A Little Funk & Seoul at The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards
The lucky number seven continues to precede celebration for BTS in 2020. What better way to top off their 7th year since debut than with the group’s very first major Grammy nomination.
This year BTS had submissions in a total of seven categories, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Engineered Album: Nonclassical for Map of the Soul: 7, and Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Music Video, and Song of the Year for Dynamite. In the end only Dynamite made it through with Best Pop Duo/Group, notably the only nominee in the category that was not a collaboration with one or more artists. The announcement arrived Tuesday morning in the United States, but over in South Korea it was 2AM, and according to Twitter, many stayed up in anticipation of a historic moment. They were not disappointed. BTS is now the first Korean act to ever be nominated in a major category, marking yet another milestone in their impressive journey as artists.
BTS are no strangers to the Grammys: they were the first Korean group to perform at the ceremony earlier this year alongside Lil Nas X, and in 2019 they were the first K-Pop group to present an award.¹ Their album Love Yourself: Tear was also nominated for Best Recording Package that same year.² Many would argue that BTS have long been overdue for an award from the Recording Academy, and just a year ago ARMY shared in RM’s disappointment when a nomination for Map of the Soul: Persona did not occur. It’s difficult for fans not to feel slighted for the septet when the group’s outfits can make it into the Grammy Museum but their musical artistry is continuously overlooked. So while ARMY collectively held their breath and rejoiced when good news broke through this time around, many couldn’t shake the bittersweet feelings that arose from the lack of recognition the group received in the six other major categories.
The Grammys have long been deemed the highest accolade for any musician despite the award show’s lack of diversity in the way it chooses its nominees and its winners, which it has on multiple occasions received criticism for. Artists of color have long had their art disregarded despite the cultural impact they have. More often than not these artists end up relegated to categories that box them into specific genres, while their white counterparts swoop in to take home the biggest awards. It comes as no surprise then that if breaking barriers is difficult enough as a marginalized musical act in the United States, a boy band from South Korea that doesn’t sing in English would be met with multiplied resistance. This is yet another reason that the nomination for Dynamite, BTS’ first all-English single, could feel a lot like coming to terms with what’s deemed acceptable for western recognition. But that obviously says more about the Grammys than it does about BTS’ integrity as artists.
Dynamite may not have been what BTS normally releases stylistically, but this year hasn’t been normal and that’s exactly what inspired them to drop a disco pop track entirely in English.³ The group was hoping for it to be joyous and to provide momentary relief during these difficult times. It was an instant smash hit that did just that, it even broke the YouTube record for most views in 24 hours at over 100 million — which makes the snub of not being nominated as Best Music Video a bit perplexing.⁴ Except not really.
For the last few months Dynamite has been regarded as a ‘trojan horse’ by fans and journalists alike for not only exposing BTS to a more mainstream audience, but also for poking at the difficult to hide biases held by the western music industry. It’s not going unnoticed that this is the song that was chosen to finally give BTS their due praise, nor that it’s in the same category BTS has been placed in for more than one award show time and time again. As much as western award shows love to use the group as a marketing scheme for viewership, one would think that they would consider being less insulting. Using the ‘group’ category (or worse, see: ‘K-Pop’) as a scapegoat to attempt to sate ARMY and their beloved idol group is getting increasingly frustrating. Just how long will it take to recognize that BTS can stand on their own as a unit in tandem with other legendary artists on this side of the globe?
Would it have been monumental and symbolic to see a Korean album with the heart and versatility of Map of the Soul: 7 be nominated? Undoubtedly. Is it realistic to expect that of an institution like the Grammys? Probably not. But it’s not wrong for us to want better either. The bright side to having a love as strong as BTS and ARMY’s is that giving up is not an option. And if Suga has any say in it, this is certainly not the peak of BTS’ legacy by any means. So we will take this victory, celebrate with BTS, and then continue applying pressure as needed moving forward. For now I hope that come January 31, ARMY will finally get to watch BTS on the solo stage they deserve as they deliver what will with certainty be another epic performance before securing their win.
References
¹Bruner, R. (2020, January 27). BTS Joined Lil Nas X for Their First Grammys Performance. Time. https://time.com/5771389/bts-grammys-performance/
²Benjamin, J. (2018, December 7). BTS Album Earns 2019 Grammy Nomination: Here’s Why It’s Important. Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/8489161/bts-2019-grammy-nomination-best-album-packaging
³Choi, I. (2020, August 26). “Dynamite” is BTS’s first song entirely in English, but that doesn’t mean the group is giving up their K-pop identity. Insider. https://www.insider.com/dynamite-bts-first-song-in-english-meaning-kpop-2020-8#:%7E:text=At%20a%20virtual%20press%20conference%20on%20Friday%20ahead%20of%20the,presented%20itself%20as%20an%20opportunity.
⁴Spangler, T. (2020, August 21). BTS ‘Dynamite’ Breaks YouTube Record for Most-Viewed Video in First 24 Hours, With 101 Million Views. Variety. https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/bts-dynamite-youtube-record-most-viewed-24-hour-1234743960/
