BTS withdraws from the 2027 Grammys and criticizes division of music by language

Favorite in important award categories, such as album of the year and song of the year, the septet states that it intends to defend recognition based on the music and not on the origin or the language in which it is sung.

In the message, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook explain that they chose not to participate in the award selection organized by the Recording Academy. "We have decided not to participate in the Grammys this year. I hope music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than divided by region or language," they wrote. The statement ends with a thank you to the fans.

The decision comes just as BTS was experiencing one of the strongest campaigns of its history for the Grammys. The album "Arirang" became one of the best-selling albums of the year, while the single "Swim" reached number one on the American chart and was considered one of the favorites to compete for the song of the year award.

The group's selection also coincides with the creation of the best Asian pop music performance category, recently announced by the Recording Academy. According to the award rules, works must contain "significant use" of an Asian language - a requirement that "Arirang" would not meet, as more than 80% of its lyrics are in English.

The new category divided opinions between K-pop fans and artists. Part of the public celebrated the creation of a space dedicated to Asian musicians, while another criticized what they consider to be a segmentation of musical production based on geographic and linguistic criteria.

By explicitly mentioning "region" and "language" in their note, BTS was interpreted by many admirers as reflecting this debate. So far, the Recording Academy has not commented on the group's decision. The BBC reported having contacted the organization, but has not yet received a response.