MTV’s Video Music Awards is one of the biggest awards shows in the country. It brings some of the top artists together into one room as they compete for a title.  This year, a new type of music squeezed into the VMAs in July: Kpop. Kpop is Korean Pop music that has slowly made it rises the world and over to the United States from South Korea. The biggest Kpop boy band in the world right now is BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan). The seven members of BTS  have become the new modern teenage heartthrob. 

The VMAs give awards  – for Top Social Artist and Artist of the Year, but what happens when they decide to add a new category specifically separating out a group of individuals?                                                                                   

When the VMAs announced that there will be a category that only Kpop singers would be competing in it sent fans of the genre into a frenzy. Kpop stars wouldn’t be going up against the US and other cultural artists. 

“Beyond the potential for cloistering Korea-based acts, the problem with the “Best K-Pop” category continues when taking a deeper look at what exactly is recognized. Aside from the obvious choices of BTS and Blackpink – who are two of the most visible K-pop acts in the States in 2019 – and EXO – who have never dedicatedly focused their attention on the U.S. market but have been a longtime leader of K-pop – it’s the accessibility that seems to have come into play rather than any of MTV’s unknown determining factors when it came to picking nominees.” Tamar Herman stated. 

Fans made their opinions known on twitter mostly attacking the VMAs for excluding the artists from everyone else saying that they are Xenophobic, having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries, towards Kpop groups in general. 

It goes to show that Kpop will never actually be apart of the American culture, especially since our own Award shows are now separating the groups out into their own little show just like how they compete at home. Kpop stars come to the US thinking they would be going up against the challenge of American artist but boy were they wrong.