The US Academy of Recording has announced the addition of 5 new categories starting from the 2027 Grammy Awards ceremony, including one category specifically for Asian pop music. This move is said to help BTS get closer to their first Grammy trophy in their career - something the group has missed for many years.
One of the new categories is "Best Asian Pop Music Performance". This category aims to honor outstanding performances in the field of Asian pop music by artists from Asia or recognized in Asian music markets.
Immediately, BTS was considered one of the leading candidates thanks to its global commercial success and strong influence.
Korean media believes that currently, very few Asian artists can be compared to BTS in terms of achievements on charts, tour scale or international recognition.
Recently, BTS became the first Kpop artist to win the Artist of the Year award twice at the American Music Awards, and is still one of the most successful artists who have ever come from Asia.
However, an important requirement regarding entry conditions may affect which songs BTS will submit to compete for the award. According to the Grammys, nominated works must use "significantly" at least one Asian language.
The Academy said that Asian languages must play a prominent enough role so that listeners can easily recognize them in the recording. For bilingual or multilingual songs, the part using Asian languages must also account for a significant proportion to qualify.
This means that the English single "Swim" - the title track in BTS's fifth studio album "Arirang", is likely not eligible to compete in this category.
Instead, industry observers predict that HYBE and BTS will consider sending a Korean song in the album. Among them, "Body to body" is mentioned as a potential candidate thanks to its Korean lyrics and production style focused on stage performance.
The Academy stated that valid recordings need to reflect musical characteristics often associated with Asian pop music, including a mixture of genres, multi-layered production techniques and flexible structural transformations to support both listening and live performance experiences. These criteria are BTS's advantages, as the group possesses meticulous music production capabilities and large-scale performances.
In parallel with that, HYBE is said to continue to bring "Swim" to compete in pop categories and the major general category of the Grammys, because this is the most commercially successful song in the album.
However, if participating in the category "Best Pop Performance by Duo/Group" - an category that BTS has been nominated for 3 consecutive years (2021-2023) - the group will have to compete with much stronger opponents such as PinkPantheress, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter...
Music critic Lim Hee Yun commented that this new category will significantly increase the chance for BTS to eventually win a Grammy Award, while the possibility of winning in the biggest categories is still a challenge.
He said: "BTS' chances of winning will be higher because they will compete in the scope of Asian music. And although this is not one of the biggest overall categories, for many Koreans, it is important to win a Grammy. Winning in top categories has never been easy".
