closer to them. BTS first performed at the Grammys in 2019 and was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance every year from 2021 to 2023, but has never taken home a trophy.

At a US concert following the announcement, leader RM reworked the lyrics of an existing song in what many read as a pointed message aimed at the Grammys. Fans responded by pushing to re-chart a track from the group's fifth studio album, and it spent four days atop the iTunes Top Songs chart in 78 countries. The song itself deals with how Western society 'others' Asian people, which only sharpened its relevance to the current dispute.

This isn't the first time the Academy has faced criticism over race. In 2020, other pop stars boycotted the awards over how Black artists were being evaluated, prompting the Academy to overhaul its nomination process the following year. Even so, only 5% of new members who joined last year self-identified as Asian Pacific American, suggesting the diversity problem within the organization hasn't been fundamentally resolved.

Opinion on region-specific categories is split. Some point to artists who won the first-ever award in a category dedicated solely to African music, or acts who've swept both a Latin category and general-field awards in the same year, as evidence such categories can open doors rather than close them. Others note there's no equivalent standalone category for European pop artists, which they say undercuts the fairness argument behind the new Asian pop category.