After massive reaction that came after the seven members of BTS released their statement on the upcoming Grammy Awards, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. broke his silence on the matter.
“I am saddened to hear that BTS has chosen not to participate in the Grammy Awards process this year, but as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision,” he said in the statement.
“I do want to clarify something that seems to be getting lost in the conversation,” he continued.
“The Asian Pop category was created to celebrate the depth, diversity and extraordinary growth of pop artistry coming out of Asia. The spirit of this new category is to shine a dedicated spotlight on these important artists. More categories mean more artists’ work is recognised.”
He pointed out that the introduction of the new category does not exclude any artist from submitting to any of the “General Field” categories.
The statement from Grammy followed after RM (real name Kim Namjoon), Jin (Kim Seokjin), Suga (Min Yoongi), J-Hope (Jung Hoseok), Park JiMin, V (Kim Taehyung) and Jeon Jungkook all shared a coordinated message on Wednesday via their Instagram Stories.
“We have decided not to enter the Grammys this year,” it read. “I hope music itself can be heard and loved rather than being distinguished by region or language. Thank you to the army and everyone for always being with me.”
The move was made in light of the new categories introduced bt Grammys a month ago. The decision was lauded by not only fans but also critics. Music producers expressed their solidarity with them dubbing it as a bold decision. Social media was flooded with overwhelming support.
Soon after, fans had also noticed that the Grammy official YouTube had removed the previous performances at the award show of Dynamite and Butter.
Despite the statement from the CEO, fans are continuing to criticise the recording academy for “petty” moves and “alienating” a entire music industry of a continent.
This is not the first time a hit artist has boycotted the Grammys. The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), Eminem, Morgan Wallen, Drake and 50 Cent are some of the big names who have publicly called out the Recording Academy for being “biased”.
