Cikna ⟭⟬ ⟬⟭

[chart radar @chartradar_]

2026 artists of the year so far:

1. BTS
2. Ella Langley
3. Michael Jackson
4. Justin Bieber
5. Bad Bunny
6. Drake
7. Ariana Grande
8. Olivia Rodrigo
9. Bruno Mars
10. Karol G

Note: Based on streaming numbers, musical achievements, awards and global impact.

[World Music Awards @WORLDMUSICAWARD]

#BTS’ history-making masterpiece “SWIM” has won 'Best Group Video – International' at the 2026 MTV VMAs Japan! 💪🏊💥📽️🎼🏆 🇯🇵👑👑👑👑👑👑👑💛🩷💜

#BTSbestband
#BTS_SWIM

[chart radar @chartradar_]

Jungkook recorded 34.3 million global engagements across all social media platforms over the past 7 days, the most of any artist.

[chart radar @chartradar_]

BTS is now recognized by 42% of U.S. music consumers, according to Luminate.

[World Music Awards @WORLDMUSICAWARD]

Happy 29th birthday to the gorgeous, mega talented chart-topping, history-making, top-selling, award-winning Singer, Rapper, Songwriter, Dancer, Producer, Director, Top Model, Superstar, Fashion & Global Icon and Pop Legend, the One & Only JUNGKOOK, who rings in his 29th, on top of the world, trending at #1 Worldwide on X with jungkook, at #2 with #AlwaysByYourSideJK, at #3 with #HAPPYJKDAY and #4 Worldwide with #YouAreThatSomebodyJK!👏🎂🥳🎉🌟💥1⃣, 2⃣, 3⃣& 4⃣✖️🌎🐐👑🖤💜
JUNGKOOK became famous as the main vocalist, lead dancer, visual genius, performance center and Golden Maknae of BTS, and was key to the Group becoming the Biggest Boy Band in the World! He is in a league of his own, a once in a lifetime phenomenon and one of Pop's most successful artists of all Time with a Golden tenor voice! Jungkook is the K-Pop Soloist who has broken the most records in history! He's the most streamed K-Pop Soloist of All time on Spotify with 11,43 BILLION streams and scored the Biggest 24-hour debut in Global Spotify history (15.99M) by an Asian and Male Act with "SEVEN"! He's the only K-pop Soloist to score an ALL-KILL on Billboard, debuting at No. 1 on the Hot 100, Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Global Excl'US simultaneously! "SEVEN" scored the biggest sales debut in Billboard Global 200 chart history by any artist (269K) beating BTS' "Butter", and is the most-streamed song by a K-pop Act in history with 'GOLDEN' still the best-selling and most-streamed album by a K-pop Soloist! Three years on, both "SEVEN" and 'GOLDEN' are still breaking records! Jungkook is one of the best performers and entertainers this Century! Rolling Stone named him a soulful tenor and one of the Greatest Singers of All time! His voice and his electrifying dance skills, often compared to Michael Jackson make him so unique. He's also one of the few artists able to maintain intonation while dancing and one of the very few to have absolute pitch, a rare ability to identify or produce musical notes without a reference. He's the 1st Asian Artist to score 3 Top-10 Songs on the Billboard Global 200 (Excl. U.S.) including "Seven" (#2), "3D" (#7), and "Too Much" with The Kid Laroi and Central Cee (#10)! Jungkook is the 1st K-pop Soloist to chart 7 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and the 1st K-pop Soloist to chart 4 songs simultaneously on the Hot 100 for multiple weeks in November 2023 with "Standing Next to You", "Too Much", "3D" and "Seven"! Jungkook is the 1st and Only Solo Act in the World with 10 songs reaching #1 on iTunes in over 100 countries! Jungkook is the first and only Asian solo artist with 4 songs reaching 1 Billion streams on Spotify, including "Seven," "3D" ft. Jack Harlow, "Left and Right" with Charlie Puth and "Standing Next to You." JUNGKOOK is also the 1st Asian Soloist to have ALL his tracks (18) surpass 100M streams in Spotify history! JUNGKOOK is also the 1st K-Pop Soloist to surpass 11 BILLION streams on Spotify and the FASTEST K-Pop Act to reach this milestone, surpassing his own band BTS! JUNGKOOK has now surpassed 1.2B streams on Spotify in 2026 with no new album since 2023! He's the 1st K-Pop Soloist to reach this Milestone in 5 separate calendar years!

