Grammy 'received bricks' on the red carpet from netizens, 'indifferent' to Lisa, 'biased' towards Europe and America?

The list of nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards was announced, and netizens were disappointed to see the absence of Kpop artists. This is the second consecutive year that Korean stars have been "empty-handed" in nominations for this prestigious award.

BTS is still the only K-pop artist to receive a nomination and history has yet to record anyone else. Specifically, BTS members including RM, J-Hope and Jimin all submitted nominations for their solo songs but were not recognized. In addition, Lisa - a member of the group BLACKPINK - nominated herself for many Grammy categories but was also ignored.

Billboard expressed regret that if the female idol is nominated in the Best New Artist category, she will become the first K-pop artist to do so. Despite their global success, BLACKPINK and its members have never been recognized by this prestigious award.

Not only Billboard regretted, USA Today also expressed surprise that Kpop was not on the nomination list despite its growing influence. Groups like TXT, BLACKPINK and SEVENTEEN made a big splash, filling up stadiums in the US but still did not have a place at the Grammy.

Notably, in recent years, the awards have expanded their categories to honor African music but have yet to consider a separate category for K-pop. The newspaper believes it is time for the Academy to consider adding a K-pop category to recognize the artists’ global influence and the expansion of their fanbase.

Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. also acknowledged the need for broader representation across genres. He said the Grammys still have room to improve and include more genres in new categories. He stressed that without accurate representation, getting the “right results” is a challenge. That’s why members are working to get the results right to better reflect current trends in the music industry.

Beyoncé leads the pack with 11 nominations this year, including three big categories: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. Other top contenders include Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone, each with seven nominations. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Shapel Lonn have six nominations. Notably, The Beatles are nominated for Record of the Year with Now and Then, marking their return to the Grammys after 28 years.

In addition, the fact that K-pop artists continuously submit nominations and then "go empty-handed" at the Grammys has sparked controversy over whether it is too much for Korean stars to want to conquer the prestigious golden trophy.

"K-pop is just Korean pop music. It's not in the same market from the beginning and hasn't achieved anything remarkable. If you want to listen to English music, you can listen to European and American music, so why listen to K-pop sung in English?"

"This year is the year of the female singer, which round will K-pop get to?"; "In forcing itself to follow the US UK model, K-pop has lost its identity, causing the quality of music to decline" - are comments from the audience on Weibo.

In fact, although the Korean music market is prominent in Asia, compared to an international awards ceremony, digital music achievements or album sales are not everything.

Especially with the Grammy, the awards are all judged by a panel of experts, in addition to the achievement factors, the products must have artistic value. While the lyrics of K-pop songs, although catchy, are mostly empty and do not carry much meaning, so it is understandable that it is difficult to get into the nomination list.

According to The Korea Times, after the nomination list was announced, some American newspapers published a "skip list" with K-pop artists who were ignored by the Grammys.

The Associated Press noted that BTS members RM, J-Hope and Jimin — who have all released solo songs this year and enjoyed success — were not nominated.

Meanwhile, Billboard expressed regret for Lisa, stating that if she were nominated for Best New Artist, Lisa would be the first K-pop artist to do so. Although BlackPink has been a huge success globally, they have yet to receive a Grammy nomination.

Rosé revealed her "dark past", lived harshly while still anonymous, and was grateful to Lisa for her brave actions An Nhi09:44:44 17/09/2023Rosé is a member of the famous music group BLACKPINK. However, Rosé also had an extremely difficult time with big challenges every day, the pressure of rejection and even homesickness when she dropped out of school in Australia to Korea to pursue her dream.