In a recent Billboard interview, Rosé discussed the massive success of their collaboration “APT.” (, including its three Grammy nominations for the 2026 ceremony: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Rosé stated, “History of first Korean K-pop artist. That means a lot to me because I don’t take it lightly. Most importantly, a song being celebrated and being nominated for a Grammy contains that much of my culture in it. […] It’s a big moment for me, for K-pop, and for Korea.”
The claim to being “the first” in understandable in a hype-filled promo moment: the 2026 Grammys (announced November 7, 2025) mark a genuine milestone for Rosé as a solo K-pop lead artist in the “Big Four” general categories (Album, Record, and Song of the Year, plus Best New Artist). But she is not the first.
- Sumi Jo (1993) won Best Opera Recording. She’s a classical soprano based in South Korea.
- First Korean Nominee in a Music Video Category was Psy (2013). Hew was Nominated for Best Music Video (“Gangnam Style”).
- First K-pop Group in a Major Category BTS (2021). BTS was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. They’ve since earned 5 noms total, including Album of the Year (2021).
- First Korean-Descent Nominee in General Field (Non-Classical) was Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) (2022). She was Nominated for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album (Jubilee). Zauner is Korean-American.
It is also important to note that just like Bruno Mars is sometimes overlooked as a Filipino for having been born and raised in Hawaii, Rose was born and raised in New Zealand and raised in Australia.
Rosé isn’t the “first Korean K-pop artist” nominated—that’s been happening since the 1990s across genres. But she and EJAE, songwriter and performer of KPOP DEMON HUNTERS tracks, are the first K-pop lead soloists in the Grammys’ most competitive pop categories.
The Reality of Grammy Campaigning — And Where the Line Gets Blurry
It’s also important to be clear about one uncomfortable truth: Grammy recognition does not happen without campaigning. For artists competing in the Academy’s most crowded categories, visibility is not optional—it’s strategic necessity. Labels routinely build multi-month campaigns that include For Your Consideration ads in Billboard and Variety, private listening sessions for Recording Academy voters, targeted press narratives, industry mixers, radio positioning, playlist influence, and direct outreach to voting blocs. In high-stakes cases, campaigns can stretch into the millions, with entire teams dedicated solely to awards positioning.
A 10-page Billboard spread is not an outlier in that ecosystem—it’s a signal. It tells voters, executives, and peers that the label is serious, resourced, and willing to spend to keep a record top of mind. Campaigns don’t just promote songs; they shape context. They decide which achievements are foregrounded, which identities are emphasized, and which “firsts” are framed as historically urgent.
Within that machinery, exaggeration is not unusual. Awards marketing has long relied on selective phrasing, flattering superlatives, and narrative compression. Achievements are streamlined to be punchy, memorable, and emotionally resonant—even if that means blurring nuance. The industry has largely accepted this as part of the game.
The unresolved question is where that tolerance ends. When marketing claims begin to overwrite established history rather than coexist with it, the risk isn’t just backlash—it’s erosion of credibility. Grammy campaigning already operates in an industry frequently criticized for opacity, favoritism, and declining institutional trust. Lowering the bar further, especially in the name of hype, risks normalizing a race to the bottom where accuracy becomes optional and narrative dominance matters more than record.
In that sense, the debate around APT isn’t about whether Rosé deserves her nominations—she does. It’s about whether awards marketing can continue to stretch the truth without consequences, or whether the industry eventually pays a price for treating history as copy.
