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K-pop group BTS won't submit music for 2027 Grammy Awards over new "Best Asian Pop" category 75%
7/29/2026, 5:36:12 PM
BS Summary: This video contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Recency Bias, and Slippery Slope, with Hasty Generalization as the most egregious example at 35.4% saturation with 208 hits. Analysis detected 1,385 faulty-reasoning hits from 588 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 60.8% and a BS Rank of 75% (6,596 of 25,564 videos). This video is worse (more manipulative) than 74.20% of the video peer group.
Popular boy band BTS is not submitting music from their comeback album from next year's Grammys.
The K-pop superstars announced they would withdraw from consideration after a new category for Asian pop was announced for the award show.
In a statement, the group said in part, quote, "We hope music can be heard and loved for what it is rather than being divided into region or language."
BTS has been on tour after recently getting back together after all seven members completed their mandatory military service. and they released their fifth studio album, Adidang, in March.
Maria Sherman is a music reporter at the Associated Press.
So, look, BTS talks, people, listen. What's the significance of this move?
There's a lot that's happening with this statement. The fact that it's three sentences long, all seven members published it and it's the biggest music story in the world today is certainly something. The fact that they made a statement is really considerable.
It's not common for artists to announce that they're not submitting for Grammy nominations.
That's kind of considered inside baseball. Uh the fact that they announced a month after the introduction of this the announcement rather of this the announcement rather of this new category, best Asian pop music performance category is certainly newsworthy. Uh and everything you've mentioned, this has been a humongous year for BTS. Uh Aong is their first album after a nearly four-year musical hiatus.
It was critically acclaimed. It was culturally beloved. It was quite interesting.
It sort of married Korean folk music with hiphop, with R&B, with pop.
All these interesting musical experimentations that the group has been known to do.
All of these are factors that most would think, hey, maybe this would lead itself to some Grammy consideration, some Grammy conversation, and they're telling us they're not interested in that in 2027.
>> What is the debate over this new category?
It's essentially, and a lot of BTS fans have been leading this conversation, the idea that creating an Asian popsp specific performance category may create a sort of racialized barrier for Asian performers specifically that those that would be recognized in this category
that according to the rule book is looking at K-pop um but also J-pop, Japanese pop music, cpop, Chinese pop music would sort of stop those artists from getting recognized in the kind of capital Pop music category.
or i es that their recognition and potential award opportunities would be specific to region and language as opposed to uh competing with the rest of the world on a global stage.
>> Real quick, any chance the Grammys would reneg on that category in order to get BTS to come.
>> I think that I mean that is up to the Recording Academy. They haven't said anything about BTS's decision, nor has BTS explicitly said that their reason is for this new category. Um, it'll be interesting to see what comes of this
because, you know, BTS has been nominated for five Grammys and never won. They've performed there twice. Um, no K-pop act was ever nominated before BTS in 2021. So, it seemed like this would really be their year. So, it'll be interesting to see uh what conversations happen.
And the Recording Academy historically has been amendable to changing rules in the future. They change them every year. So, we'll see what happens.
Maria Sherman, thank you so
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