Thereโs a lot to unpack here, and Iโm going to say it directly. I dont care if I get cancelled but this needs to be said.
For years, BTS were told they werenโt big enough, mainstream enough, or "Grammy material." Then they became one of the biggest acts in the world. They broke records, sold out stadiums across continents, topped charts repeatedly, and built a global cultural impact that few artists in history can match.
And when they became too successful to ignore?
The Grammys nominated "Dynamite" and "Butter"โboth English-language songs.
Let that sink in.
The songs that got BTS into the major Grammy conversation were the songs that fit most comfortably into the Western industry framework. Yet BTS's discography is filled with critically acclaimed Korean-language music that has had enormous cultural and artistic impact.
Now we have a "Best Asian Pop Music Performance" category.
And before anyone calls that progress, let's ask the obvious question: why does there need to be a separate category at all?
If Asian artists are good enough to dominate global charts, sell millions of records, headline festivals, influence culture worldwide, and compete with every major artist in the industry, then they are good enough for the same categories as everyone else.
Inclusion isn't creating a separate lane after Asian artists prove they can win in the existing ones.
Inclusion is treating them as equals.
That's why BTS's lyrics in "Aliens" hit so hard:
"์ด์ฉ ๊ทธ๋ shameless
์์๋ฅผ ์ฐจ๋ ค we aliens
ํด๋ ๋์ชฝ์์ risin'
Aliens, aliens"
No matter how successful some artists become, there are still systems and institutions that treat them as perpetual outsiders.
And that's exactly why this conversation matters.
Because when BTS were impossible to ignore, the response shouldn't have been to create another box and place Asian artists inside it. The response should have been to judge them by the same standards as every other artist competing for the biggest awards in music.
ARMYs, we have a mission.
Talk about Arirang everywhere. Put it in AOTY conversations. Put it in ROTY conversations. Write threads. Make edits. Share analyses. Start discussions.
If we believe it deserves those nominations, then let's make enough noise that nobody can pretend it doesn't belong in the room.
They ignored BTS until they couldn't.
Let's make sure they can't ignore Arirang either.
the timing of a new โasian popโ category while a major asian act is having one of the most successful albums globally really exposes the problem: itโs segregation and not inclusion.
when non western artists are still underrepresented in major categories, it doesnโt feel like recognition for the asian music market, but containment. they deserve to win, but they cannot, so letโs give them a candy that excludes them a bit further. at least it looks pretty, right?
itโs unfortunate how the โhow are you so shamelessโ line from aliens always hits.
Dopo anni in cui uno degli artisti piรน influenti del panorama pop globale รจ stato sistematicamente ignorato nelle categorie principali creano una categoria asiatica ๐
Potrebbe essere un passo avantiโฆoppure il modo piรน elegante possibile per tracciare una linea di esclusione.
#BTS' latest masterpiece, "COME OVER (prod. SUGA)" scores a 4th consecutive day atop the Worldwide and European song charts after reaching #1 in 83+ countries and scoring an All-Kill at #1 in the Biggest markets including the U.S., U.K., Japan, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Brazil & Mexico! BTS now becomes the 1st Artist to have 2 songs reaching #1 on iTunes in over 80 Countries Worldwide in 2026!๐ช๐บ๐ป๐บ๐ป๐บ๐ป๐บ๐ป๐บ๐ป๐บ๐บ๐ป๐๐ค๐ป๐โจ1โฃ๐& ๐ช๐บ๐ตโ๏ธ4โฃ๐โ๐ฅ1โฃ โ๏ธ8โฃ3โฃ๐& ๐ฅ1โฃ๐9โฃ๐บ๐ธ๐ฌ๐ง๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ซ๐ท๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐บ๐ง๐ท๐ฒ๐ฝ โ๐๐ฅ๐งโ๐คโ๏ธ2โฃ๐ถ๐1โฃโ๏ธ8โฃ0โฃโ๐ 2โฃ6โฃ๐ฅ๐๐
"Come Over" rebounds to #3 (+1) on US iTunes after topping the chart for almost 3 days!
"Come Over" debuts at #87 on the Global Apple Music chart!
"Come Over" is #21 on the Global Spotify chart with 2,826M streams, after debuting at #11 with 5,315,119 plays, scoring the 7th Biggest K-Pop Debut this year! The first 6 are all BTS songs from ARIRANG! Despite all the new releases, โSWIMโ by BTS remains the biggest debut on Global Spotify (14.6M) in 2026! โSWIMโ rebounds to #6 (+1) on the Global Spotify chart with 4,198M streams!
"COME OVER" (lyric video) is still trending at #44 on YouTube after holding at #2 Worldwide for 2 whole days! It has now 4.9 Million views and 893K likes!
WATCH: https://t.co/u93aByjwNR
STREAM:https://t.co/9mUUxVDeRY
BTS holds at #5 on the Global Digital Artist Rank with 4119 points currently!
"Come Over" debuts at #3 on the Official UK Big Top 40 Chart with just 2 days of tracking. It ties "SWIM" as BTS's 2nd biggest debut on the chart!
"COME OVER" on iTunes: (83x #1) so far:
#1 Argentina
#1 Armenia
#1 Australia
#1 Austria
#1 Azerbaijan
#1 Bahrain
#1 Belarus
#1 Belgium
#1 Bolivia
#1 Brazil
#1 Bulgaria
#1 Cambodia
#1 Canada
#1 Chile
#1 Colombia
#1 Costa Rica
#1 Czech Republic
#1 Denmark
#1 Dominican Republic
#1 Ecuador
#1 Egypt
#1 El Salvador
#1 Estonia
#1 Finland
#1 France
#1 Germany
#1 Guatemala
#1 Honduras
#1 Hong Kong
#1 Hungary
#1 India
#1 Indonesia
#1 Ireland
#1 Israel
#1 Italy
#1 Japan
#1 Jordan
#1 Kazakhstan
#1 Kenya
#1 Kyrgystan
#1 Latvia
#1 Lithuania
#1 Macau
#1 Malaysia
#1 Malta
#1 Mauritius
#1 Mexico
#1 Moldova
#1 Nepal
#1 Netherlands
#1 New Zealand
#1 Nicaragua
#1 Norway
#1 Panama
#1 Paraguay
#1 Peru
#1 Philippines
#1 Poland
#1 Portugal
#1 Qatar
#1 Romania
#1 Russia
#1 Saudi Arabia
#1 Singapore
#1 Slovakia
#1 Slovenia
#1 South Africa
#1 Spain
#1 Sri Lanka
#1 Swaziland
#1 Sweden
#1 Switzerland
#1 Taiwan
#1 Tajikistan
#1 Thailand
#1 Uganda
#1 Ukraine
#1 United Arab Emirates
#1 United Kingdom
#1 United States
#1 Uzbekistan
#1 Venezuela
#1 Vietnam
"COME OVER" NOW on APPLE Music:
#1 Venezuela
COME OVER OUT NOW
BTS IS BACK
#BTS_ComeOver
#13YearsWithBts
#BTS13thAnniversary #BTSFESTA2026
@BTS_twt