For the 6th consecutive year, Jungkook is the Most Searched K-Pop idol on YouTube Worldwide according to Naver, confirming his enduring global popularity! On Tumblr, he ranked first on the "Top K-Pop Stars" list for 3 consecutive years. On Twitter, his tweets were the most retweeted of 2018 in South Korea and 2019 globally, and the 2nd-most retweeted of 2020 globally. Jung Kook also set all-time records for the most real-time livestream viewers in V Live history twice, the first time in October 2018 with 3.7 million viewers and again in March 2021 with 22 million viewers!

"SEVEN" was a massive commercial success worldwide, cementing Jungkook as a worldwide pop king. "SEVEN" debuted atop Global Spotify, scoring the highest debut (15.99M) for a Male Artist and collaboration in history, and the biggest debut of 2023! It was also the biggest debut on Spotify for a K-Pop Act of All Time, surpassing BTS' "Butter'! Jungkook is the 1st K-Pop Solo Artist to debut atop Global Spotify and the first K-pop Act to top U.S. Spotify! "SEVEN" set the Guinness World record for the Biggest streaming week for a Male Artist in Global Spotify history with 89,748 Million streams, and broke the record for the fastest song to reach 1 Billion streams in Spotify history at the time (108 days)! It's the 1st and only song by an Asian Act to surpass 3 Billion streams (1073 days) and is the 68th Most streamed song in Spotify history (3,073B)! It's the first and only Asian song to spend over a 1,000+ days on Global Spotify! "SEVEN" broke several Billboard Records, landing at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with Jungkook joining Jimin as the only K-Pop Soloists in history to debut atop the chart! Jungkook was the 1st Asian Soloist to score a Billboard ALL KILL, topping the Billboard Hot 100, the Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Global Excl'US simultaneously! Jungkook was also the 1st Asian Male Soloist to top the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. simultaneously, and broke the record for the longest charting song by an Asian act on the Global 200 (134 weeks)! It became the first song since the Billboard Global Excl. US chart's inception to achieve 4 consecutive weeks of over 100 million streams outside the US! "SEVEN" debuted at #1 on the United World Chart with massive 630,000 points, marking the biggest debut ever for a K-Pop Act in history! It was the Ist K-Pop & Debut song to top the chart for 11 weeks! The song debuted at #1 in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, MENA, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan & Vietnam, scoring the Biggest debut in the history of the MENA chart! "SEVEN" debuted at #3 on the UK Singles Chart, earning the highest debut for a Korean Solo act in the history of the chart! "SEVEN" was the 10th best-selling digital single of 2023 on the IFPI Global chart! "SEVEN" has been certified 4x Platinum in Canada, and Platinum in the US, France, Japan, New Zealand and S. Korea! It has won numerous Awards including "Best Song" at the 2023 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs), 'Top Global K-Pop Song" at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards, "Best Collaboration" and "Best Dance Performance - Male Solo" at the MAMA Awards, the Digital Song (Bonsang) category at the Golden Disc Awards and the Global Streaming and Digital categories at the Circle Chart Music Awards! "SEVEN" was a cultural and commercial force that redefined what a K-pop solo song could achieve internationally. Even now in 2026, it's still breaking longevity records and is one of the ultimate powerhouse songs of the 2020s!

