From BTS’s historic performances to Blackpink’s fantastic stage presence, Kpop is taking the music industry by storm. The VMAs are finally giving K-pop the recognition it deserves, and it’s about time. At the most recent and past VMAs, Kpop has finally got the recognition it deserves and has won several awards.
This year alone, there were 6 K-pop group nominees. This includes Stray Kids, Blackpink, Aespa, Seventeen, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and FIFTY. Let’s learn more about these groups and how successful they are alone.
At the 2023 VMAs, the groups Stray Kids and Tomorrow X Together performed. Jungkook of BTS won “Song of the Summer” from his first solo song, “Seven.” Tomorrow X Together earned “Push Performance of the Year” for their “Sugar Rush Ride” song. Blackpink also won Group of the Year for their “Pink Venomchoreography ” and Stray Kids, earning the ultimate “Best Kpop.” The nominee for best Kpop was “Girls” by Aespa, “Pink Venom” by Blackpink, “Cupid” by Fifty Fifty, “Super” by Seventeen, “S-Class” by Stray Kids, and “Sugar Rush Ride” by TXT.
Out of all these nominees, the well-deserved award went to Stray Kids, which was recently released on June 2, 2023. Their album alone surpassed 5.13 million units of preorders, which is the most in Kpop history, and on the day of the release, they sold over 2.39 million copies in one day. It also debuted at #1 on the Billboard Chart in the United States. Another of the nominees was Blackpink, which has won hundreds of awards. Some examples include becoming the artist with the highest number of subscribers on YouTube, which was 65.6 million. In 2019, they also broke three Guinness world records and had hundreds and hundreds of listens on Spotify. A new group called Aespa, with a futuristic robot-like theme, has also gained popularity and earned them a nominee. Their EP sold over 2 million copies. They are the fastest K-pop girl group to reach this achievement. They have also entered the Billboard 200 several times and are changing the K-pop industry by creating new genres and standards for upcoming and competitive girl groups. Seventeen is the third best-selling K-pop boy group album-wise. They have over 4.64 million preorders globally for their album “Carat.” Their sales success has helped them outrank Taylor Swift, Justin Beiber, and BTS. Tomorrow X Together was also one of the first K-pop groups to earn their first VMA. They are the fastest K-pop group to top the Billboard World Albums and World Digital Song Sales charts. They are also the first Korean act to perform and headline at Lollapalooza, one of the biggest music festivals in the United States. They have also won numerous other awards at Golden Disc, Melon Music, Gaon Chart, and Mnet Asian Music Awards.
Last but not least, Fifty Fifty. They debuted only last year, November 18, 2022, with the mini album “The Fifty.” Due to their early population and rise in popularity on TikTok with their most famous song, “Cupid,” made them the fastest K-pop act to reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On TikTok, a social media platform, they have over 2.6 million videos under the sound and continue to grow daily. Their music video has reached over 20 million views on YouTube and has broken numerous records.
Overall, these awards are very well deserved by all groups as they grow in popularity and come out with more successful hits. K-pop is finally getting the recognition it deserves and continues to grow daily on Social Media and platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
