First Grammy Nomination in K-Pop History as Rosé, “Golden,” and KATSEYE Nominated in Key Categories

K-Pop has made its debut in the main General Fields categories of Grammy Awards history. The Recording Academy’s list of nominees for the 68th ceremony, released on the 7th, includes BLACKPINK’s Rosé, the OST “Golden” from Netflix’s animated series *KPop Demon Hunters*, and the global girl group KATSEYE, created jointly by HYBE and Geffen Records. Rosé received nominations in three categories—“Song of the Year,” “Record of the Year,” and another category—thanks to her single “APT.” with Bruno Mars. This marks the first time a K-Pop solo artist has been nominated for a Grammy Award, as well as the first time a K-Pop act has entered the General Fields category. “Golden” was nominated in five categories, including “Song of the Year.” KATSEYE, a localized group trained through the K-Pop system, became the first K-Pop act to appear on the Grammy main stage by being nominated for “Best New Artist.” The Grammy Awards are known to prioritize musical excellence and artistic quality over commercial success. Due to these conservative evaluation standards, K-Pop has previously been limited to genre-based categories such as “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.” Since BTS attended as a performer in 2019, the group received nominations for three consecutive years, but this is the first time they have entered the General Fields category. Rosé’s “APT.” reached as high as third place on Billboard’s main singles chart, the Hot 100, and stayed on the chart for 45 weeks. “Golden” topped the chart for eight consecutive weeks, was later overtaken by Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” but regained the global chart summit, becoming one of the songs to remain at the top for the longest time in Grammy history. Major U.S. media outlets reacted to these nominations by stating that “the Grammys have finally recognized K-Pop as a legitimate pillar of pop music.” This is interpreted as K-Pop, which had previously been viewed as a “fan-driven genre,” now establishing itself as “mainstream pop” with both artistic merit and popularity. Harvey Mason Jr., the CEO of the Recording Academy, explained that although discussions about creating new K-Pop categories had taken place, it was necessary to first ensure a membership structure capable of accurately defining and evaluating K-Pop.