This is a bit of a funny rant and news item that I have to bring up right now just because of how ridiculous and preposterous it is, but I feel like it needs addressing.

The GRAMMYs — the [Recording] Academy, as they are affectionately known...You would think that running the GRAMMYs and being the GRAMMYs would hypothetically be one of the easiest things in the world. You literally just have to line up. There's not really the same pressure when it comes to the Oscars to maybe pay a little bit of lip service to some more artsy and obscure films. (Obviously, the Oscars are not great, or the best when it comes to that, but they at least push in that direction a little bit.)

But when you're the GRAMMYs, all you really have to do is line up the most popular artists of the year and just put them in front of people and be like, "OK, vote on this. What is your favorite?" and give that person an award. That's all you got to do. Beyond that, all you have to do is just come up with a list of really obvious, plain-as-day categories around genres and prevailing trends in the music space. That's all you got to do. But the GRAMMYs are somehow finding a way to continue fucking it up.

BTS, one of the most beloved pop outfits on the music landscape today, are apparently going to be boycotting the GRAMMYs because of the announcement of a new category of the GRAMMYs have launched: "Asian pop."

Let's read what Leah has written before we go at length on this topic:

"Earlier this year, the Recording Academy introduced five new categories for next year's Grammys ceremony along with an expansion of eligibility for Best New Artist. Among them was an award for "Best Asian Pop Music Performance," a category likely introduced in the wake of Kpop's ever-increasing prevalence in the US."

The Recording Academy's description of the category reads as follows:

“This category recognizes artistic excellence in Asian pop music performances originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, with meaningful use of one or more Asian languages. Awards are presented to the performing artist(s)”

Leah continued:

"BTS, Kpop's most popular export, have decided to boycott the Grammy awards this year, with each member posting the following message on their respective Instagram stories: 'We have decided not to enter the Grammys this year. I hope music itself can be heard and loved rather than being distinguished by region or language. Thank you to the army and everyone for always being with me.'

Wow! The GRAMMYs are fucking up the bag on this.

Let's talk about the preposterousness of this: how the hell did this get off the ground? How did the GRAMMYs devise this, and why was nobody on the inside saying, "Hey, you know what? This might not read in the way that we're intending...It might not read in a good way"?

You could see the bland, very surface-level, liberal-style identity politics reasoning going on here, in terms of, "We want some representation for everybody, so we're going to list out all the categories and give everyone an opportunity to compete in their own category, in whatever lane in terms of genre and heritage that they come from." I'm also sure on some level, the GRAMMYs are tired of getting sent envelopes of anthrax from BTS fans who are maybe pissed off at them every year when they are neither nominated nor given a GRAMMY for something. So I could kind of understand the desire and the pressure to try to find some release valve for something where BTS is maybe guaranteed an award no matter what, even if they go into the main pop category and then actually don't end up winning. Like, at least they still get to walk away with some award; let's just create a category where they're guaranteed to win.

How are we going to limit that category or put that category on display? They're Asian, right? Asian pop.

But when you actually have two functioning brain cells and maybe a functioning eye for optics and PR, the way that this actually reads is like, "We need a lane to throw the Asians into so that they're on the side and away from all of the other kinds of pop. So let's just put it in the corner over here in its own distinct area and then leave it at that." How the hell did the GRAMMYs see it any other way? Like, they must be that stupidly naive to think people were going to love this new "Asian pop" category.

It just feels racist! Even though K-pop is a thing — as is J-pop, as well as the differing genres used very handily by fans and critics alike as shorthand to categorize the macro-genre and also easily and more conveniently find artists who are similar to their favorites in K-pop — these bands and the companies that turn them into the performance machines that they are didn't develop these groups under the idea of, "Yeah, we need to come up with our own separate distinct style of Asian pop. It's going to be in its own Asian pop world completely, uninterrupted or untouched by the outside world." No, these groups and these labels that create them make them with the aspiration that they are going to be global successes and they are going to compete with all of the pop artists on the planet. They're not just making "K-pop," even if it is categorized as that way; they're making pop. So regardless of the question if artists making the pop are Asian or not, they should be considered for the pop category.

On top of that, when you push the logic of this view further, why are we not making an Asian rock category, an Asian electronic music category? Why not go "Asian" for every genre of popular music and then award a GRAMMY based upon that? This is insane.

You could push it even further than that because the logic and the way that they're laying this out is just so nutty and nonsensical. BTS' Arirang album is mostly in English. They quite literally engineered their music to appeal to Western audiences as well. As far as the influences that go into the music of these major groups, a lot of those influences are Western influences. They're pulling from black art forms, Western brands of pop music and electronic music. Of course, their styles of music have influences that come from their own country, too, but to say pop from Korea is so different and needs its own, separate categorization is just nuts.

What about all the Wasian and Blasian artists? Where are they to sit; where are they going to go? Are they going to go in the Asian category, or are they going to go in the genres that are supposed to be for the white artists without being overtly labeled as that, according to the GRAMMYs? Or will they go with the Black artists, because, they used to run that "urban" category, and we all know what that was shorthand for.

I wonder if the GRAMMYs are going to do anything because BTS just basically said, Fuck you! We're boycotting, and we're not going to participate in this bullshit."

It really is the worst possible outcome for the GRAMMYs. It really is blowing up in their face optically because they're sitting there like, "But we set this table for you! You don't want to sit at the kiddie table in the corner away from all the other artists?" And BTS is like, "No, we're good. We sell millions of records, sell out stadiums, do massive performances, and have fans who love us. We don't need a Grammy. You could shove the Grammy up your ass."

The Oscars have a very simple international film category. Look, given how much of an emphasis there is on Western film in the Oscars (because it is a Western institution), its broad international category makes at least some sense, even if it's obviously not going to be able to cover all the bases.

It's the full context of everything: the "Asian Grammy" category is already a bad thing. But to do it in response to Asian artists — not even out of love or appreciation of Asian music or, more broadly speaking, Asian art — because Korean pop is doing really well right now on the charts and the GRAMMYs want to eat off that popularity just feels very cynical. It also feels like overt pandering because they're like, "Well, we know that your fans (and maybe you!) are mad every year that you don't win and compare some of some of the other artists, so here's a separate little category just for you and your own little world that you can be guaranteed a win in!" Even if that's the full intention, which is obviously a little bit more palatable than just the outright racist read that you can make of this, that is just patronizing. You don't think a group is good enough to compete with The Weekend (who you never even give a fucking Grammy to); you don't think a group is good enough to compete with Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. The K-Pop groups have to be in their own separate world.

K-Pop artists are making pop I'm sure they and their labels think is as good and as culturally valid and entertaining as what Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, and Taylor Swift's are making. You can debate that it's all preference and perspective at the end of the day. I wouldn't feel like that's personally the case, but I'm sure they feel that way. They're certainly pulling in numbers and engagement and have passionate fans that care about what they do — just like many other mainstream pop artists do.

BTS deserve a seat at the pop table, just like any other international artists does these days.

I wouldn't be surprised if the GRAMMYs second-guessed this move in the wake of this BTS boycott. But if it all ends up continuing forward, I just wonder how weird it's going to be in terms of who actually gets nominated instead. And I don't know how it reflects upon that artist to accept the award. On the other hand, I also wonder if there will be other artists who will boycott in sort of a domino effect way. I wonder who else will be like, "Fuck you. We don't want your Asian Grammy. We're just making pop. We just happen to be Asian while we're doing it."