UPDATE (July 29): Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. released a statement on Wednesday (July 29) in response to BTS’ decision not to enter their music for the 2027 Grammy Awards.
“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.
“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. 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.
“The Grammy organization is here to serve music and all the people who make it. As we continue to expand the reach, our membership and our awards, regardless of geography or language, I want to emphasize that we will continue to listen to the global music community and work to honor and celebrate all the artists whose music moves the world. – Harvey Mason jr, Grammys CEO”
PREVIOUSLY (July 29): BTS has announced that they will not be submitting music from their comeback album ARIRANG for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards.
All seven members of the K-pop supergroup — RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook —simultaneously posted an identical statement on their individual Instagram accounts on Wednesday (July 29): “We have decided not to submit to the Grammys this year,” a translation of the message reads. “I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language. Thank you to ARMY and everyone who is always with us.”
Their message takes an implicit swipe at the guidelines for the Recording Academy’s newly created Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, which was one of five new Grammy categories introduced in June. The group members’ choice to specify both “region” and “language” is relevant, as the category specifies that songs must include “meaningful use” of any Asian language.
Ironically, BTS’s smash English-language hit single “SWIM,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, would have been excluded from this new Asian pop category anyway.
The boycott comes during a banner comeback year for BTS. After completing the group members completed their mandatory military service, they released their fifth studio album, ARIRANG, in March 2026. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 641,000 units, marking the biggest opening week for a group album in more than a decade.
BTS has received five Grammy nominations, including three consecutive nominations in the high-profile best pop duo/group performance category, for “Dynamite” (2021), “Butter” (2022) and “My Universe,” the latter a collab with Coldplay (2023). In 2023, the group received two other nominations: album of the year as a featured artist on Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres and best music video for “Yet to Come.”
BTS’ decision not to enter its music is a blow to the Grammys’ prestige, but the biggest impact could be the Grammy telecast losing a powerhouse draw. The group has performed on the Grammy telecast twice; it contributed a remote performance from a Seoul skyscraper in 2021 and a live, spy-themed rendition of “Butter” in Las Vegas in 2022.
Other artists have declined to submit their music for Grammy consideration, often in reaction to what they saw as snubs, including Drake, The Weeknd and Morgan Wallen.
Some have criticized the new best Asian pop music performance category, which sits in the Pop & Dance/Electronic Field, fearing that it will lock Asian acts into a subcategory and deny them the opportunity to compete in the higher-profile General Field categories or in pop performance categories. The former fear is unfounded. All artists from all genres can compete in the General Field categories, which include album, record and song of the year and best new artist.
But it is true that a specific recording can compete in only one performance category. If a recording is entered for best Asian pop music performance, it cannot be entered for, say, best pop duo/group performance. The same act can, however, be nominated in multiple performance categories with different recordings.
K-pop achieved its first-ever Grammy win earlier this year when “Golden” from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters won best song written for visual media. The song was also nominated for song of the year but did not win.
The Recording Academy’s description of the new award, in full, reads:
“This category recognizes artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances. Eligible recordings include contemporary popular music originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including K-pop, J-pop and C-pop.
“Asian pop is a distinct and globally recognized form of popular music characterized by its integrated approach to music, performance, and presentation. Eligible recordings typically feature melody-driven composition, mainstream pop songwriting, and commercially oriented production, as recognized within their respective markets, and may incorporate elements of pop-adjacent styles such as pop-rock, pop R&B, and other related forms. Recordings in this category are often characterized by genre-blending arrangements, layered production, and dynamic structural shifts designed to support both audio and performance-based delivery.
“Recordings must feature meaningful use of one or more Asian languages. An Asian language should play a significant role within the song in bilingual or multilingual structures such that the recording is identifiable with that language. Recordings performed entirely in an Asian language are eligible. Incidental or minimal use (e.g., isolated words, adlibs, or brief phrases) does not qualify. Recordings performed entirely in English are not eligible in this category and remain eligible in other appropriate categories.
“The musical style is determinative of eligibility, not the ethnicity or nationality of the performer(s).
“Other popular music forms which originate in Asia or the Asian diaspora but do not meet the genre criteria for this category are eligible in other categories as appropriate.
“Only one version of a recording is eligible in a performance category in any year. A recording which is eligible and entered in another performance category is not also eligible in Best Asian Pop Music Performance for a different version featuring an Asian language performance.
“Nominees are Artist(s).
“Grammy statuettes awarded to Artist(s).”
There is recent precedent for tracks to win both in General Field categories (such as record and song of the year) and genre-specific categories. In 2019, Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” won best rap/sung performance as well as record and song of the year. In 2022, Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” won in two R&B categories as well as record and song of the year.
Earlier this year, Bad Bunny made history when Debí Tirar Más Fotos became the first all-Spanish-language album to win album of the year. It also won best música urbana album. Of Bunny’s six 2026 nominations, four were in genre-neutral categories and two were in genre-specific categories. Of his three wins, one was in a genre-neutral category and two were in genre-specific categories.
