Fans are unhappy with the bias Asian artists seem to be subjected to, especially after groups like BLACKPINK and Stray Kids submitted major submissions. As the Grammy Awards reveal its full slate of 2025 nominations, Korean pop music (K-pop) artists…

Fans are unhappy with the bias Asian artists seem to be subject to, especially after major submissions from groups like blackpink and stray kids.

When the Grammy Awards announced its full list of nominations for 2025, Korean pop music (k-pop) artists did not receive a single nomination. Beyoncé leads the pack with 11 nominations for her album "Cowboy Carter," outpacing Taylor Swift and other artists.

Although fans expect that BTS may receive a cold reception, they still hope to see globally successful artists such as Lisa, Jennie, Stray Kids, and Seventeen on the list. To their surprise, not only did none of those names appear, but K-pop artists didn't receive any nominations at all, with only two receiving a brief mention.

Zero nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards Korean pop music

The Grammy Awards are one of the most important awards in the industry, but they are often criticized for their bias against Asian artists, especially in the field of Korean pop music. As nomination time approaches, K-pop fans are hopeful, especially since several major groups have submitted their work for selection. For example, blackpink's Lisa submitted her song "New Woman" for the Record of the Year and Song of the Year awards, and also competed for the Best New Artist Award and the Best Pop Solo Performance Award for her song "Rock Star".

stray kids also performed well. They submitted submissions such as "ate" for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "chk chk boom" for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Award and other works. Fans eagerly waited to see if these globally recognized K-pop stars would finally get the recognition they'd been craving, only to be disappointed.

The situation of zero nominations for Korean pop music at the 2025 Grammy Awards is thought-provoking. On the one hand, this may reflect the potential bias of the Grammy Awards, which has long paid insufficient attention to Asian, especially K-pop artists, and ignored their influence and artistic value in the global music market.

Groups such as blackpink and stray kids have excellent works and wide fans, but they have not been recognized. On the other hand, it may be that there is a certain deviation between the selection criteria and the characteristics of K-Pop music. The traditional Grammy standards may not be able to well measure K-Pop's unique music style and performance form. This result is very important to K-Pop fans. The huge disappointment also highlights the issues of diversity and fairness in music awards.