BTS’ Decision to Sit Out the Grammys Brings New Attention to the Academy’s Asian Pop Category

BTS announced on Wednesday (July 29) that it will not submit its latest album, ARIRANG, or any of its songs for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards.

All seven members posted the same Korean-language statement to their individual Instagram Stories. In translation, the group said it had decided not to submit to the Grammys this year, adding, “We hope our music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.”

BTS did not explicitly mention the Recording Academy’s newly created Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. Still, the statement arrived just over a month after the category was announced, and its reference to “region” and “language” invited comparisons between the two developments. HYBE also emphasized that the decision was “not a boycott at the company level” and that other artists under the company may submit their work as planned.

The announcement has brought wider attention to a discussion already taking place among fans and industry observers. A dedicated Asian pop category offers an additional route to Grammy recognition. It also raises practical questions about how artists whose work already circulates within the global pop market will be entered and evaluated across the awards.

What the New Category Actually Does

Best Asian Pop Music Performance sits within the Grammys’ Pop & Dance/Electronic field and applies only to vocal singles or tracks. Eligible recordings must originate from, or be widely recognized within, Asian markets and make meaningful use of at least one Asian language.

That makes it more specific than a general category for artists from Asia. Recordings performed entirely in English are not eligible for Best Asian Pop Music Performance, though they may still compete elsewhere. The Academy also states that musical style, rather than a performer’s ethnicity or nationality, determines eligibility.

Because it is a track category, ARIRANG itself could not have competed there. The language requirement would also have excluded the album’s biggest song: lead single “SWIM,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is performed in English. The BBC reported that more than 80% of the album’s lyrics are in English.

The album could still have been submitted for Album of the Year and any genre-album categories whose criteria it met. Qualifying songs could also have been considered in the general field.

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. emphasized that point following BTS’ announcement. He said the new award was designed to expand recognition for Asian pop artists, rather than separate them from the broader Grammy process. “Recognition in a genre category and recognition in the General Field are not mutually exclusive,” he said. “An artist can absolutely pursue both.”

The rulebook does, however, create meaningful submission choices. Under the Academy’s Rules & Guidelines, a single or track may be entered in only one specialized genre field and, within that field, only one performance category.

The description for Best Asian Pop Music Performance adds another restriction: only one version of a recording may compete in a performance category during a given year. A song entered in another performance category cannot also be submitted to Best Asian Pop Music Performance through a separate Asian-language version.

Asian pop artists therefore remain eligible for the general field. What remains to be seen is how the new category will affect label submission strategies, screening decisions and the way voters encounter eligible recordings.

Recognition and Classification

The category’s official criteria combine musical characteristics with market origin and language use. That framework has led some observers to consider how the award will function alongside other pop and genre categories.

K-pop, J-pop and C-pop do not describe a single musical form. They come from different industries, languages and creative traditions, and each can encompass pop, R&B, hip-hop, rock, electronic music and other styles. “Asian pop,” in that sense, can describe a broad cultural and market context rather than one narrowly defined sound.

The Academy’s rationale is clear: expanding the category structure can give work that has historically received limited Grammy recognition a more visible point of entry. The category’s longer-term impact will depend on whether it complements artists’ opportunities across the broader awards or develops primarily as a destination of its own.

Why BTS’ Grammy History Matters

BTS has received five Grammy nominations but has yet to win. Three came in Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, for “Dynamite,” “Butter” and the group’s Coldplay collaboration “My Universe.” “Yet To Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)” was nominated for Best Music Video, while the members also shared in Coldplay’s Album of the Year nomination for Music of the Spheres.

BTS has never received a general-field nomination for one of its own albums or singles. Both “Dynamite” and “Butter” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became major global pop hits, but neither was nominated for Record or Song of the Year. That history has contributed to continued discussion about how the group’s commercial and cultural reach has translated into Grammy recognition.

The decision also comes during one of the strongest commercial periods of BTS’ career. Released March 20, ARIRANG debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 641,000 equivalent album units and remained atop the chart for three consecutive weeks.

The new Asian pop category was not BTS’ only potential route into the Grammys. By declining to submit, the group is stepping away from the process during a year in which ARIRANG had the commercial profile to support a significant awards campaign.

The Grammys Have Changed, But Questions About Classification Remain

The Recording Academy can point to recent evidence that its most prominent categories are becoming more accessible to music outside the English-language U.S. mainstream.

At the 2026 Grammys, Bad Bunny’s Spanish-language album Debí Tirar Más Fotos won Album of the Year, becoming the first all-Spanish-language album to receive the award. The result demonstrated that an album does not need to be performed in English to win the Grammys’ top prize.

“Golden,” from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, also became the first Grammy-winning work associated with a K-pop act. The song was nominated for Song of the Year and won Best Song Written for Visual Media.

HUNTR/X, the group credited with the performance, is a fictional trio voiced by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami. Best Song Written for Visual Media is a songwriting award, and the Grammy went to the track’s credited writers, including EJAE.

Those results show that non-English-language music can succeed in the general field and that K-pop-related work can receive recognition elsewhere within the Grammys. At the same time, the introduction of a new category naturally brings renewed attention to how music is classified across an expanding awards structure.

Tyler, the Creator addressed a related question backstage after winning Best Rap Album for IGOR in 2020. Speaking in the press room, he argued that genre-blurring work by Black artists was often placed in rap or “urban” categories. His comments became part of a broader industry conversation about how awards categories can both recognize work and influence the way it is understood.

Best Asian Pop Music Performance will develop within a different cultural and institutional context. Its role will become clearer as labels make submission decisions, screening committees classify recordings and voters select nominees and winners. Those patterns will show how effectively the new category broadens recognition while operating alongside the Grammys’ existing genre and general-field awards.