Jungkook's Album 'GOLDEN' is the best-selling debut album by a Male Artist this decade with 12 Million equivalent units sold, and is the best-selling Album by a K-Pop Soloist in Circle chart history, and the 1st Album by a Solo Artist to sell over 2M units in its 1st day and 2.438M in its 1st week on Hanteo! It's the Most Streamed K-Pop Album globally and the 1st by a Kpop Soloist and the Fastest by an Asian Soloist to surpass 10 BILLION streams on Spotify! According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)'s Global Music Report for 2023, Golden was the 7th best-selling album worldwide, having sold 2.7M units in less than 2 months! 'Golden' entered music charts in 25 countries and went to #1 Belgium, France, Lithuania, Japan, Poland, Portugal & S. Korea, and is a top-10 hit in 23 countries including Australia, France, and Germany, debuting at #3 in the UK, becoming the highest-charting album by a Korean solo artist. In the US, it debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. 'GOLDEN' 'has been certified 2x Platinum in Korea, Platinum in Japan and Gold in France, Italy, New Zealand, and Silver in the UK for over 60,000 sales units, the 1ST and ONLY Album by a K-Soloist to reach this Milestone! 'GOLDEN' is the 1st Album by a K-Pop Soloist in history to have multiple Songs SNEP certified in France (4)! Jungkook is the 1st Korean Solo Artist with 2 Top-5 UK Singles with "SEVEN" reaching #3 & "3D" (ft. Jack Harlow) reaching #5, making him the first K-Pop solo Artist with 2 consecutive top-five entries! He is the only K-Pop artist to achieve 3x #1 singles on the MENA Chart with "Seven," "3D," and "Standing Next to You."

JUNGOOK has won over 45 Awards from 95+ nominations including 7 MelOn Awards, 5 MAMA Awards, 4 Asian Pop Awards, 4 BMI Pop Awards, 3 Billboard Music Awards, 3 IHeartRadio Music Awards, 3 Circle Chart Music Awards, 2 MTV Europe Awards, an MTV VMA Award and an MTV Millennial Award, 2 Japan Gold Disc Awards, 2 Golden Disc Awards,
2 People's Choice Awards, 1 Seoul Music Award, 1 Hanteo Award, 1 Asia Artist Award, 1 Asia Star Entertainer Award, 1 Global Award & 1 Tik Tok Thailand Award! Jungkook was the 1st Asian to Win Male Artist of the Year at People’s Choice Awards! In 2024, Jung Kook ranked 9th on Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 and also hit the Gold House A100 list, which recognized him as one of the "100 Asian Pacific leaders" with the most significant impact on American culture and society! He was named the biggest K-Pop musician in America, ranking first on the inaugural Billboard K-Pop Artist 100 list in 2024!

Jungkook is a Live Powerhouse Act and has broken several records, by pioneering major events and festivals! He was the 1st K-Pop Artist to perform at the 2022 FIFA World Cup with "Dreamers" at the opening ceremony in Qatar! In 2023, he became the 1st Kpop Soloist to headline the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, New York City and the first K-pop soloist to perform at Good Morning America’s annual outdoor concert. Only BTS (as a group) and aespa had played the series before him. In November 2023, he became the second artist ever to use the new permanent outdoor TSX stage in the middle of Times Square after Post Malone!

