Grammy Winning producer, Derrick Milano celebrates his recent work on SWIM which is the lead single of ARIRANG and how it helped him to "restart and refresh".
SWIM is the biggest single released in 2026 with over 600m streams and it spent 25 days on No.1 on Spotify and also reached No.1 on Apple Music Global and BB Hot 100.
โPeople think BTS is this big because of their industry plans. But that couldn't be further from the truth. K-pop didn't accept them, and hip-hop didn't accept them. So they went grassroots. History repeats itself. You can see the through line from D'Angelo to Outkast to now BTS. When a group is forced to curate their own world, they typically end up becoming one of the biggest. Because everybody wants to be on that world.โ
๐ https://t.co/fa5EG8KW3L
"Aliens" is the ultimate, unapologetic power move from a group that has officially outgrown the need for Western validation.
Grammys treating BTS like 'ALIENS' in their own industry is exactly why the song 'ALIENS' had to be made. Itโs a brilliant, sarcastic flip-off to overt industry gatekeeping that proves BTS doesn't need mainstream validation, they define their own narrative.
Recording Academy member Adam Merter Birson says #BTS should compete for Album of the Year, not be confined to an Asian Pop category!!
โBTS ARMY should push for them to win Album of the Year, not be marginalized in a Best Asian Pop category. Itโs great for smaller artists to get recognized, but BTS is way too big and important to fall into this trap.โ
https://t.co/7j2ycjDc8l
Arirang by BTS is the most recognized album of 2026:
1. Rolling Stone: Best albums of 2026
2. COMPLEX: Best albums of 2026
3. Consequences: Best Songs of 2026 โ SWIM
4. Consequences: Best Songs of 2026 โ Hooligan
5. Yahoo: Best workout songs of 2026 โ Swim
6. NME: Best album of 2026
7. NME: Best song of 2026 โ Body To Body
BTS officially becomes the FIRST GROUP in HISTORY to surpass 100 BILLION on-demand audio streams across all platforms.
โ They are also the FIRST Asian act and just the 7th ARTIST overall to accomplish the feat.
The Grammys' New "Best Asian Pop Music Performance" Award System will RULE OUT Korean Tracks with English Lyrics.
It is being called a ridiculous award as it rules out one of the most popular artists' work & achievements.
(https://t.co/fXwkbl8tgl)
Awards that added K-Pop categories after BTSโs global success:
๐ VMAs โ Added Best K-Pop (2019) after BTSโs impact.
๐ EMAs โ Added Best K-Pop (2021).
๐ AMAs โ Added Favorite K-Pop Artist (2022), with BTS as the first winner.
๐ Grammys โ BTS ุ EJAE ๐