The Grammy Awards, arguably one of the most prestigious music accolades in the world, have recently introduced several new categories, including Best Asian Pop Music Performance—but what does this mean for Indonesian artists?
When I first found out about this recently minted Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, I must acknowledge that elation was not the first emotion that emerged in my chest. The first emotion I experienced, unexpectedly, was something along the lines of “Oh, well…” That said, until the day I wrote this piece, I had never given any thought to why this particular news didn’t move me whatsoever.
Yesterday, however, I finally understood why. I decided to post an Instagram Story on my personal account, saying I was thinking of writing a piece about the Grammy Awards and the brand-new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category, and asking whether anyone would like to offer two cents on the topic. Lots of people read that Instagram Story, the majority of whom were either music enthusiasts or musicians themselves. Unfortunately, no one was willing to serve as the ‘outside voice’ for this piece. Silence, in reality, can speak louder volumes than words—and I translated this particular silence as an expression of scepticism with a touch of fear.
I didn’t blame such scepticism, though, as that pretty much summed up my earlier “Oh, well…” feeling in my chest as well. Considering the timing itself, the Grammy Award for Best Asian Pop Music Performance, at least to the casual eye, seems to be an accolade most likely to be won by the K-pop acts who have blown away the Western hemisphere and the rest of Planet Earth. An impossible dream, one might say in a more dramatic sense, for an Indonesian artist to have and harbour.
But this is where things become slightly complicated. As someone who has religiously followed the Grammy Awards over the years (and decades), I find these particular accolades legendary for their snubs and surprises. And, maybe, this time around, Indonesian artists actually have a shot at it.
Let’s first examine what the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category means.
In an interview published by the official website of the Grammys on the 16th of June, 2026, its CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., acknowledged that “as Asian pop’s influence has continued to grow within our process, our members and Trustees felt this was the right moment to create a Category that more accurately reflects the genre’s scale, artistry, and global impact,” he said. “With an integrated approach to music, performance, and presentation, Asian pop is distinct in its musical identity.”
The recently published guideline of the 69th Grammy Awards—whose nominations will be announced this November and whose awarding ceremony is scheduled to take place in February 2027—further elaborates which works are eligible to be considered for a nomination in the Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.
Some of the requirements to be eligible in this category are:
- Contemporary popular music originating from or widely recognised within Asian markets, including (but not limited to) K-Pop, J-Pop, and C-Pop;
- Featuring melody-driven composition, mainstream pop songwriting, and commercially oriented production;
- Featuring meaningful use of one or more Asian languages, and such Asian language(s) should play a significant role within the song in bilingual or multilingual structures;
- Recordings performed entirely in English are *not* eligible in this category;
- The recordings are in the form of singles or tracks (not albums) with vocals.
There is a certain irony in those eligibility rules, though. For the first time, Asian artists who have been attempting to break through the Western market by churning out English-language recordings are now at a disadvantage. They may still be eligible for other categories, but the competition would most likely be much fiercer.
Still and all, not everyone was thrilled by this new category.
Writing for Teen Vogue, Ayan Artan saw the category as “just another form of segregation” and how this Best Asian Pop Music Performance category can end up “gatekeeping non-white artists from major award categories.”
Writing for Rolling Stone India, Debashree Dutta criticised how the usage of the term ‘Asian pop’ itself is already debatable. “Building a category that basically only highlights the K-pop industry, or the Japanese or Chinese pop industry, only shuts out an incredible amount of music from the other parts of Asia. For example, where does this leave Punjabi and Indian hip-hop?” Dutta wrote.
Moreover, Dutta pointedly highlighted that “shoving a continent of over four billion people into one single pop category makes no sense. It treats a huge region with completely different languages, histories, and music styles like it’s all the same thing.”
Writing for INQUIRER.net, Carl Martin Agustin expressed his concern that the Grammy accolade for Best Asian Pop Music Performance is a “participation trophy”, and that on-the-rise acts from Southeast Asia—such as BINI and SB19—will be “relegated to the side as a genre-specific win”.
