Announcing their withdrawal from the Grammys on their Instagram accounts, the seven members of BTS expressed a wish that \u201cmusic can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language\u201d<\/a>. <\/p>\n Looking more closely at the wording of the Grammys category, the rulebook contends that Asian pop is \u201ccharacterised by integrated approach to music, performance, and presentation\u201d, giving \u201cK-Pop, J-Pop, and C-Pop\u201d \u2013 all nominally east Asian genres \u2013 as examples. This \u201cintegrated approach\u201d, is intended here to suggest the \u201cidol\u201d approach to production.<\/p>\n Originating in post-war Japan<\/a>, \u201cidols\u201d are pop performers who commence their intensive training in singing, dancing, acting and languages in their teenage years, with some even starting work before then. All of their publishing, marketing and events are usually handled by a single agency, though the genres they perform vary by country, region and even by agency. <\/p>\n Idol production is especially common in Japan, China and South Korea, but not exclusively so. Filipino girl group Bini, who debuted (first performed publicly) at Coachella in 2026, are described as being an \u201cidol group\u201d<\/a>. While K-pop as a term is fairly synonymous with idol production as something that is exported to the world, the term J-pop is less so, having originated as a phrase to distinguish Japanese-language tunes from English-language ones for Japanese radio in the 1980s.<\/p>\n The Japanese artists being tipped as strong contenders<\/a> for the best Asian pop music performance category at the Grammy\u2019s include singer-songwriters such as Kenshi Yonezu, who have little to do with idol production. And while Chinese contestants have featured prominently<\/a> in Asia-wide talent shows to create idol bands, C-pop spans multiple regional and linguistic sub-genres with nuance that is not reflected in the wording of this new category.<\/p>\n The Grammy Awards are based in the US, so the wording of \u201cAsian pop\u201d could also be an expression of shared diaspora identity for Asian Americans. BTS have previously expressed solidarity with Asian Americans<\/a> in the wake of a series of high-profile hate crimes against these communities in the US in 2021. But the privileging of idol production implied in the category wording to the detriment of other systems of pop production, and the seeming disregard of western or South Asian popular music demonstrates what should be obvious \u2013 that the Grammys are poorly positioned to be setting out what Asian Pop is.<\/p>\n I was researching<\/a> K-pop and J-pop artists when BTS were really beginning to gain visibility in English-speaking markets. I found that discussions of their \u201cglobal\u201d success in English-language media tended to assume that \u201cmaking it\u201d in the US was the gold standard for measuring their international achievements. Not only does this ignore the fact that Japan and China are respectively the second and third largest music markets in the world as of 2026<\/a>, but it also disregards the long-standing popular musical and popular cultural exchange happening across Asia. <\/p>\n This phenomenon has been referred to as \u201cinter-Asian referencing\u201d, by cultural studies scholar Koichi Iwabuchi. Iwabuchi sees this referencing as means to question \u201capproaches and theories that are derived from Euro-American experiences\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n One demonstration of the possibilities of letting Asian popular music performers define their own creations is demonstrated in an international project by Japanese musician Awich \u2013 a popular Japanese hip-hop artist who has also lent her voice and songwriting skills to rock<\/a> and pop<\/a> projects. <\/p>\n In 2025, she lead on a song and promotional video featuring other well-known rappers from Korea, China, India, and Cambodia titled ASIAN STATE OF MIND<\/a>. Each verse features the artists exploring what motivates them to make music and how it has been shaped by the places they call home. Cambodian rapper Vannda notably utters the English lyric \u201cI told you it\u2019s time, I de-colonise\u201d in his concluding verse. <\/p>\n The CEO of the Recording Academy (which owns, administers and presents the Grammy awards) Harvey Mason Jr. has, in recent years, been keen to defend the consultation that has gone into new award categories. For example, he has spoken of the best African music performance category as having been informed by \u201ctrips to Africa\u201d, and an acknowledgement that African artists \u201cweren\u2019t being heard in our process\u201d<\/a>. <\/p>\nWhy \u2018Asian pop\u2019?<\/h2>\n
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