Rukmini Anantha: Week 1 - The Hyphen: Does K-Pop Count?

(1) A group photo with all 7 members.

BTS, composed of seven Korean superstars, who have brought global attention to Korean culture through their enormous fanbase over the past thirteen years of their career. The group recently released an album after their group hiatus, ARIRANG, a tribute to their Korean heritage by referencing a common children’s song and using more traditional Korean instrumentals.

 For some context, despite BTS’s break-out English singles like “Butter,” or “Dynamite,” and multiple Grammy nominations, fans have often found that BTS’s presence is merely used as publicity for the Recording Academy, due to the fact that after nearly five years of nominations, they have still not won a single Grammy. When the Recording Academy announced a new Asian pop category, which Asian artists, like BTS, would likely be nominated for, BTS withdrew their music and publicly announced their stance on the new category by asserting that music shouldn’t be categorized based on origin. Due to the controversy, the Recording Academy said that they were just trying to support the diversity of global music styles.

As an avid BTS fan of five years, I began questioning if BTS made the right decision. Was the Recording Academy trying to be more inclusive of different styles of music, or was it systemic racism against minorities, yet again, under the false pretense of  “diversity?” This leads back to the question: is K-Pop, Pop? Famous icons, like Ariana Grande or Bruno Mars, are often regarded as mainstream icons, but while BTS has achieved success in the K-Pop industry, why can’t they compete in America?

Some believe that it is because Korean idols are often forced to dance, wear coordinated outfits, and some idols also don’t speak fluent English, making them simply not as “authentic” or “relatable” as other artists, and therefore not belonging in the Pop category because of this distinct style.

As I researched this topic, I grew observant of how BTS’s music is only referred to as K-Pop, Korean pop. Slowly, I realized that this hyphen, this detail, drew a parallel to my own and several other minorities’ racial identities such as Indian-Americans, Latino-Americans, Asian-Americans, and so on. America has a not-so-secret history of using this hyphen to exclude Americans on the basis of perceived origin.

(2) A personal concert photo!

ARIRANG is an English pop album about the cycles of life, but it is made by Korean artists. Due to this, BTS is separated from enjoying the success, attention, and honors that the Recording Academy offers to other artists. My belief is, as different as BTS’s music may sound compared to Ariana Grande’s, isn’t music and recognition in music supposed to be based on what people vote for? K-Pop may not sound the same as Western pop, but pop music is just music that is popular, and based on this, if BTS is popular, shouldn’t they be allowed to compete amongst other pop icons?  Despite these issues, BTS has built an immense reputation, and is on a 2026 world tour with 79 sold-out shows, one of which I attended!  

More on this topic: Articles Used, more on the significance of "Arirang", a link to the album on Spotify, and the song that got me into BTS so many years ago! 

(1) Photo taken from: https://www.reddit.com/r/bangtan/comments/1tid8sk/260520_bts_official_on_twitter_todays_bangtan_bts/

(2) Photo captured on May 19th, 2026 in Stanford Stadium



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