To be fair, we’ve already had Indonesian artists nominated for a Grammy before.
At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016, Joey Alexander became the first Indonesian musician to receive a Grammy nod. He was nominated for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for “Giant Steps” and Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his debut album, My Favorite Things. Then, at the 68th Grammy Awards this year, Theresa Kusumadjaja made history as the first female Indonesian Grammy nominee, as she received a nomination for Best Music Video for her work as a video producer on the song “So Be It” by hip-hop duo Clipse.
Nevertheless, as of this writing, no Indonesian artist has ever received a nod in the pop category throughout the Grammy Awards’ 68-year history. The newly minted Best Asian Pop Music Performance category could improve Indonesian artists’ chances—regardless of the controversy surrounding the category and the competition from the K-pop acts.
Here’s my take on the controversy surrounding Best Asian Pop Music Performance.
Even though I very much understand the criticism that has been vocalised so far, I also find it both unimaginable and unrealistic that any Asian artist who will be lucky enough to be nominated (or win) in this category will blatantly reject the recognition altogether. The key, above all else, is how the artist defines ‘recognition’ itself.
Does a trophy, for any category, genuinely launch a career? Nope. Plenty of award winners and nominees out there couldn’t sustain a remarkable career in the long run. Does a trophy actually validate one’s music? Nope. Lots of my favourite musicians barely get nominated for anything—and my love and adoration for them are not becoming any lesser because of it. Does a trophy anoint an artist as the Greatest of All Time? Nope. Oftentimes, luck and timing also influence who gets to be recognised.
But would it be cool to see an Indonesian artist getting nominated for a Grammy, regardless of the category, then dazzling the red carpet with a batik ensemble and taking sweet selfies with the members of CORTIS at the afterparty? Of course. (And there’s no use denying it either.)An industry recognition, when *not* taken too seriously, can actually lead to fun memories, new experiences, as well as profound perspectives.
Furthermore, let’s never forget that it is the shocking results of the Grammy Awards that make it worth watching year after year.
It is still fresh in my memory when, back in 2011, jazz artist and bassist Esperanza Spalding surprisingly reigned supreme over pop supernova Justin Bieber for the Best New Artist trophy. Bonnie Raitt, whose song “Just Like That” practically flew under the radar, made the biggest upset at the 2023 Grammy Awards when she triumphed over Taylor Swift’s blockbuster “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” for the Song of the Year trophy. Those were merely a few of the shocks that the Grammys have delivered over the decades. If I were BTS, I wouldn’t immediately get confident and assume that the Asian Pop Music Performance trophy is already in my pocket just yet.
Now, let’s return to the title of this article.
Even with a new category that seemingly gives more chances for Asian artists to collect that elusive gramophone, should Indonesian artists nevertheless dream of winning a Grammy? In answering that question, I’d say, “Well, why not?”
Sure, none of the Indonesian artists has ever sent an album flying to the top of the U.S. Billboard 200 chart (the way ATEEZ did just this week). Nevertheless, over the past couple of years, streaming prowess has helped propel an obscure name to the Grammy voters’ attention. And, at this point, the whole world has witnessed how capable Indonesian artists are when it comes to generating massive Spotify numbers.
Also, even if that Grammy podium still seems out of reach, should this be stopping Indonesian artists from dreaming?
I, personally, am no stranger to an impossible dream. It is a great dream of mine, as a music journalist, to be able to interview Sir Paul McCartney someday. Sadly, the universe has been dreadfully telling me that there is no chance this living legend will ever notice me, a simple journalist from Bogor, Indonesia. Even as we live in a borderless society now, nothing has really improved my chances of ever sitting in the same room as Sir Paul McCartney to discuss his latest solo LP. But does that mean I should stop dreaming? Nope. Stranger things have happened in this life, and dreams are only worthwhile when they are difficult to achieve, am I right?
I am dumb enough, as well as tough enough, to still hold on to my impossible dream. And I hope my beloved Indonesian artists are just as stubborn to dream big, as well.