BLACKPINK has earned a nomination for MTV's Video Music Awards (VMA) for its newly created Kpop category to honor the biggest hits contributed by Kpop artists to the international scene. BLACKPINK earned a nod along with other Kpop acts BTS, EXO, MONSTA X, NCT 21 and Tomorrow X Together (TXT).
BLACKPINK, the only Kpop female act nominated for the category entered the list with their EP Kill This Love. BTS was nominated for its megahit collaboration with Halsey Boy with Luv. Monsta X's song Who Do You Love featuring French Montana also made it to the list of nominees.
SM Entertainment artists EXO and NCT 21 were also received nods for Tempo and Regular while TXT was nominated for the MTV VMAs with Cat & Dog.
The creation of the Kpop category has been criticized by Kpop fans as a racist move by MTV as it reflects the music channel's perception that Asian artists could not go head to head with western artists. Kpop acts have like BLACKPINK, BTS, TWICE, EXO, GOT7, among others have successfully staged sold-out concerts in major venues in different parts of the world to prove their mettle and marketability in North America, Europe, and Australia. Other awards giving bodies have never felt the need to create a separate category for Kpop acts, Variety reported.
Fans on Twitter said that MTV's move would backfire on them as Kpop acts win the Grammy Awards this year to validate their strong position in the global music scene.
Meanwhile, even as BLACKPINK secures its nomination for MTV VMA's Best Kpop Act, it remains strong for MTV UK's poll for Hottest Summer Superstar. With close to 10 million votes cast on Twitter, Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rose are currently at third place trailing BTS and Lady Gaga.
BLACKPINK currently has over 1.7 million votes, behind Lady Gaga with over 1.8 million votes. BTS is ahead of the pack with close to four million tweets in just four days of voting, live voting indicated.
MTV UK opened the voting for its Hottest Summer Superstar last July 20 and gave fans until August 19 to vote for their favorite international artists nominated for the category. Among past winners of the MTV UK award are Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez and One Direction. To vote, fans simply need to tweet the hashtag #mtvhottest followed by the name of the artist of their choice within the voting period.
