BTS has proven that they are worthy of being reckoned with. However, there are many biases that the South Korean group had to deal with when it came to winning a Grammy award.
After the 2022 Grammy Awards, Bernie Cho appeared at the Arirang News Center to discuss the defeat of BTS (Bangtan Boys) at the awards ceremony. One reason is the bias against non-American musicians.
Bernie Cho initially emphasized that BTS' live performances actually proved that the Korean group was worthy of being reckoned with. However, there are many biases that BTS has to face when it comes to winning a Grammy award. Bernie Cho mentioned two big ones, namely foreign musicians and boy bands.
"The Grammy Awards have historically and traditionally not been very friendly to foreign musicians. Also, there is a built-in bias, perhaps against boy bands," said Cho.
Not only did American awards shows have a bias towards foreign musicians, especially non-British, but there was also a huge bias against boy bands. While BTS has proven that they are more than that, industry insiders still view them as such.
"When we look at historically other bands that have been compared to BTS, for example, Backstreet Boys or NSYNC. At the peak of their careers, they probably had nine nominations each," said Cho.
"But none of them got a Grammy award, and before BTS was the biggest boy band in the world. Before, in the UK, there was One Direction. They were never nominated, they never won at their peak."
Many artists associated with "teenybop," including boy bands like One Direction and even Justin Bieber, are often not taken seriously by the music industry.
"Again, if we look a little aside for artists like Justin Bieber, who is a HYBE label mate, he's got into the Grammys with the second most nominations, he's had over 22 nominations over the years. However, he's only won two," he said.
But BTS has overcome biases and obstacles against them before, and they will do it again. "I think with BTS, their performance this time was really a statement that they were here, they were real, and more to come."
And, I think, again, we all know that BTS isn't going to stop making music any time soon, so I don't think it's a matter of 'if' but maybe a matter of 'when' they will win a Grammy." (wk/chus)
