Story originally published in the May 5th Edition of the Lion’s Tale

Photo: TenAsia, CC

For the 2021 grammys, BTS was invited to perform their song ‘Dynamite’ and dance, however they did it back home in Korea because of COVID guidelines. Along with this, they were nominated in the category of “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” for the song they performed. 

Although Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga won for their song ‘Rain On Me’, BTS fans were hurt by how the group was treated, and how they were used for publicity.

Looking at statistics, Rain On Me got 300 million views in nine months, while Dynamite got 900 million views in seven months. Many believe The Grammys choose groups by biased opinion and not taking into account statistics on which nominee actually did better stream-wise. 

It has also been clear that minorities are not given Grammy when they clearly deserve it. The Grammys have shown xenophobic behavior before, and it was no surprise they did it again towards BTS. That is why fans are so outrageous, BTS have racked so many views, likes, and overall, they were the most popular group in the category. Just looking at nominations for any category, not many minorities are nominated, nor selected to win, which is sad.

And in the end they saved BTS to be the last performance so people had to wait and keep watching just to see their favorite group perform. It’s sad to say, but most fans were not surprised as the group has seen exploitation from award shows before.