K-pop: The music genre that still isn’t worthy of its own category at the Grammys

say those who know that every 10 years the world of music evolvesadapting to each era that is marking history, either as in the 60s with The Beatles or mid-2010 with urban pop. However, in recent yearsthere is a musical genre that has given a lot to talk about and that has become popular in an unimaginable way worldwide, It’s about Korean Popbetter known as the kpopwhich still It has not been worthy of being categorized at the Grammy gala.

Although internationally South Korean culture it has become a trend both in fashion, art and music, for some of the Grammy executivesthe musical genre that has given life to famous groups such as BTS or Blackpinkit is not original enough so that in some near future can have its own category in the most important awards in the music industry and this because for them, K-pop is simply a derivative of the pop music of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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Talk about music and a specific genre can lead to many questions. For this reason, today we will briefly explain the why Kpop still can’t be categorized in the Grammy industry.

What is a music genre?

It corresponds to a category that combines musical compositions that share different criteria such as their function. That is, the affinity it has (if there are more melodies with the same progressions, lyrics and rhythms), its instrumentation, social context, literary content, melody, etc.

What is K-pop?

According to one of the internet troubleshooting pages, K-pop is short for Korean popular music in English. This is a music genre came out in the 90’s, when popular music from the West such as European pop, jazz, rap and techno music had already become popular in the country. This, according to the bookMusical Terms worldwide; A companion photo the music” by Leo Hartong and Jan Laurens.

It was in the year of 1992 when the group was born Seo Taijil and Boyssame as according to Sónica, was the first band registered within the South Korean popwhich would mark an important point in this, which would be strongly popularized internationally 20 years later by the groups mentioned at the beginning of this note.

At this point, you should also know that South Korean pop adopts rhythms, progressions, arrangements and rhythm meters such as rap, electronic, rock, and R&B as assured Bill Freimuthone of the directors of the Grammys in the year 2021 and according to the experts of the National Audiovisual Institute French defines K-pop as a fusion of synthesized music, dance routines, and trendy colorful clothing, which helps make it strongly attractive and commercialized.

So far it may seem confusing why K-pop for the Grammys is not originalbut speaking in musical language, it must first be understood that a musical genre It can be considered as such as long as it is accepted by art critics. and the specialized press, as happens with those who are selected to enter the Rock Hall of Fame.

Why is k-pop not original for the Grammys?

Bill Freimuth said in an interview for the magazine Billboard in the year 2021 that both for him and for the community that make up these awards, It is somewhat difficult for them to understand the concept of Korean pop as an original musical genre.

“The way I see it, Kpop started in the late 90s, they took what was popular at the time like rhythm and blues (R&B) and bublegum pop (melodic, rhythmic, commercialized pop) and made it their own. What we have heard from the community is that they consider what they are creating to be pop music, but it already existed.”, he mentioned.

He also explained that the process to add a new category in the awards is quite formal because requires proposals with minute detailswithout forgetting that it must pass between the committees and boards through several rounds of approval and ratification.

What does K-pop need to enter the Grammys?

According to information from Billboard, a potential category needs around 100 submissions potential to be taken into account. Between the year 2019 and 2020, this genre only had 14 presentations and this 2022 had around 26, including 6 dates in Mexico. for whate K-pop still has a long way to go to be able to be categorized, however, with the strong influence that the new generations have today, it probably won’t be long before it has its own denomination at the gala.

Grammys 2023

For issue number 65 of the delivery of Recording Awardswhich will take place on February 5, 2023the boyband BTS has become the first K-pop band to get two nominations. The first one in the category of best music video with “Yet to eatwhere he faces off against “easy on me” from Adele and “As it was by Harry Styles. The second nomination for this group is in the category of interpretation of best duo or pop group with “My Universe”, performed in collaboration with the British band, Coldplay.

To know

BTS has been the first group of Korean popular music to receive a Grammy nomination in 2021.