The Grammys Now Have An Asian Music Category, But What Does It Mean For Indian Artists?

If you ask me, it's interesting that just after an entirely Spanish-language album won Album of the Year at the Grammys, the Recording Academy decides to introduce a new category just for Best Latin Song. This year, it's one of five new categories introduced at the Grammys, alongside Best Asian Pop Music Performance.

On the surface, the category sounds like a welcome acknowledgement of the growing global influence of Latin and Asian music. But what exactly counts as "Asian" music?

According to the Grammy rulebook, the award recognises "pop music performances originating from or widely recognised within Asian markets, including but not limited to K-pop, J-pop and C-pop." To qualify, songs must also make "meaningful use" of one or more Asian languages.

The problem is that the Academy has not publicly defined what "meaningful use" actually means.

Unlike the Latin categories, which specify language thresholds (at least 51% of the lyrics should be in Spanish), the Asian Pop category leaves the requirement open to interpretation.

You could argue that this is a good thing, a safeguard against the growing trend of English or mostly-English K-pop songs, and I guess I would agree with you here (my third gen K-pop ears are tired of these new-gen English songs where the lyrics don't make an iota of sense compared to the Korean translations you had to read back in the day), but in doing so, the Recording Academy is pigeonholing the entire continent with very different music cultures into the more famoues categories of K-pop and adjaent genres.

The rulebook specifically mentions K-pop, J-pop and C-pop, but where do Indian songs fit into this framework? What about music from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia or the Philippines? The category says it includes Asian markets, yet offers little clarity on how songs from South Asia will be evaluated.

Take Hanumankind's "Big Dawgs" as an example.

The song is created by an Indian artist. Its visual identity is rooted in India, with the music video showcasing Maut Ka Kuan, one of the country's most recognisable traditional motorsport attractions. Yet the song is performed entirely in English because Hanumankind raps entirely in english.

Would it qualify for Best Asian Pop Music Performance? Nope.

But ironically, the use of English is a major reason why "Big Dawgs" became a global phenomenon in the first place. India has no shortage of talented rappers working in Hindi, Punjabi, Malayalam, Tamil and countless other languages. Hanumankind's breakout success came partly because international audiences could immediately understand what he was saying.

K-pop songs have a well-established marketing machinery by now to ensure that almost anything they release (and market well) reaches a global audience. South Asian music doesn't. The most that happens to our songs is that they cross over the border to our neighbours, but that's it. Imposing linguistic restrictions on this only spoils the chance that an Indian or a Filipino song will ever make it at these stages.

At this point, you might ask if it's really necessary for us to pander to Western award shows. To which I'll say that if you hold on to the reputation of being the most prestigious music award in the world, you might as well include the world in your awards. The cultural capital that these awards (or anything from the west) has is significantly higher than what centuries of colonisation has left us with in the rest of the world. It opens innumerable doors for the artists who make it to these platforms. There's a reason why a Kim Kardashian did not have to introduce herself at a certain grand Indian wedding, yet a Sabyasachi found himself explaining who Shah Rukh Khan is at the Met Gala red carpet last year.

Besides, there's no guarantee that an English song by an Indian singer will qualify for the general category. After all, wasn't an Asian Music category made just for that?

Which brings us to BTS, who could be a contender for Best Asian Pop Music Performance, with their album, "Arirang". But the same concern stands with them, too: does acknowledging Asian music by voting in an Asian-specific category mean that the album will never qualify for a general Album of The Year category? Because everyone knows, Song of The Year and Album of The Year are the biggest awards handed out on a Grammys night.

And so by creating these regional boxes, is the Recording Academy really making way for a more global music conversation, or is this a new way to keep representation out of the main awards night entirely?