BLACKPINK, among other overseas famous K-pop groups, has the highest chance to dominate the US market.
BTS made another victory at the 2022 American Music Awards (AMAs) held at the Los Angeles Microsoft Theater on the 20th (local time) for their fifth consecutive year. BTS’s junior of the same company, TXT, stepped forth to receive the award on their behalf.
Four times in five years…BTS set a new record for AMAs
BTS has a long history with the AMAs that went back to 2017, where the group performed the “DNA” stage and started a “Korean Invasion” (a Korean cultural invasion). The following year, the group received the ‘Favorite Social Artist’ Award for the first time as a Korean pop group. The group carried a continuous streak in the ‘Favorite Social Artist’ and ‘Favorite Pop/Rock Duo or Group’ for two following years, with an added ‘Tour of the Year’ award in 2019. 2021 was more eventful as BTS bagged home three trophies: ‘Artist of the Year’, ‘Favorite Pop Duo or Group’, and ‘Favorite Pop Song’, making them the four-time winner of the ‘Favorite Pop Duo or Group’ category. “This is the record for the most awards in the category since AMAs began in 1974”, said Billboard.
Among the more familiar categories, ‘Favorite K-pop Artist’ is a new one for this year’s award. While Billboard celebrated this addition as “a groundbreaking step for K-pop”, reflecting the global popularity of the genre, concerns arose whether this would prevent K-pop singers from getting more involved in the industry by competing separately, with a strength in public voting. However, Kim Do-hun, a pop music critic, pointed out, “Considering that BTS won the K-pop and [general] Pop categories simultaneously, the [new category] is expected to have a great overall function to promote K-pop singers to North America.“
“Korean Invasion” after BTS
BTS’s breakthrough in the U.S. is also having a profound role for junior K-pop groups. TXT walking the red carpet on behalf of BTS is said to have “the possibility of becoming a next-generation superstar” (Jung Min-jae, a pop music critic). In a red carpet interview, the members said, “It’s our first time at an American awards ceremony, so I’m nervous and excited. It’s an honor to be in one place with great singers. I want to perform at AMAs next time”, said the members.
Currently, the group mostly to win the top three music awards in the U.S., other than BTS, is BLACKPINK. They won ‘Best K-pop’ and ‘Best Metaverse Performance’ at the “MTV VMA” in August and performed the “Pink Venom” stage. They continued their win streak of the same categories at the “MTV Europe Music Awards” in Germany. The decision of the 65th “Grammy Awards” next year to not nominate BLACKPINK came into criticism.
Considering the size of the world tour and interest of foreign fans, BLACKPINK is already a superstar, said Jung Min-jae, another pop music critic. Critic Kim Do-heon said, “All of the candidates in the ‘Favorite K-pop Artist’ category, such as BLACKPINK, SEVENTEEN, and TWICE, are already attracting attention in overseas markets,” adding, “Other K-pop groups can also receive awards at major U.S. awards if they perform musically well.”
Sources: daum