Jungkook has secured several high-profile endorsement deals, particularly with luxury and global brands, reflecting his status as a global pop star! He was announced as the global ambassador for Calvin Klein Jeans and Underwear in March 2023, and starred in the Spring campaigns since then, showcasing denim and casual styles. His campaigns, photographed by notable figures like Mert Alas and Park Jong Ha, have significantly boosted Calvin Klein’s sales and visibility, with collections selling out quickly in multiple countries. The partnership also led to a reported 20% increase in stock prices for Calvin Klein’s parent company, PVH Corp. Jungkook also elevated Versace’s profile by wearing their glamorous ensembles at major events, such as the FIFA World Cup in Qatar (2022) proving once again his influence in fashion. In December 2025 Jungkook became a Global Ambassador for Chanel Fragrance & Beauty, starring in 2026 fragrance campaigns including Les Extraits/Les Exclusifs, after which “1957” sold out! In February 2026, Swiss watchmaker Hublot named him a Global Ambassador, and in early July 2026, British jeweller Graff appointed him Global Ambassador, launching a Laurence Graff Signature campaign! In May 2026 Calvin Klein released the limited “Jung Kook for Calvin Klein” capsule, his first official fashion collaboration with the brand alongside continued seasonal campaigns such as the 2025 holiday and Spring 2026 denim work. Jungkook’s influence extends beyond formal endorsements. Known as the “sold-out king,” items he wears or uses, such as Nike Dunk Low Halloween sneakers, priced at USD 110 but resold for USD 200–500 after his endorsement, often see massive demand spikes. His casual mentions, like praising the anime Jujutsu Kaisen, also boosted the show’s popularity.

JUNGKOOK is a very active philanthropist! He donated ₩1 billion (US$874,164.08) to the Seoul National University Children's Hospital in April 2023 for treatment expenses of patients from low-income families and the hospital's integrated care center! In March 2025, Jung Kook donated a massive ₩1 Billion (US$874,164.08) to the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association in March 2025, after the wildfires in Ulsan, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam, then the largest individual celebrity donation for that disaster, with 500 million won for emergency aid and supplies for people who lost their homes and 500 million won for firefighter support, awareness, and on-site kits. Jungkook made history, becoming the first member of Hope Bridge’s Honors Legacy program, launched in December 2025 to recognize donors of 1 Billion won or more during national emergencies!

Jungkook is the one the whole world looks for, and once they find him, they never look away...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUNGKOOK
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JK
#HAPPYJKDAY
#JUNGKOOKisFYA
#AlwaysByYourSideJK
#YouAreThatSomebodyJK
#BornGoldenJungkook
#WorldVocalJungkook
#PARTYPARTYJK
#JKRulerOfTheStage
#JUNGKOOK #BTS
@BTS_twt

[chart radar @chartradar_]

Top Global Music Searches in 2026:

1. Michael Jackson
2. BTS (most searched group)
3. Taylor Swift (most searched female)
4. Bad Bunny (most searched latin artist)
5. Drake (most searched rapper)

[World Music Awards @WORLDMUSICAWARD]

#BTS makes history as their ARIRANG World Tour officially becomes the Highest-Grossing Tour by a Vocal Group and Asian Act in history (US$433.2M)! 💪🐐👑💜❤️‍🔥

BTS PAVED THE WAY

[BTS Charts & Awards @btschartmaster]

.@BTS_twt wins at the 2026 K-World Dream Awards (KWDA).

🏆 Artist of The Year : BTS
🏆 Artist Award : BTS
🏆 Best Album : 'ARIRANG'

[Tina | ⊙⊝⊜ @MinYoongiSwagg7]

Toronto Star Review:

“As a journalist, I’ve been fortunate to attend some of the biggest pop shows in the world — Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga. But I’ve never seen the level of community and camaraderie that was on display at Rogers Stadium.”

[The Netizens Choice Magazine @thenreport]

#MHMA2026 The Most Handsome Man Alive 2026 Finalists & Winner

#NETIZENSCHOICE

[GOLDEN CLOSET VOTING TEAM @GCVT_JK]

🏆OMG!!!! #JUNGKOOK HAS WON "MOST HANDSOME MAN ALIVE 2026" ON NETIZENS CHOICE!!!! 😭😭😭

We won again after 3 years!!! CONGRATULATIONS JUNGKOOK 🔥🔥

Thank you so much everyone for voting tirelessly for months, WE DID IT!!!! 👏👏👏

Video cr: Netizens Choice (YouTube)

[chart radar @chartradar_]

Artists that have spent two weeks on the Global Digital Artists Ranking in 2026:

1. BTS
2. Michael Jackson
3. Bad Bunny
4. Drake
5. Taylor Swift
6. Ariana Grande

[Bay jeonjjk @bayjeonjjk]

Kore medyası Jungkook'un Michael Jackson'ı geride bırakarak 2026’da X’te en çok bahsedilen isim olduğunu duyurdu!

