Rosé Receives First Grammy Big Four Nomination, Alongside KATSEYE and KPop Demon Hunters

Rosé has been nominated for the Grammy Record of the Year category with “Apt” (featuring Bruno Mars), setting a historic milestone as the first K-POP artist to achieve this. Rosé is best known as a member of the mega-group BLACKPINK. “Apt” has also received a nomination in the Song of the Year category, with experts describing this moment as a historic turning point for K-POP.

Although K-POP has become an essential part of global pop culture, it has long been underappreciated by international music institutions like the Grammy Awards. K-POP artists have performed on the Grammy stage but have never won an award. BTS performed at the 62nd Grammy Awards in 2020 without taking home any trophies. The fact that K-POP is now making its first appearance in three of the Grammy’s Big Four categories—Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist—is significant within this historical context.

“Apt” will compete in the Song of the Year category against “Golden” from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack (performed by Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami). Meanwhile, KATSEYE has been nominated for the Best New Artist category. KATSEYE is a group produced under HYBE, BTS’s parent company, using the standard K-POP idol training system. This represents a dramatic shift from previous situations where K-POP artists were only recognized in secondary categories.

However, scholars are offering varied interpretations of the significance of these nominations. Areum Jeong, an associate professor of Korean studies at Arizona State University, views these nominations as more reflective of a “deterritorialized and hybridized concept of K-POP” rather than “genuine recognition for K-POP.” She explains that “Apt” is a song created by an artist trained within the K-POP system, yet it incorporates elements from a Korean game and does not feel like a typical local K-POP production.

The Grammy Awards ceremony will take place next month at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.