BTS, Skepticism, & The Grammys 2021

by Jacqueline Hernandez, Reporter

Entertainment/Opinion

Popular Korean boy group BTS broke the entertainment world with news of their Grammys performance. From having free concerts to selling out stadiums in minutes, their fame grows exponentially each day. They are the first nominated K-pop group to ever attend the award show. Recently, the BTS fandom, known as the Army, felt some tension and dissatisfaction around this year’s Grammys.

The Grammys originally announced that BTS’s performance of their Best Pop/Duo nominated act would not be broadcasted during the official live stream. The Army was frustrated BTS would not be live broadcasted along with the other singers and performers. Considering they are the first nominated K-pop group that made it to the Grammys, the group warrants attention. Last year, BTS was not nominated, but they performed with Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus for “Old Town Road.” This time around, BTS was up against Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain On Me.”

Unfortunately, BTS lost. Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande won, but “Dynamite” got 725 million streams while “Rain on Me” got 541 million streams on Spotify. Dynamite was No. 1 on the Billboard charts for 27 weeks, while “Rain On Me'' charted for 20 weeks, but only 1 week as No. 1. They sold an estimated three million units in the U.S. with “Dynamite,” while “Rain On Me” sold two million units (Stassen). The BTS fandom went to tweet about the large streaming gap on Twitter, creating the trending hashtag “#Scrammys.”

It turns out that BTS fans aren’t the only ones skeptical of the awards show this year. The Grammys was heavily ridiculed by social media when Canadian singer The Weeknd did not earn a nomination, even though his album was one of the biggest sellers of 2021 and 2020. A legal complaint filed in early 2020 by the former chief executive of the award show, Deborah Dugan, stated the nomination discrepancies were “categorically false, misleading and wrong.” Furthermore, she claimed that the Grammys judges only nominated artists they had connections with. Dugan was later fired. More artists have come out, such as pop-star Halsey, who stated that the nominations were “elusive” and she wanted more transparency and reform. Zayn Malik, a former One Direction member, said it was time to end “secret committees.”

Recently, the Grammys made a public statement that diversity and inclusivity are their top priority. Hopefully, the next Grammys will live up to their announcement and create an inclusive, unbiased awards show.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the various authors in this paper do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Kamiak High School or The Gauntlet.