The Recording Academy announced five categories and major eligibility updates recently for the Grammy Awards, which will be implemented for February 7, 2027. The key changes include expanding Best New Artist submissions from three to four times and lowering the new-music requirement on eligible albums to 66%. However, the announcement has caused a huge uproar among netizens, demanding either to change it or face a boycott.
Netizens slam Grammys over announcement of new award categories
Recently, the Grammys added five categories, which will take effect at the 69th Grammy Awards: Best Asian Pop Music Performance, Best Latin Song, Best R&B Collaboration or Duo/Group Performance, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance and Best Traditional Folk Album. However, netizens were angered over the decision by Grammys and took to social media platforms to vent out their anger.
One user wrote, “Woke up angry, but let’s look at the facts. BTS literally forced the Grammys to create a new category. Racist as s***, xenophobic and a scam yet still the peak of music recognition. No matter the backstory, BTS did that. While ARMY calls out the racism they dealt with, the restof the K-pop industry should be on their knees thanking them for paving the way. This also happened the year BTS came back with the strongest album of 2026 & industry plants aren’t holding up against it. So yes, this was the final nail to the coffin of BTS PAVED THE WAY argument.”
Another user wrote, “The grammys creating an entire new award for ‘best asian music award’ is racist slop to try to shut people up and keep bts away from their pop category since they refuse to accept them into that. ARIRANG is labelled as a hip hop/pop album, f*** that award show.”
“The way swim can’t be nominated in that new category bc that award is based on an Asian language chile…the Grammys playing”, wrote the third user.
An ‘Asian’ category but noting that only certain countries’ genres will be considered. This masquerades as inclusivity while excluding any Asian act that doesn’t fit these categories. ‘AND you add this on just as an Asian act crushes ALL of the criteria for the biggest Grammys?’ wrote another user.
K-pop acts at Grammys: Nominations, awards and performances
In recent years, k-pop has built a major presence at the Grammy Awards. That includes BTS’ milestones, Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters and Rose making ceremony history. In 2020, BTS became the first k-pop act to perform at the Grammy Awards, joining Lil Nas X on stage. In 2021, BTS scripted history as the first k-pop group nominated for a major award, earning a nod for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their smash hit Dynamite. While in 2022 and 2023, BTS earned nominations for Butter and their collaboration with Coldplay, My Universe.
In February 2026, the song Golden from the soundtrack to Netflix’s animated blockbuster KPop Demon Hunters won Best Song Written for Visual Media, becoming the first-ever K-pop song to win a Grammy. It was performed by vocalists EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI and written by a team of producers including Teddy. In addition, BLACKPINK member Rosé made history as the first k-pop artist to open the awards ceremony, performing her global hit APT with Bruno Mars. She also secured three major nominations, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
The HYBE x Geffen global girl group KATSEYE made a splash as the first act to directly score Grammy nominations. At the 2026 Grammy Awards, they were nominated for Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (for Gabriela) and performed their hit single Gnarly during the Best New Artist segment.
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