Not BTS, But The Grammys Failed Here
BTS’ global hit song Dynamite didn’t win at the Grammys but is it their failure or the Recording Academy’s. Well, the Grammys lost here and let me tell you why?
BTS’s song Dynamite was nominated in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category alongside 'One Day' by J. Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, Tainy, 'Intentions' by Justin Bieber and Quavo, 'Rain on Me' by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande and 'Exile' by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver. It was 'Rain on me' that won the award and no hate; it is a bop that also charted well on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande are both great. But did Rain on Me really deserve winning against Dynamite?
Let’s take a look at the BB Hot 100 chart. Rain on me charted at No.1 for a week and was there in the top 100 for 20 weeks before it was out. Dynamite was released in August and charted at No.1 position for 3 weeks, also multiple times on No.2. After 27 weeks, it is still there on the Hot 100 list. When it comes to Digital sales, Dynamite sold more units than other songs nominated in the category, and well let’s not get started with the YouTube views and records.
But if sales and records don’t matter and are not the criteria to win a Grammy award, then what is? Who votes and what are the criteria to win the award. Is there someone from the Recording academy who can share the breakdown?
Grammy made sure that they nominate BTS in one ‘tiny’ category and get their fandom, ARMYs excited. They very smartly placed BTS at the beginning and the end. The announcement for the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category was done during the pre-show event. Through this, Grammys got ARMYs to view the pre-show, later BTS’ performance came towards the end, which left ARMYs with no choice but to wait through the entire main event as well. These award shows are aware that BTS brings them amazing views so they strategize accordingly.
What Next?
The real question here is, does BTS really deserve this kind of treatment? We are living in the 21st century. Should it be this hard for a deserving Asian act to win a Grammy? Looking at how Grammys are going, seems like we have to wait for another year.
In 2019, BTS was invited to the award show and they presented an award. In 2020, BTS performed 'Old Town Road' along with Lil Nas X and now in 2021, BTS was nominated for a Grammy award and also did a solo performance, but they didn’t win. Is Recording Academy taking baby steps? If this pattern is to be believed, BTS could do a solo stage next year as well and this time they can win a Grammy award.
But can we trust that? Many say that the Grammys only nominated Dynamite because it was an “all English” song, and it was a song that BTS made to comfort the world which was facing a difficult time. In 2021, if BTS doesn’t release any all English song then what? Can we be sure that the Grammys will nominate and give the award to a “Korean” song?
Definitely Next Year!!
BTS and ARMYs are busy comforting each other. While the members themselves must be disappointed as of now, their sole focus was ARMYs. As soon as the announcement was done, Seokjin, Jhope, Suga and RM came onto Weverse to cheer the fans.
“We will run harder this year” (We will work harder this year), shared member Suga. V, Jimin and Jungkook shared that they were happy with the result as in the end, they have ARMYs. Every BTS member right now is trying to cheer up their fans and is hoping for a happy result in the 2022 Grammys.
Congratulations BTS. It doesn’t matter what happened, as the world right now is busy talking about the "7 member Boyband from South Korea who created History” at the Grammys. In the end, I would like to quote Forbes, "As BTS continue smashing records and the Grammys continue to lose relevance, who really needs who?"
