Cinema VinesSouth Korean boy‑band BTS has announced that it will not submit its record‑breaking album Arirang for consideration at the 69th Grammy Awards, rejecting the newly created Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. In a statement posted on Instagram stories by all seven members—RM, Jin, SUGA, j‑hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook—the group said: “We have decided not to submit our music to the Grammys this year. We hope music can be heard and loved as music itself, rather than being divided by region or language.” The decision comes amid criticism that the Recording Academy’s new category, intended to honor K‑pop, J‑pop, C‑pop and other Asian styles, could further fragment Asian artists instead of giving them a chance at the main awards.
Despite the controversy, Arirang has been a commercial juggernaut. Released on March 20, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 641,000 equivalent album units in its first week, including 532,000 pure sales—its biggest sales week for a group in more than a decade. Physical sales were especially strong, with 516,000 copies sold across 17 vinyl editions and nine CD versions. Vinyl alone accounted for 208,000 sales, ranking as the sixth‑biggest vinyl week in the modern chart era, a performance only surpassed by One Direction’s 2013 release of Midnight Memories.
BTS’s refusal to enter the Grammys follows the group’s three‑year streak of nominations in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category for “Dynamite,” “Butter,” and “My Universe” (the latter a collaboration with Coldplay). The band’s decision to skip the awards, however, is framed as a stand against categorizing music by language or geography. In its statement, the group also thanked its worldwide fan base, the ARMY, for their continued support.
While the Recording Academy added the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category as part of five new awards for the upcoming ceremony, BTS’s move highlights ongoing debates about representation and inclusion in major music awards. The group’s choice to focus on the universal appeal of their music rather than a specific genre or region underscores their global influence and the growing conversation about how best to recognize artists from diverse backgrounds.
