NEW YORK (AP) — Two things can be true at the same time. K-pop is an unstoppable force in global pop culture and has long been underappreciated at institutions like the Grammys, where K-pop artists performed but never took home trophies.
That could change at the 2026 Grammy Awards next month. Songs released by K-pop artists—or K-pop-adjacent artists, more on that later—received nominations in the big four categories for the first time. Rosé, perhaps best known as one-fourth of powerhouse girl group Blackpink, is the first K-pop artist to ever be nominated in the record of the year category for “APT.”, her megahit with Grammy favorite Bruno Mars.
The Song of the Year category also features K-pop nominees for the first time. “APT”. will go head to head with the song “Golden” by the fictional girl group HUNTR/X performed by Ejae, Audrey Noona and Rei Ami from the “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack.
And girl group Katseye, the brainchild of HYBE — the entertainment company behind K-pop sensation BTS and countless other international groups — modeled after the K-pop idol system, was nominated for best new artist.
Is this a historic moment for K-pop?
It depends on who you ask.
Ah-reum Jeong, an assistant professor of Korean studies at Arizona State University and author of K-pop Fandom: Deokhu's Performance from the 1990s to Today, says most of these nominations strike her as more of a “deterritorialized, hybrid idea of K-pop” rather than an acknowledgment of K-pop.
While Rosé “was recruited and trained in the K-pop system, for now 'APT.' “It does contain some Korean drinking game influences,” Jeong says. “The song doesn't feel like a localized K-pop production. … It’s the same with Katseye, which was trained and produced under HYBE, but is more aimed at Western fans and listeners.”
Jeon says both are “APT”. and Katseye's “Gabriela”—both of which will compete with “Golden” in the pop duo/group performance category—”feels less K-pop than other K-pop songs that may have been nominated over the years.”
She claims the same can be said for the music of Kpop Demon Hunters. “It's very similar to APT.” is that it draws inspiration and motifs from Korean culture,” where “K-pop serves as an idea, starting point, or motivation, creating alternatives or new possibilities.”
Mathieu Berbigier, a visiting assistant professor of Korean studies at Carnegie Mellon University, notes that these nominations are different from past K-pop Grammy nominations because they are “gold,” “APT.” and Katseye are all characterized by the “mainstream factor of popular music.”
This is the connection between the hit Netflix movie (Kpop Demon Hunters), the collaboration with Bruno Mars (APT), Katseye's international membership, and the Netflix series (Popstar Academy: Katseye), respectively.
“It shows that K-pop is no longer considered niche,” he says. “Now when we think about pop music in general, we also think about K-pop as part of it.”
Bernie Cho, industry expert and president of South Korea's DFSB Kollective, agrees that the nominees enjoy international recognition.
“All of the nominees represent a kind of post-idol K-pop, in the sense that Rosé, the three girls from HUNTR/X and Katseye represent a globalized version of K-pop, where the letter 'K' is present a lot, but some people might argue that it's quiet. The songs are not necessarily meant for Korea, written by Korea, from Korea, just sort of outside of Korea,” he says. “It’s a celebration and a testament to how diverse and dynamic K-pop has become.”
Why are these acts being recognized now?
“For years, the Recording Academy has neglected K-pop artists who have set record-breaking standards, such as BTS.
Seventeen and Stray Kids,” Jeong states, “I think one of the main reasons is that the Western world is still very resistant to non-English lyrics.”
“APT doesn’t surprise me.” and Katseye's music, which has mostly English lyrics and is less like K-pop, was nominated,” she continues.
Berbigier adds that “it's a reflection of current trends in K-pop: the fact that there's less and less Korean and more and more English.”
Perhaps there is an additional factor at work here. Tamar Herman, a music journalist and author of the newsletter Notes on K-pop, says many critics and industry insiders view 2025 as a bad year for new pop music in the U.S. — a fact that was all but confirmed in Luminate's 2025 midyear report, which found that new music flows had slowed compared to the previous year, perhaps due to a lack of megahits dominating the charts.
“Yes, this is a big moment for K-pop, but it's so overdue that these recognitions are more of a sign of how poorly the music industry in the US has handled it this year,” she says.
She argues that the American entertainment industry's acceptance of Korean entertainment is more a symbol of declining U.S. cultural dominance than “K-pop is really good because K-pop has been really good for a really long time,” she says. “This is all recognition of a global improvement in storytelling, a global improvement in taste.”
“I don’t want to downplay it,” she adds. “They're all universally friendly, accessible, good pop songs.”
And if it weren't, they wouldn't connect.
“It's very clear that they're not just performers. They're entertainers. They're singers. They're songwriters,” Cho says.
Could a K-pop artist win a Grammy for the first time this year?
The jury is still out.
“I think it won't be a question of if or when. It will be a question of who and how many,” Cho says.
Others are less committed. “It’s hard to predict,” Berbigier says. “It’s more likely for me that Golden will get it.”
“Yes and no,” offers Herman. For her, it depends on the evolving and flexible definition of K-pop. After all, HUNTR/X is a fictional girl group from an animated film that did not debut in the K-pop music industry. Will a win for their song “Golden” mean a win for K-pop? This is a matter of opinion.
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The 68th Grammy Awards will take place on February 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The show will air on CBS and Paramount+. For more information, visit https://apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards.
