.@bts_bighit ‘Merry Go Round’ Music Video 🎠 Only on Spotify, coming in 2 days 🎠
stay tuned for BTS' 'Merry Go Round' Spotify Music Video, coming to our K-Pop ON! Hub on June 19, 6PM KST.
bey won #they introduced contemporary country category, bad bunny won #they introduced latin category, tyla won #they introduced afrobeats category, and now bts released the biggest album of this year #they introduced asian category. u see the fucking pattern.
There’s a lot to unpack here, and I’m going to say it directly. I dont care if I get cancelled but this needs to be said.
For years, BTS were told they weren’t 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"—both 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:
"어쩜 그래 shameless
예의를 차려 we aliens
해는 동쪽에서 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.
“creating a new category just so bts do not win the main categories at the grammys”
the music industry keeps proving why BTS made aliens as an asian artist
The way Grammys decided to create a separated category separating ASIANS from overall performances just proves how fucking scared the industry is of BTS and the way ARIRANG humiliated one by one every single release this year.
Shameless.
the timing of a new “asian pop” category while a major asian act is having one of the most successful albums globally really exposes the problem: it’s segregation and not inclusion.
when non western artists are still underrepresented in major categories, it doesn’t feel like recognition for the asian music market, but containment. they deserve to win, but they cannot, so let’s give them a candy that excludes them a bit further. at least it looks pretty, right?
it’s unfortunate how the “how are you so shameless” line from aliens always hits.