Jungkook 1 Ocak 2026’dan 31 Temmuz 2026’ya kadar sosyal medya platformu X’te 2,6 milyondan fazla mention alarak bu yıl hakkında en çok konuşulan şarkıcılar arasında 1. sırada yer aldı

1- 🥇 Jungkook — 2,6 milyon
2- Michael Jackson — 2,4 milyon
3- Drake — 2,1 milyon
4- Jimin — 2 milyon
5- Bad Bunny — 1,7 milyon
6- Justin Bieber — 1,5 milyon
7- V — 1.4 milyon
8- The Weeknd — 1,2 milyon
9- Bruno Mars — 1,1 milyon
10- Harry Styles — 1 milyon

[chart radar @chartradar_]

The New York Times has crowned BTS as the biggest artist in the world.

[chart radar @chartradar_]

“BTS is the biggest artist in the world since Michael Jackson” — The New York Times

[World Music Awards @WORLDMUSICAWARD]

Most Mentioned Male Singers on X in 2026:
#1. #Jungkook - 2.6+ Million mentions
#2. #MichaelJackson - 2.4M+
#3. #Drake - 2.1M+
#4. #Jimin - 2M+
#5. #BadBunny - 1.7M+
#6. #JustinBieber - 1.5M+
#7. #V - 1.4M+
#8. #TheWeeknd - 1.2M+
#9. #BrunoMars - 1.1M+
#10. #HarryStyles - 1M+
#11. #Jin - 950K+
#12. #Suga - 850K+
#13. #RM - 800K+
#14. #EdSheeran - 750K+
#15. #Eminem - 700K+
#16. #TravisScott - 650K+
#17. #jhope - 615K+
#18. #ASAPRocky - 575K+
#19. #PaulMcCartney - 525K+
#20. #NoahKahan - 475K+

List compiled by @vitormencarelli

[colin @colin_goldmund]

ARMYs, this is one of the most interesting and trenchant takes on BTS's Grammys decision, even digging into America's history of "Separate but Equal."

Kim Ou-joon, one of Korea's most influential public figures and its most prominent progressive voice (I recently wrote a seven-part article about him in the Articles section), devoted a lengthy segment to the BTS-Grammys controversy on his program, Gyeomson News Factory. It is the most-watched live political and current affairs program on YouTube in Korea (and in the world), drawing more than 200,000 live viewers and averaging around 1.2 million views per day.

Kim was sick last Friday, so he wasn't there to host the show when three music critics appeared and made the most misguided arguments about BTS's decision:

1. This is just a Korean inferiority complex. It may feel emotionally satisfying, but it wasn't the right decision.
2. HYBE probably realized BTS had little chance of winning a major Grammy category anyway, so they made a calculated business move before the Grammys could reject them. This is basically a power game.
3. Now that the Grammys have created an Asian Pop category, future artists may dream of winning in that category. So we can't say BTS's decision was entirely the right one.
4. Didn't BTS work so hard to learn English and Japanese in order to break into the U.S. and Japanese markets? Now that there's an Asian Pop category, artists might not have to do that anymore. They could stay in their own language and still be nominated in the Asian Pop category. Isn't that actually a good thing?

Here is Kim Ou-joon's commentary from today's show. I translated them as faithfully as possible. Because of his short, conversational style of speaking, I added a few words here and there for context so that his intended meaning would come across accurately. And I omitted the exchanges between Kim and the announcer during Kim’s commentary.
—----------------------------
“I think the Grammys created the new Asian Pop Music category because they were planning to give that award to BTS. But then BTS refused to submit their music, and it became a global controversy.

