Japanese acts are out in force for the first Best Asian Pop Music Performance award at the 2027 Grammys. Kenshi Yonezu, f5ve, BABYMETAL, YOSHIKI, and BE:FIRST are among those put forward, with first-round voting now open to Recording Academy members until October 22nd.
Of the 26 public campaigns and reported entries Electric Bloom has found for the award, 11 involve Japanese acts, more than any other market. The figure is not official, as the Academy does not publish its entries, and many more acts are likely to have entered without a public campaign.
It’s a contested debut for the new award, and two of K-pop’s biggest acts are sitting it out. BTS objected to the award and declined to submit music, and JYP Entertainment has confirmed Stray Kids entered nothing before the August 21st deadline, without giving a reason.
Academy chief executive Harvey Mason Jr. confirmed on October 1st that the category would stay, following several weeks of listening sessions with figures from the Asian music industry. He said the loudest feedback had come from music creators who wanted it to remain, and the Academy described the number of submissions as robust, without giving a figure.
Asked what the Academy had learned, Mason told Billboard in an interview published on October 9th that “we have to absolutely think and rethink”, and be “really, really sensitive to how people want to be honored”. On whether there could be more than one Asian pop category next year, he said, “I would say all that is open for discussion”.
Some entrants have engaged with the Academy directly. Chinese singer-songwriter Eric HZ, who took part in a Recording Academy conversation on the future of Asian music in September, writes on his campaign page that “Asian Pop should be a door, not a wall”.
Eleven Japanese acts in the Asian pop race
BABYMETAL are seeking Grammy recognition for ‘Sunset Kiss’ featuring Polyphia, while X JAPAN leader YOSHIKI is campaigning for ‘Forever Love (Live)’ with Josh Groban. Both have promoted their entries through For Your Consideration adverts. Distributor The Orchard’s 2027 FYC campaign lists BE:FIRST’s ‘BRUCE WAYNE’ featuring Flo Milli and ATL Jacob, as well as YOASOBI’s ‘Orion’. Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Shihori is running her own campaign for ‘When I Decided Not To Die (Album Version)’.
A published submission list by Forbes also lists Kenshi Yonezu’s ‘IRIS OUT’, along with ‘I Choose You’ by LDH girl group f5ve, ‘If You’re Mine’ by fellow LDH act PSYCHIC FEVER, ‘Annyeonghaseyo’ by Yuki Chiba with Lil Moshpit, and AKB48’s ‘Suki-ish’. An October 12th update to the list adds ‘Miku-Maxxing’, a collaboration between Japanese Vocaloid producer SatapanP, Grimes, and virtual singer Hatsune Miku.
Japanese campaigns in other categories
Four of those acts also appear in other categories, giving Japanese acts 17 publicised entries across six categories. Kenshi Yonezu’s ‘IRIS OUT’, the theme for Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, is also listed for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
RELATED: Kenshi Yonezu’s ‘IRIS OUT’ could make Grammy history for Japanese anime
YOASOBI’s campaign puts ‘Orion’, their Overwatch collaboration, forward for Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Music Video, and BABYMETAL’s advert promotes ‘My Queen’ featuring Spiritbox for Best Metal Performance. YOSHIKI’s ‘Forever Love (Live)’ is also up for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals, an award that would go to its arrangers, YOSHIKI and Shelly Berg.
The same advert from BABYMETAL promotes Major Lazer’s remix of ‘from me to u’ featuring Poppy for Best Remixed Recording, though that award would go to the remixer.
Japan’s presence also extends to the vote. SKY-HI and the members of BE:FIRST joined the Recording Academy as voting members in July, part of a new member class that added more than 2300 voters this year.
South Korean acts are still in the running despite the absence of BTS and Stray Kids. The Orchard’s campaign includes Starship Entertainment’s IVE with ‘BANG BANG’ and KiiiKiii with ‘404 (New Era)’, as well as indie band wave to earth with ‘hyang’.
The Philippines and China account for four campaigns each, among them SB19’s ‘VISA’ and BINI’s ‘Unang Kilig’, while India has three, and Thailand one.
Nominations will be announced on November 16th, after first-round voting closes on October 22nd, with final-round voting following from December 10th 2026 to January 7th 2027. The 69th Grammys take place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 7th 2027.
