It’s that time of year again, folks. The 2024 Grammy nominations have been announced, and for fellow K-pop fans, it’s another season of “disappointed, but not surprised.” This year’s nominations failed to nod to any artists out of Seoul, despite the diversity of genre, sound, and style displayed in the submissions.
Historically, BTS paved the way and set the precedent as the first and only K-pop act to secure a nomination, beginning at the 2021 ceremony with a nomination for “Dynamite.” The following year, “Butter” earned a nod in the same category (Best Pop Duo/Group Performance), alongside their collaboration with Coldplay, “My Universe,” and a Best Music Video nomination for “Yet to Come.”
This year, perhaps encouraged by the fact that BTS were able to start making waves in the Grammys world, many K-pop acts followed suit in submissions: aespa, SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, TWICE, NCT, and FIFTY FIFTY all tossed their names into areas like Best New Artist, Best Music Video, Song of the Year, and the Pop/Duo Group Performance category that has previously included BTS. Despite the fact that K-pop groups and soloists submitted in over 40 slots, the genre was shut out completely.
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This also includes BTS, who made bids individually as part of their second chapter while the members complete their mandatory enlistment periods in the South Korean military. This means the Recording Academy overlooked singles like Jimin’s “Like Crazy,” the first song to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by a K-pop solo artist, and Jung Kook’s “Seven” feat. Latto, which achieved the same feat and was somewhat ubiquitous on radio and streaming this summer.
Other snubs include Jin’s solo track co-written with Coldplay (“The Astronaut”), j-hope’s team-up with J. Cole, RM and SUGA’s excellent full-length albums, and V’s jazz-inspired lo-fi pop project.
The past two years, amid declining ratings, the Grammys ceremony has undoubtedly benefitted from featuring performances by BTS, while also refusing to treat their contributions to the pop music world — and music industry at large — with the gravity they deserve. What’s more, very few of the projects submitted sound all that similar to one another; the Academy refusing to acknowledge even one seems to indicate that any artist out of Seoul receives a blanket treatment, and implies that these artists aren’t being considered with the thoroughness of acts submitting from English-speaking countries.
At the end of the day, it’s the Recording Academy’s loss.
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