Media outlets around the world started pouring out articles. From The New York Times onward, pretty much every major international media outlet we know covered it. And, for the most part, they viewed BTS's boycott positively.

They called it "a gentle but powerful criticism" (The Guardian). “Refusing was the right thing to do” (Cosmopolitan). "A declaration of independence" (Sportal Korea). “BTS had captured the spirit of the times" (The Economic Times)

Now, last Friday, the music critics who appeared on our program seemed to say that this new category could have become a stepping stone for Asian-language music to succeed in the global market, so they felt a little disappointed by BTS's decision.

Yes, I understand that point of view. There's some validity to it. But I think differently.

If I had been there, I probably would have argued against them pretty strongly. Since I wasn't, let me add my thoughts now, even if it's a little late.

Because I don't think this is something we should just let pass. I think this is a significant event, one that deserves to be recorded not only in Korean cultural history but also in the history of world culture.

Let me briefly explain why. To understand this, we have to look at it not from our perspective, but from the Western perspective. Using their way of thinking. Because it's a Western award show. It was their decision. We have to understand why they did it from their point of view. That's how you understand their intention.

Now, there's a precedent for this. I think it was 2019. MTV became the first major music award show to create a Best K-Pop category. It should have just been called Pop. Instead, they created a separate Best K-Pop category.

At the time, The Washington Post used a particular expression. They said this was America's "separate but equal" rule in music awards.

That phrase is extremely important in the history of the American civil rights movement. For Americans, just hearing those three words is enough. They immediately understand what's being implied.

This goes back to around 1890. Louisiana was one of the places where racial discrimination was especially severe. The state passed a law requiring separate railroad cars for white people and Black people. Black and white passengers had to ride in different train cars. Civil rights activists wanted to challenge that law as unconstitutional, as racial discrimination.

At that time, there was a man named Plessy. By appearance, he looked white. But he was one-eighth Black. His great-grandmother was Black.

At the time, America had what was called the one-drop rule. If you had even one drop of Black blood, no matter how white you looked, you were legally classified as Black.

So this man boarded a whites-only train car. Then he deliberately announced that he was Black. He wanted to be arrested.

That's how the lawsuit began. The case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The Louisiana judge's name was Ferguson, so in America it's known as “Plessy v. Ferguson.”

It's a very famous case. One of the most famous rulings in American history came out of that case. That's where the phrase "separate but equal" comes from.

The Court ruled that separating railroad cars was constitutional because, although they were separated, they were supposedly equal. In the end, it was a ruling that justified racial discrimination. This was at the end of the nineteenth century.

After that decision, segregation spread far beyond railroad cars. Because racial segregation had now been accepted under the Constitution, separation spread into every part of society. Schools. Hospitals. Parks. Buses. Theaters. Restrooms. Eventually even cemeteries. People were separated from birth until death.

But the facilities for Black people received less than one-tenth of the funding that white facilities received. Because the people making those decisions were all white. So the facilities for Black people were in terrible condition.

That's why the phrase "separate but equal" really meant separation, inequality, and exclusion. But those words were used to hide racial discrimination. That system continued for nearly seventy years.

That's exactly what The Washington Post meant when it described MTV's decision as "separate but equal." By creating a K-pop category, it looked as though K-pop was being treated equally. But in reality, it excluded K-pop from competing in the main categories while hiding that exclusion.

At the time, there was another expression people in the West used to describe MTV's decision. Ghettoization. During Nazi Germany, Jews were confined to ghettos. So people said K-pop had been ghettoized. It had been placed in its own separate space.

That expression also has a precedent. When Black music began to rise in America, award shows grouped Black artists into R&B and Rap categories. Black artists would receive those awards, while the major awards continued to go to the mainstream. People called that the ghettoization of Black music.

So MTV received that criticism. After that, MTV nominated BTS in the regular Pop category. And BTS won.

