Stray Kids joins BTS in boycotting Grammys over new Asian pop category

Stray Kids has decided to withdraw its submissions from the Grammy Awards and skip the ceremony, following BTS in protesting the Recording Academy's decision to create a new "Asian pop" category. The move reflects a growing consensus that the new category marginalizes K-pop rather than recognizing it as part of mainstream global music.

JYP Entertainment, Stray Kids' agency, confirmed Saturday it will not submit any songs for the 69th Grammy Awards, set to be held in February, according to music industry sources and foreign media reports.

The decision came just one day after Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, which organizes the Grammys, said he would maintain the plan to introduce the Asian pop category, citing stronger support for it.

Mason said the Academy had spent several weeks consulting and discussing the matter with figures from the Asian music industry. "I understand this conclusion won't satisfy everyone," he said. "But the loudest voices we heard were from fellow music creators who support this category and want it to continue."

Stray Kids had been widely considered the frontrunner for the new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category. The group has topped the Billboard 200 nine times, the second-most No. 1 albums by a group in the chart's history, trailing only the Beatles.

Particularly notable is that all eight members hold full voting membership in the Recording Academy, meaning their boycott is expected to place considerable pressure on the organizers. The BBC also weighed in, saying Stray Kids' boycott — as both a leading contender and voting members — "will be a major blow to the Grammys."

The dispute began in June, when the Grammys announced a new category grouping music from Korea, China, Japan and other parts of Asia. While framed as a way to spotlight Asian music, critics say it is effectively a barrier designed to keep K-pop out of the general field categories — such as Album of the Year and Record of the Year — and push it to the margins.

BTS had been the first to push back, declaring in July that it would not submit entries, saying it hoped "music would be loved purely as music, rather than being divided by region or language." After the Recording Academy appeared briefly to waver before ultimately confirming the new category, K-pop artists have been turning away one after another.

The boycott shows signs of spreading to other K-pop acts. Hongjoong, the leader of Ateez, which has made a strong mark on the global stage, recently told Variety that he personally sympathized with BTS's position and was "thinking deeply about the issue."