An award announced in June got turned down by its biggest potential winner by the end of July. That's faster than any PR crisis playbook could have prepared for.
The Recording Academy announced the new Best Asian Pop category back in June, positioning it to honor "artistic excellence" in pop music originating from or widely popular across Asian markets. The award was set to be handed out for the first time at next year's ceremony — in theory, something everyone could celebrate. But on July 29, BTS issued a statement making clear they would not submit their new album *Arirang*, or any of their work, for consideration. Their reasoning was straightforward: they want their music to be "heard and loved, not divided by region or language."
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr's initial response was firm. At the time, he said the spirit behind the new category was to create a dedicated spotlight for these important artists. But just two weeks later, his tone in a statement to Billboard was completely different: "What has become clear through our many conversations with various stakeholders over the past two weeks is that despite our intentions and desire to be more inclusive, there are artists in this space who feel this category doesn't represent the music they've worked hard to create in the way they hoped it would. As a musician myself, I take that to heart."
Mason said the Recording Academy has recently opened dialogue with artists and industry figures representing K-pop, J-pop, C-pop, and Indian music, among others — including representatives from HYBE, BTS's label. The category's rules haven't changed yet — under current standards, works must meaningfully use one or more Asian languages to qualify — but the board will convene to "determine the best path forward for recognizing this kind of music."
This isn't actually a new debate. NME wrote back in 2021 that pop music is pop music, and shouldn't be carved up based on geography, the creators' race, or language; splitting awards by language or region — like the Grammys' existing Latin and "Global Music" categories — just pushes non-Western, non-English-dominant music into a separate box to be celebrated "at arm's length," without ever being seriously considered for the main categories. BTS's refusal to submit brings that five-year-old criticism back into the spotlight — this time, straight from the artists themselves.
Submissions for the 2027 Grammys close on August 28, with nominations expected to be announced on November 16. The ceremony is set for February 7, 2027, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. BTS is currently on their *Arirang* world tour across North America. V revealed earlier this week that he's continuing treatment for hearing loss in his right ear, while Jungkook mentioned he's also dealing with a calf injury. NME earlier gave *Arirang* four stars, calling it BTS "getting back to doing what they do best after nearly four years — acting as both ambassadors and explorers, driven by curiosity and creativity."
