Grammy presses ahead with 'Asian pop' category as Stray Kids joins BTS boycott

Stray Kids has become the latest K-pop act to turn its back on the Grammy Awards, following BTS.

JYP Entertainment announced Friday (local time) that Stray Kids would not submit music for consideration at the 69th Grammy Awards, set for next year, according to Billboard and the BBC.

The move marks a growing boycott among leading K-pop acts after the Recording Academy announced in June that it would create a new "Best Asian Pop Music Performance" category — grouping music from South Korea, China, Japan and other parts of Asia — sparking immediate backlash.

Stray Kids had been widely considered a frontrunner for the new category. The group has topped the Billboard 200 nine times, more than any act since the Beatles, and all eight of its members hold Grammy voting rights.

The boycott decision came less than a day after the Recording Academy announced it would proceed with the Asian pop category.

The BBC said the boycott would deal a significant blow to the Grammys.

BTS had earlier declared its own boycott over the new category. The group said it hoped "music can be heard and loved as music itself, rather than being divided by region or language."

Since the Grammy's announcement, critics in the music industry have questioned whether it is appropriate to honor K-pop — already a mainstream force in the global music market — through a special category rather than the main awards.

The Recording Academy initially suggested it could revise the category, but on Friday it reversed course, claiming support for the new category had outweighed opposition, and confirmed it would present the award at next year's ceremony as planned.

With both BTS and Stray Kids having declared boycotts in succession, attention is turning to what other K-pop acts may do next.

Hongjong, the leader of the group Ateez, said in a recent interview with Variety that he personally sympathized "to some extent" with BTS's stance, adding that he too wanted to think through the issue.