Key Takeaways
- The Recording Academy will keep Best Asian Pop Music Performance at the 2027 Grammys after consulting Asian music leaders and receiving a "robust" number of submissions.
- Harvey Mason Jr. acknowledged the decision "will not satisfy everyone" but said supporters provided the loudest feedback and called it the right choice for the music community.
- BTS boycotted Grammy consideration over the category's regional and language divisions; eligible recordings must meaningfully use an Asian language, though artists can still compete in major general categories.
The Recording Academy has confirmed that its controversial Best Asian Pop Music Performance category will stand at the 69th Grammy Awards.
The decision about the contested new award was confirmed by the Recording Academy's CEO Harvey Mason Jr. in a statement shared with Variety on Thursday (October 1).
"Over the past several weeks the Academy has been conducting listening sessions and have been in dialogue with leaders of the Asian music community," Mason said in the statement. "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."
Mason Jr. said he heard "candid feedback" from people who didn’t support the category as well as those who "didn’t have accurate information about the category."
"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," he added.
Mason Jr. concluded: "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."
The Academy also said it received a "robust" number of submissions for the category, according to Variety.
The loudest objection to the new category came from K-pop superstars BTS, who announced in July that they would not submit their 2026 album ARIRANG for consideration.
"We hope our music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language," the group said at the time, per a translation from Soompi.
As explained by The Academy, the category requires "meaningful use of one or more Asian languages," with musical style rather than a performer's ethnicity or nationality determining eligibility. Entirely English-language recordings, such as BTS' "Swim," would not qualify.
Artists can still compete for album and record of the year, though single recordings can only enter one performance category.
Nominees for the 69th Grammy Awards will be announced on November 17 with the award ceremony taking place on February 7, 2027.
