Stray Kids Are Also Boycotting The Grammys

Back in July, the massively popular K-pop boy band BTS announced that they are boycotting next year's Grammys and refusing to submit any of their music for award consideration. This was a big pivot for the group, who performed on multiple Grammy telecasts and frequently talked about how badly they wanted to win one. (They've been nominated for five awards, but they've never won.) Now, Stray Kids, the second -biggest K-pop boy band, are following BTS' lead, evidently declining to submit any new music for Grammy consideration.

The big issue here seems to be the Grammy category Best Asian Pop Music Performance, one of several new awards announced earlier this year. The award is intended to recognize pieces of pop music that "feature meaningful use of one or more Asian languages," which certainly seems like a condescending genre ghetto that lumps together many disparate traditions. In the shared statement that all seven BTS members simultaneously posted on their individual social media accounts, they wrote, "I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language" in Korean.

Stray Kids didn't make any kind of dramatic announcement. Instead, Variety reports that the group merely "filed no entry before the Aug. 21 submission deadline" without explanation. JYP Entertainment, the group's management company, confirmed that they wouldn't take part in the Grammys. Nobody made a statement. Given that Stray Kids are way less famous than BTS and have never been nominated for a Grammy, this move isn't quite as meaningful. But the Asian Pop Music category seems intended to reward globally huge acts that don't otherwise get Grammy recognition, so it does appear likely that Stray Kids could've snagged a nomination, especially after BTS withdrew. Also, all eight Stray Kids were invited to become Recording Academy voters this year.

On Thursday, Billboard reported that Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason, Jr. felt compelled to address the controversy over the Asian Pop Music category. In a statement, Mason said that the Grammys understood people's frustration but that they'd still be going forward with the award:

Over the past several weeks, the Academy has been conducting listening sessions and have been in dialogue with leaders of the Asian music community. The journey has been rewarding and inspiring. Our organization is at its best when we engage deeply with music people and go the extra mile to understand their lived experiences. In this case, we heard candid feedback from people in our community who don’t support the continuation of this category. We also heard from people who didn’t have accurate information about the category, and having space to clear up misperceptions has been especially valuable. But by far, the loudest feedback we heard was from people who were enthusiastic supporters of the category, fellow music creators expressing their encouragement for keeping it. We understand this conclusion will not satisfy everyone, and that never feels good. But at the same time, we are confident it’s the right conclusion for the music community overall. As is the case with all our categories, we will continue to diligently engage with the music community and keep striving to honor this music, and all music, in the best possible way. We look forward to celebrating the Asian Pop Music Performance nominees at the 2027 Grammy Awards.

As of right now, the only K-pop song ever to win a Grammy is the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack hit "Golden," which took home Best Song Written For Visual Media earlier this year.

The week's most important music stories and least important music memes.