Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
The Korean Music Awards are basically the Grammy Awards of Korea, at least in that they are a rare one that isn’t just a popularity contest and is chosen by judges, which is why I highlight it every year. Well the nominations are out for the 2018 edition, and they stand out for the amount of idols who could win.
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Album Of The Year
Kang Taegu – ‘Bleu’
The Black Skirts – ‘Team Baby’
Kim Mok In – ‘A Day In The Life Of Mr. X’
IU – ‘Palette’
Hyukoh – ’23’
Song Of The Year
Red Velvet – “Red Flavor”
BTS – “DNA”
IU – “Through The Night”
Woo Won Jae – “We Are” (Featuring Loco & Gray)
Hyukoh – “Tomboy”
Artist Of The Year
Kim Mok In
BTS
IU
Hyukoh
Rookie Of The Year
Rad Museum
Light And Noise
Se So Neon
Shin Hae Gyeong
Yeseo
Woo Won Jae
Best Pop Album
Red Velvet – ‘Perfect Velvet’
BTS – ‘Love Yourself: Her’
IU – ‘Palette’
Lee Jin Ah – ‘Random’
Taemin – ‘Move’
Taeyeon – ‘My Voice’
Best Pop Song
NCT 127 – “Cherry Bomb”
Red Velvet – “Red Flavor”
BTS – “DNA”
Sunmi – “Gashina”
IU – “Through The Night”
Best Rock Album
Lowdown 30 – ‘B’
Raw By Peppers – ‘Cosmos’
Magna Fall – ‘Mad Metropolis’
Se So Neon – ‘Summer Plumage’
Light And Noise – ‘Irregular’
Best Rock Song
ABTB – “Free Rider”
Grancale – “Treadmill”
Light And Noise – “Mudang”
Se So Neon – “The Wave”
Asian Chairshot – “Mountain, Bird, And Me”
Best Modern Rock Album
3rd Line Butterfly – ‘Divided by Zero’
The Black Skirts – ‘Team Baby’
In The Endless Zanhyang We Are – ‘Inevitability Under Consecutive Coincidence’
Sister’s Barbershop – ‘People Who Stay Alone’
Hyukoh – ’23’
Best Modern Rock Song
ADOY – “Grace”
Jaemyoung Doe – “Under The Sign Of Saturn”
Shin Hae Gyeong – “Everything To Me”
Sister’s Barbershop – “People Who Stay Alone”
Hyukoh – “Tomboy”
Best Metal And Hardcore Album
End These Days – ‘Ambivalence’
Kim Jaeha – ‘Into Ashes’
Abyss – ‘Recrowned’
PAKK – ‘Salpuri’
Best Dance And Electronic Album
Mojave – ‘Something the Braun Tube Left Us’
SOWALL – ‘Favorite’
Idiotape – ‘Dystopian’
KIRARA – ‘KM’
Yeseo – ‘Million Things’
Best Dance And Electronic Song
Locked On – “Say Yeah”
Raiden – “Heart Of Steel”
CIFIKA – “My Ego”
Yeseo – “Silhouette”
Idiotape – “Dystopian”
Best Rap And Hip Hop Album
Kim Ximya X D. Sanders – ‘Moonshine’
Legit Goons – ‘Junk Drunk Love’
VIANN x KHUNDI PANDA – ‘Reconstruction’
Chaboom – ‘Sour’
Fana – ‘Fanaconda’
Best Rap And Hip Hop Song
Jazzyfact – “Harujongil”
Kim Ximya – “Career High” (Featuring Cautious Clay)
Chaboom – “Ribbaddong”
Fana – “Power”
Woo Won Jae – “We Are” (Featuring Loco & Gray)
Best R&B And Soul Album
Rad Museum – ‘Scene’
Rico – ‘White Light Panorama’
Minje – ‘Now’
OFFONOFF – ‘Boy’
Hippy Was Gipsy – ‘Tree’
Best R&B And Soul Song
Horim – “TEMP-TON”
PEEJAY – “Na B Ya” (Featuring Zion.T)
Rico – “Paradise”
Samuel Seo – “Off You”
OFFONOFF – “Gold”
Hippy Was Gipsy – “Dot”
Best Folk Album
Kang Taegu – ‘Bleu’
Kim Mok In – ‘A Day In The Life Of Mr. X’
Doma – ‘Drifting To An Island For Reason I Don’t Know’
Dhani Song – ‘Songs For An Afterlife’
Jeongmilla – ‘Galaxy’
Gonne Choi – ‘Nomad Syndrome’
Best Folk Song
Kang Taegu – “Bleu”
Kim Mok In – “Walking”
Kim Mok In X Siwa X Hwang Puha – “Let’s Go Home”
Doma – “Is This Love”
Jeongmilla – “Star”
Gonne Choi – “Highlander”
Best Jazz Album
JOONSAM – ‘A Door’
Youn Sun Nah – ‘She Moves On’
Seo Young Do Electric Ensemble – ‘The Hazy World’
Sunny Kim & Ben Monder – ‘The Dream Of The Earth’
Lee Jiyeun Contemporary Jazz Orchestra – ‘Feather, Dream Drop’
Best Crossover Album
11 – ‘Transparent Music’
Do Yeon Kim & Chase Morrin – ‘GaPi’
Ajaeng Ensemble – ‘Bow+ing’
Lee Heemoon & Prelude – ‘A Korean Man’
Han Seung Seok & Jung Jaeil – ‘And There, The Sea At Last’
Best Jazz And Crossover Performance
JOONSAM – “A Door”
Kim Chul Soo & Oh Jin Won – “A:”
Myungsup Shin Group – “Circular Dilemma”
Choi Sung Ho Singularity – “Different Is Different From Wrong”
Hogyu Hwang – “Straight, No Chaser”
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Of the main three categories — Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Artist Of The Year — the only artists that could be called idols who have won are Big Bang (“Bae Bae“), Soyu (“Some“), and SNSD (“Gee“). As you’ll note, all of those are in the Song Of The Year category, so it’s noteworthy that IU could win Album Of The Year and both BTS and IU could win Artist Of The Year, in addition to Red Velvet, IU, and BTS being up for Song Of The Year.
