Rewriting K-Pop History... “Golden” and “Apartment” Aim for Main Awards at Grammy and Brit Awards

The original soundtrack “Golden” from Netflix’s animated series *KPop Demon Hunters* and BLACKPINK’s single “Apartment” are ushering in a new chapter in K-Pop history. This is the first time any K-Pop tracks have simultaneously been nominated for main awards at both the Grammy Awards and the Brit Awards.

The 68th Grammy Awards will be held on January 1st next month at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, USA. “Golden” has been nominated in three main categories: Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and Best Song Written for Visual Media, making a total of five awards it is competing for. In addition, the “Golden David Geta Remix” has been nominated for Best Remixed Recording, and the entire *KPop Demon Hunters* soundtrack has been shortlisted for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

“Apartment” is up for three categories: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. The two tracks will directly compete against each other in Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Song of the Year.

Meanwhile, “Gabriella” by KATSEYE, a Korean-American girl group produced by HYBE, is also nominated in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category. KATSEYE has also made it to the Best New Artist category.

Until now, K-Pop music has received multiple nominations at the Grammy Awards but has never won a main award. BTS was nominated in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category at the 63rd through 65th Grammy Awards but failed to win. The nominations for “Golden” and “Apartment” serve as evidence of how high K-Pop’s status has risen on international music award stages.

The British music awards, the Brit Awards, are equally noteworthy. The British Phonographic Industry selected both “Apartment” and “Golden” for the Song of the Year (International) category at the 46th Brit Awards, which will take place on February 28th. Additionally, the artists behind “Golden” — O.de, Jeonghan, Lay, D.O., Annie, Ella, May, Kei, and Rowoon — have been nominated for Best International Group. The Brit Awards determine nominees through voting by over 1,000 panelists, including radio and TV hosts, record label executives, and journalists.