At the time, Billboard wrote that BTS had entered through the side door, and that it had taken a long time before they were finally allowed to use the front door like everyone else. After MTV, the other award shows adapted to that criticism.

The Grammys were the last one left. The Grammys see themselves as the most prestigious music awards because, unlike other shows, there is no fan voting. Like the Academy Awards, only industry professionals vote.
So they created a side door, just like MTV. This was basically saying, "Asia, come in through the side door. Separate but equal."

When MTV did this, BTS still attended despite the controversy. But this time, BTS declared to the American mainstream music industry, "We're not using the side door anymore." And they refused.

That's why Western media, who understand this context exactly, praised BTS. They said, "Well done." They called it the spirit of the times.

That's how I see it too. I think this will remain a landmark in world cultural history for a long time.

An artist from outside the mainstream boycotted the most prestigious award in the mainstream and declared, "You are out of step with the times."

It's contextually similar to Black Americans demanding racial equality and human equality.

That's why western media call it the spirit of the times. Some in Korea don't immediately understand why it's being called that. They think, "Wouldn't this have been a good opportunity for Asian artists?"

That Friday's comment comes from not seeing how people in America think about this issue. That's all I wanted to add.”
—--------------------------
For those who understand Korean, you can watch the video of his commentary here. (I wish I knew how to add English subtitles, but unfortunately I don't.)

https://t.co/bsgO5X8KwA

[NPOMV | Zine @npomvtt]

O renomado produtor Sleep Deez, vencedor do Grammy, contou que conversou com membros da Academia da premiação e que a ideia inicial era usar o grupo BTS como cobaia da categoria Asian Pop e futuramente criar uma série de categorias específicas para asiáticos:

"Eu conversei com alguém que trabalha na Academia e eles disseram que (o BTS vencer) seria uma situação ganha-ganha pra premiação. O BTS ainda estava no exército quando eles começaram a criar esse prêmio. E o raciocínio era que o BTS provavelmente seria cotado pras categorias maiores com o retorno deles (...). A pessoa me disse que o prêmio não foi criado pro BTS, mas que estaria mentindo se dissesse que eles serem os primeiros a ganhar não seria o sonho do Grammy. Porque o BTS vencer o primeiro significaria que outros artistas no futuro iriam querer seguir o mesmo caminho e ganhar esse prêmio porque o BTS ganhou. (...) E aí a intenção era, mais artistas querem esse prêmio, (...) e eventualmente a categoria iria se expandir em categorias mais focadas em gêneros musicais específicos (pra Ásia), talvez até por país. E a minha resposta foi, 'Então vocês queriam usar o BTS como ratos de laboratório'. A pessoa disse que não gostava desse termo (...)."

[ᴮᴱ*Justin Seagull⁷*⊙⊝⊜ @JustinSeagullO7]

Sleep Deez, a well-respected producer who has worked with BTS, has confirmed via his inside source at the Grammys that BTS were, in fact, gonna be the guinea pigs/test dumbies/poster child for the "Asian Pop Performance" category.

They wanted to legitimize it as a "win-win" for both BTS and the segregation of Asian artists by the Academy. What they did NOT expect was that BTS would have self-respect/self-worth and thought they would be DESPERATE for western/Grammys validation. That is why you see them coke ranting on every social media platform.

[World Music Awards @WORLDMUSICAWARD]

🔝🔟 SONGS ON WORLDWIDE ITUNES
1⃣Aliens - BTS (방탄소년단)
2⃣NORMAL - #BTS (#방탄소년단)
3⃣Dai Dai - #Shakira & #BurnaBoy
4⃣Movin To The Sun - #HUGEL, #ImaelAngel & #UltraNaté
5⃣hate that i made you love me - Ariana Grande
6⃣Falling Slowly - #GlenHansard & #MarkétaIrglová
7⃣Everlasting - #ArminvanBuuren & #Sacha
8⃣petal - #ArianaGrande
9⃣Rise Slow - #KimoSounds
🔟AH HA - #CardiB