For years, the Grammy Awards have remained a fortress that Okay-pop couldn’t break via, however that wall lastly reveals cracks.
With a number of Okay-pop acts touchdown main nominations on the upcoming 68th Grammy Awards, international consideration is now targeted on whether or not this might mark a turning level for the style.
On Friday (native time), the Recording Academy introduced its closing checklist of nominees for the ceremony, which can happen in February at Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles.
Even earlier than the announcement, Rose’s “APT.” and “Golden,” a track from the soundtrack for the Netflix animated movie “KPop Demon Hunters,” had been broadly anticipated to be robust contenders. Each songs secured nominations in main classes.
“APT.,” Rose’s collaboration with Bruno Mars, earned nods for track of the 12 months, file of the 12 months and finest pop duo or group efficiency. “Golden,” from the “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack, picked up 5 nominations together with track of the 12 months.
It’s the first time a Okay-pop monitor has been nominated for track of the 12 months or file of the 12 months, classes often known as the Common Fields. Whereas BTS was listed as a part of Coldplay’s “Music of the Spheres” album class in 2023, the group didn’t win. The trade is now watching to see whether or not “APT.” or “Golden” can obtain what no Okay-pop act has earlier than.
Different Korean artists are additionally within the operating. HYBE and Geffen Information’ woman group Katseye was nominated for finest new artist and finest pop duo or group efficiency. The Korean authentic musical “Possibly Joyful Ending,” which gained 6 Tony Awards, obtained a nomination for finest musical theater album.
A scene from “KPop Demon Hunters” / Courtesy of Netflix
Grammys’ long-standing criticism and shifting panorama
The Grammy Awards, launched in 1959, are considered one of many 4 main music awards within the U.S. Not like the Billboard Music Awards or American Music Awards, the Grammys emphasize musical and creative worth, with winners chosen by Recording Academy voters.
But the present has lengthy been criticized for favoring white artists and overlooking girls and artists of shade. The label “white Grammys” has adopted the ceremony for many years.
For Okay-pop, the barrier was particularly excessive. BTS earned nominations for finest pop duo or group efficiency for 3 years from 2021 to 2023, and worldwide media predicted robust probabilities of a win, however the group was repeatedly handed over.
Other than BTS, no Okay-pop act had ever been nominated, and among the many 4 main U.S. music awards, the Grammys remained the one one with no Okay-pop winner.
The presence of a number of Okay-pop-linked songs in main classes this 12 months is already a breakthrough. The rising expectation that they might win makes the second much more vital. A Grammy win might function a brand new milestone for Okay-pop’s international enlargement.
The surroundings could also be extra favorable than earlier than. On the final ceremony, Beyonce turned the primary Black artist to win album of the 12 months, whereas Kendrick Lamar gained 5 classes, together with file of the 12 months and track of the 12 months. Because the Grammys present indicators of shifting away from their historic bias, hopes are rising that Okay-pop will now not be ignored.
Some observers be aware that this 12 months’s nominees — Rose, the “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack and Katseye — are all English-language pop acts with robust American market alignment. In that sense, it might be untimely to say Okay-pop has totally reached equal footing in its authentic type.
Even so, these nominations mark a significant footprint for the trade. The once-impenetrable Grammy wall has begun to crack. How far that crack will unfold — and whether or not it can lastly open the door to a historic win — is now the query drawing international eyes.
This text from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Occasions, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Occasions.
