Stray Kids declares Grammy boycott... BTS joins representative K-pop groups

(Los Angeles = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Kyung-yoon = Following BTS, representative K-pop group Stray Kids also participated in the boycott of the Grammy Awards.

According to Billboard and BBC on the 2nd (local time), JYP Entertainment announced that Stray Kids did not submit music to the 69th Grammy Awards to be held next year.

This decision came less than a day after the Recording Academy, which hosts the Grammy Awards, announced that it would go ahead with awarding the Asian pop category.

Stray Kids is a team that was considered a strong candidate in the Asian pop category.

It ranked first on the Billboard 200, the album rankings, nine times, recording the most first places after the Beatles. All eight members also have Grammy voting rights.

The BBC explained that Stray Kids' boycott would be a big blow to the Grammys.

As the two leading award candidates have declared a boycott, attention is also focused on the possibility of other K-pop singers joining.

Hongjoong, the leader of the group Ateez, said in a recent interview with Variety, "Personally, I sympathize (to some extent) with BTS's actions," and added, "I also want to think about that issue."

Last June, the Grammys sparked great controversy by announcing that it would establish a new 'Best Asian Pop Music Performance' (hereinafter referred to as Asian Pop) category, which would separate music from Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Japan.

Even though K-pop has already gained popularity around the world and is entering the ranks of the mainstream music industry, it has been pointed out that they are trying to differentiate themselves by giving awards by creating a special category instead of the main awards.

In particular, BTS immediately declared a boycott, saying, "I hope that music can be heard and loved as such rather than being divided by region or language."

The Grammys seemed to take a step back, saying they could revamp the Asian pop category, but the previous day, they again asserted that there were louder voices supporting the establishment of the Asian pop category, and solidified their stance that they would award that category as is at next year's awards ceremony.