The Grammys created an award for Asian pop. BTS said no.

BTS says music should not be divided by region or language. The Asian music insiders who pushed the category say it was meant to help overlooked artists finally get recognized.

Published Aug 3, 20264 sources

The Grammys created its first award specifically for Asian pop music.
BTS responded by pulling all of its music from consideration—not only from the new category.
Asian music insiders who helped push the award say it was built for artists with fewer opportunities, not superstars like BTS.
The bigger fight is over what representation should look like: another path into the Grammys, or another place to keep Asian artists separate.

BTS will not submit any music for the 2027 Grammys. The members said they do not want music divided by region or language.AP News

The new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category includes K-pop, J-pop, C-pop and other music connected to Asian markets.Grammy

Songs must meaningfully use an Asian language. Fully English songs cannot compete in this category, regardless of the artist’s identity.Grammy

Asian Pop entries can still compete for Album, Record or Song of the Year. The new category does not formally block them from the major awards.AP News

Recording Academy member Zeena Koda says she helped push the category. She says it was intended for artists needing greater visibility—not superstars like BTS.LOS40

BTS has received five Grammy nominations and has never won.Grammy

BTS was admitted to the Recording Academy as voting members in 2019. More HYBE artists and producers have since joined, making this partly a disagreement among people inside the institution.Yonhap News Agency

The BTS-Grammys dispute is more complicated than “segregation versus inclusion.”

The new Asian Pop category came through the Recording Academy’s member-driven process. Zeena Koda, one of the members who says she pushed for it, argues that it was meant to help Asian artists who rarely receive Grammy consideration—not global superstars like BTS.

BTS is making a different argument. At their level of success, accepting a region-based award could reinforce the idea that Asian music belongs in a separate lane.

The category does not formally exclude anyone from Album, Record or Song of the Year. But ballot structure matters. Once voters have a designated place for Asian music, they may become less likely to consider it elsewhere.

The eligibility rules are also unusual. “Asian Pop” is defined partly by language and market, not the artist’s identity. An Asian American artist singing entirely in English may not qualify, while dozens of countries and very different music industries are grouped under one award.

BTS is not entirely outside this system either. The members joined the Recording Academy as voters in 2019, and more HYBE artists and producers have since joined. This is increasingly a disagreement among Asian stakeholders inside the institution over what progress should look like.

The first nominees will tell us more than the current outrage. If Asian Pop winners also begin appearing in the major categories, the award may expand recognition. If they remain confined to this one category, BTS’s concern will look increasingly justified.