Well, congratulations to our boys (again).
After literally sweeping the American Music Awards and the MTV Europe Awards this year, our Bulletproof Boy Scouts aka Bangtan Songyeodan universally known as BTS, was given their second nomination for Best Performance by a Duo or Group by the Grammys. Period.
This was the same category they were nominated for last year (for their first all-English song Dynamite) which they lost to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande (Rain on Me).
OK. One nomination for their rendition of their second all English song Butter, perhaps (together with Olivia Rodrigo's Good for You) the biggest summer song of 2021.
One nomination.
No Song of the Year. No Record of the Year. Not even Music Video of the Year for My Universe, the collaboration they did with Cold Play. Just one nomination.
And that says a lot.
Well, yes: the hoity-poity would always cite that, uh, the American Music Awards is fan-based, fan-voted and a popularity contest. Of course BTS would win considering the sheer size of a planet-wide fandom called ARMY. Of course those votes would pour in ... just like YouTube feels nervous that there is some hocus-pocus taking place because of the unbelievable number of views their MVs receive just seconds before the launch, hitting millions on the first day of uploading. Something as good as that cannot be legit because it is simply not done or believed to be impossible.
So the same goes for the Grammys --- or any serious award-giving body that is not fan-based or sales-biased.
Yeah, right, you can have the biggest hit ... but we are talking about music as art here and not founded on consumerism. Be that as it may, the impact of music is still and will always be the manner by which it affects the audience to indulge or even overdose on the consumption of the material. That is why you LSS on melodies --- because a particular piece hits closest to you in the here and now and becomes part of that moment in your life when you look back and remember your life's timeline.
Or maybe it is because we have not yet reached that phase when anything from Asian popular artists can be considered serious.
But, no! Didn't Bong Joon Ho and Parasite run off with the Oscars in 2019? Didn't Squid Game redefine the choice of the most viewed Netflix series in 2021? Didn't Chloe Zhao receive the Oscars for Best Director last year?
Maybe let's push it further: yes, Lee Isaac Chung is a Korean American but Youn Yuh-jung took home the Best Supporting Actress, right?
Or just consider all the Asian actors, not only Koreans, who are leaving their thumbprints in big Hollywood movies. I am not talking about Steven Yeun or Sandra Oh ... but about Canadian Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Kumail Nanijani, Gemma Chan and Don Lee (The Eternals) or soon Park Seo Joon (The Marvels) --- and, yes, Nico Santo, Jojo Briones and Lea Salonga who have been working on American mainstream television and not only the stage.
It is encouraging that cinema and television ... as well as streaming platforms have embraced Asians not just for the sake of inclusive accommodation but as a recognition that --- hey, we are now important in the world order not only in terms of our economic clout but our wealth of talent and depth/scope of cultural histories.
The definition of Asian has gone beyond Chinese and Japanese --- but the diversity of the cultures within the region as well. Hollywood has stopped portraying Asians as buck-toothed yellow-faced characters who are best fit for roles of servants or operating laundromats. They can now be superheroes --- both in front and behind the camera.
Then there is the Grammys that gave a powerhouse group of seven Korean boys one nomination and did not even take a peek at the significance of Blackpink or the entire KPop phenomenon within their precious consideration.
Perhaps it is because in the eyes of that discriminating few, Asian popular music is novelty --- like PSY's Gangnam Style --- and never to be taken seriously much less deserving of such holy recognition.
Whatever. But when recognition is given by those who are out of the loop, out of touch, out of sync or ... (hopefully not) protecting the sanctity of musical territoriality, then should we even take this seriously? I mean ... who cares? So with that single nomination, I wish our boys the best of luck --- but I have stopped expecting.
Like so many others, I am more excited about their music than their trophies.
After all, the thrill is all about the happiness in the moments when music sweeps you off your feet ... and not the so-called prestige in the judgment of an authorized few.
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