BTS Grammy prospects look stronger at the 2027 ceremony, where the Recording Academy is adding Best Asian Pop Music Performance. The new field gives BTS a cleaner route to a first trophy as a performing act, and the group is already being treated as an early favorite because of Arirang, Swim and Normal.
Swim, Arirang and Normal
Swim debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also opened at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. rankings. Arirang arrived this spring as BTS’s long-awaited comeback album and gave the group another No. 1 in America, while Normal sits inside the same Grammy conversation as a possible submission.
The new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category is built for K-pop, J-pop, C-pop and other pop recordings that meaningfully incorporate at least one Asian language. That rule matters because it gives the Recording Academy a lane separate from the broader pop fields, where BTS has already competed three times for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance through Dynamite, Butter and My Universe.
Rosé and K-pop firsts
Rosé belongs in the small club of K-pop artists who have already earned Grammy nominations, which is one reason the new category reads like a late adjustment to a market that has already outgrown the old setup. In 2026, Apt. and Golden became the first songs by K-pop artists to be nominated for Song of the Year, and Apt. also made history in Record of the Year.
Golden then became the first K-pop recording to win a Grammy when its writers took Best Song Written for Visual Media, a prize that went to the songwriters rather than the performers in Huntr/x. That split is the kind of fine print that has shaped BTS’s path for years: the group has five Grammy nominations, no wins, and none of its own albums has been nominated.
The BTS submission choice
Which BTS song will the group submit for the new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category? Swim is the obvious commercial play because it already hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. rankings, while Arirang gives the campaign an album-era anchor. Either way, the new category gives BTS a narrower, more realistic route than the pop fields it has already run through without success.
If BTS wants its strongest Grammy shot in 2027, the submission has to match the category’s language rule and its momentum rule at the same time. Swim fits the numbers; Arirang fits the comeback narrative; Normal sits there as a possible third option. The choice will say more about how BTS wants to be judged than any nomination campaign ever has.
