Korean boyband Stray Kids announced their decision to not submit to the 2027 Grammys on October 2 – in similar fashion as BTS, who have been vocal about their choice to sit out the 69th edition of the award ceremony. Both boybands have had commercially outstanding years, with BTS’s Arirang becoming the most streamed K-pop album in Spotify history, and Stray Kids’ This & That EP marking their ninth No. 1 atop the Billboard 200, a run that comes second only to the Beatles. So why sit out the awards ceremony that they are also voting members of?
The root of this rebellion is in one of the five new categories announced in June 2026 for the Grammy Awards by the Recording Academy. The introduction of the “Best Asian Pop Music Performance” category has sent a ripple through the music industry, inviting criticism from some artists and fan communities and praise from others. While intended by the Academy to recognise “artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating from or widely recognised within Asian markets,” it has been met with allegations of purposefully segregating Asian artists, minimising the merit they hold as musicians regardless of ethnicity, and by design, reducing competition for mainstream western pop acts for coveted titles like Album/Song Of The Year.
Billboard India presents the full timeline from the push that led to the birth of this category, the pushback that came after, and what is yet to be revealed.
February 2026: K-Pop Demon Hunters’ “Golden” wins a Grammy
Korean-American singer-songwriter EJAE won the Grammy for the Best Song Written for Visual Media for “Golden” from Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters, making it the first ever Korean track to win a Grammy Award. BTS have had five nominations, Rosé (Blackpink’s lead vocalist) has three, conductor and pianist Myung-Whun Chung has four, and Hue Park has one – with nobody having won until this year.
June 2026: The Academy announces the Asian Pop category
On June 16, the Grammys announced five new categories for the 2027 ceremony: one of them being the Best Asian Pop Music Performance. To qualify, a song needs to be (a) originally from or successful in Asian markets, and (b) have “meaningful use” of one or more Asian languages. Which means songs entirely in English, even if made by an Asian artist, do not qualify (BTS has many chart-topping English-only songs). Additionally, entering this category does not stop the artist from being considered for General Fields like Song/Album of The Year.
July 2026: BTS opts out of submitting Arirang for the 2027 Grammys
On July 29, BTS, in a statement addressed to their ARMY (their fandom), announced that they will not be submitting music for the Grammys consideration this year. The seven-piece boyband said on their individual socials: “We hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided into region or language.”
August 2026: The Academy convenes to debate the merit of the category
Unrest from Asian artists and the soft-boycott by BTS led the academy to reconsider the category. Harvey Mason Jr. (Recording Academy CEO), Grammy leaders, musicians, labels, managers, and the Awards and Nominations Committee all reportedly held dialogue on whether the category serves its purpose of inclusion, or segregates and minimises a diverse genre by labelling it “Asian” music and sweeping musicalities and cultural differences under one monolithic banner.
September-October 2026: Two artists revealed to be campaigning for the Asian Pop category
Japanese singer-songwriters Kenshi Yonezu and Yoshiki have submitted “Iris Out” and “Forever Love (Live)” respectively for the category of Best Asian Pop Music Performance, alongside other General Fields.
October 2026: The Academy decides to proceed with the category
On October 1, The Grammys announced their decision to continue with the Asian Pop Music category, deciding that it couldn’t make everyone happy, and that the support it received for its introduction far outweighed the criticism.
October 2026: Stray Kids follow the BTS route
The new Stray Kids EP This & That debuted on August 7, and they chose to let the August 21 deadline for submitting music to the Grammys pass by. On October 2, their label JYP Entertainment confirmed in a short statement that the boyband did not submit any music for consideration for the 69th annual Grammys.
At Present: Nomination list awaited to see the extent of the boycott
