Earlier this week, the Recording Academy announced major rule changes for the upcoming 69th Grammys, with perhaps the most buzzworthy being the creation of a Best Asian Pop Music Performance. The addition recognized the ascendence of Asian artists in the mainstream and follows the breakthrough wins earlier this year by KPop Demon Hunters, which became the first K-pop music to win a Grammy.
This category will reward pop music tracks (not albums, those stay in the Best Pop Vocal Album category) “including, but not limited to, K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop, with meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.” That opens up the category to a huge number of acts, and the fight for a nomination will be difficult.
If anything is certain, though, it’s that BTS will be in. This new category is part of the Pop and Dance/Electronic field at the Grammys, which means that balloting will be done by your average pop voter who might not have a deep familiarity with the K-pop/J-pop/C-pop world. BTS have transcended the genre, having already secured three consecutive nominations for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 ceremonies. The group’s biggest hit this year, “Swim,” would not be eligible for Best Asian Pop since it’s fully in English, meaning that it will likely be submitted (and nominated) in Pop Duo/Group. However, Arirang, the group comeback’s album released in March, features other worthy tracks that qualify, like the opener “Body to Body” and the buzzy “2.0.” There’s strong likelihood that BTS will be the only nominees in the new category to get nominated elsewhere, and, with months to go before the nominations are announced, they must be considered the front-runners.
But outside of BTS, there are several options that could be in play for a nomination. Girl group Hearts2Hearts has only been active since last year, but they’ve achieved major success with their hit single “Rude!,” which topped the Korean charts and entered the Top 100 of the Billboard Global 200 charts. The song has also achieved mass virality, amassing over 5 million TikTok engagements. Another rising girl group that could get in is Illit, who achieved mainstream success a few years ago with their hit “Magnetic.” Now, they are back with “It’s Me,” which has peaked in the at No. 2 on the Korean charts and also is currently charting in the Top 100 of the Global 200. Meanwhile, BTS labelmates Cortis debuted recently to big success; the band’s GreenGreen debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and scored with the worldwide hit “RedRed,” which topped the Korean charts and peaked in the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart, as well as in the Top 40 of the Global 200 chart.
Going to more established acts, one of the biggest names of K-pop in the Americas is Stray Kids. The band’s “Do It” is one of the few songs eligible that charted on the Hot 100, and as such, could easily be in play for a nomination here. Stray Kids is also one of the few K-pop acts to top the Billboard 200 multiple times, recently doing so with their latest album, Karma. Aespa, whose recent sophomore record Lemonade debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, has seen the album’s title track rack up hundreds of thousands of TikTok views and chart in the Top 20 of the Global 200 as well as in the Top 5 of the Korean charts and in the Bubbling Under chart. Boy band Ateez is also one of the few crossover acts eligible, and their recently released single “Adrenaline”, which entered the Korean Top 10, could earn them their first nomination.
Outside of the K-pop genre, there’s Filipino girl-group Bini. They haven’t yet crossed over to the States, but there could be voter passion for them due to their history-making discography as a girl group from the country. Their singles “First Luv” and “Blush” could both be submitted for consideration and contend for a nomination, which would be groundbreaking for Filipino music. Another potential contender could be Babymetal, who blend J-pop and kawaii metal. The band usually enters in the rock and metal categories, but with this new addition, they could opt to submit a song from their latest album, Metal Forth; it was passed over last year in the rock field despite a Top 10 debut on the Billboard 200. Every song except the previously submitted “From Me to U” is eligible.
A few big names could drop eligible music in time. Iconic K-pop outlet Twice is one of the most recognizable names in the industry, and was recently featured on the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack. There’s also Blackpink, arguably the second biggest K-pop act in the U.S., whose recent all-English EP isn’t eligible. The band could still drop something before the deadline to earn their first nomination as a band, a year after member Rosé earned three nods for her Bruno Mars-assisted hit “Apt.,” including Record and Song of the Year. Boy band Seventeen, who have also charted near the top of the Billboard 200, could also return with new music soon, having released their Happy Burstday album in May 2025, or could opt to submit something from it.
