Award season is upon us and as a Kpop fan this is both exciting and nerve-racking.
The biggest music award show for Kpop, MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards) released their list of 2021 nominees.
Regardless of who actually wins, I think being nominated is a win itself. I watch MAMAs as a celebration of Kpop – not as a competition. As a multi-stan I enjoy the performances and I’m here to cheer on all the groups.
I’ll do a video series on my channel leading up to the award show (December 11). I’ll share more on my thoughts about who wasn’t nominated and my predictions for the winners.
But before all that here’s the list of nominees! No, I won’t add artist of the year, song of the year, album of the year, or worldwide fan choice, because those lists are extremely long and I don’t think my blog could handle it.
Best New Male Artist
- DRIPPIN
- ENHYPEN
- EPEX
- MIRAE
- P1Harmony
Best New Female Artist
- aespa
- Jo Yu Ri
- Kwon Eun Bi
- LIGHTSUM
- STAYC
Best Male Group
- BTS
- NCT 127
- NCT DREAM
- SEVENTEEN
- Stray Kids
- TXT
Best Female Group
- (G)I-DLE
- Brave Girls
- ITZY
- Oh My Girl
- Red Velvet
- TWICE
Best Male Artist
- EXO’s Baekhyun
- EXO’s D.O.
- EXO’s Kai
- Kang Daniel
- Lee Mujin
I CANNOT decide. Baekhyun, D.O., Kai, AND Kang Daniel released some of my favorite albums. Having to pick just ONE is impossible for me.
Best Female Artist
- Heize
- IU
- BLACKPINK’s Lisa
- BLACKPINK’s Rosé
- Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon
Best Dance Performance Solo
- EXO’s Baekhyun – “Bambi”
- HyunA – “I’m Not Cool”
- BLACKPINK’s Lisa – “LALISA”
- BLACKPINK’s Rosé – “On The Ground”
- Jeon Somi – “DUMB DUMB”
- Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon – “Weekend”
Best Dance Performance Male Group
- BTS – “Butter”
- NCT 127 – “Sticker”
- NCT DREAM – “Hot Sauce”
- SEVENTEEN – “Ready to love”
- SHINee – “Don’t Call Me”
- Stray Kids – “Thunderous”
Best Dance Performance Female Group
- aespa – “Next Level”
- ITZY – “In the morning”
- Oh My Girl – “Dun Dun Dance”
- Red Velvet – “Queendom”
- STAYC – “ASAP”
- TWICE – “Alcohol-Free”
Best Vocal Performance
- AKMU – “NAKKA” with IU
- Davichi – “Just Hug Me”
- Heize – “HAPPEN”
- IU – “Celebrity”
- Lee Mujin – “Traffic light”
Best Band Performance
- 10cm – “Sleepless in Seoul” (feat. AKMU’s Lee Suhyun)
- CNBLUE – “Then, Now and Forever”
- DAY6 – “You Make Me”
- Jannabi – “A thought on an autumn night”
- N.Flying – “Moonshot”
Best Hip Hop & Urban Music
- ASH ISLAND – “MELODY”
- CHANGMO – “GJD”
- Jessi – “What Type of X”
- WINNER’s Song Mino – “Run away”
- YUMDDA – “9ucci” (feat. DOGE)
Best Collaboration
- AKMU – “NAKKA” (with IU)
- Coldplay & BTS – “My Universe”
- Gaeko & Kwon Jin Ah
- Hyolyn & Dasom – “Summer or Summer”
- Rain & JYP – “Switch to Me”
Best OST
- 10cm – “Borrow Your Night” (“Romance 101”)
- Jo Jung Suk – “I Like You” (“Hospital Playlist 2”)
- Choi Yu Ree – “Wish” (“Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha”)
- Lee Mujin – “Rain and You” (“Hospital Playlist 2”)
- Highlight’s Yang Yoseob and Apink’s Jung Eun Ji – “Love Day” (“Romance 101”)
—
I think the most shocking thing about this list is no Taemin. Taemin released one of the best album and choreographies of the year. Yet, he isn’t nominated for a single thing.
Anyway, check out his masterpiece music video. I think I’ll include this MV in every post related to MAMA 😉
Of course there’s more artists and groups that were robbed and I’ll make a whole video and blog post about it.
Even though by just looking at the list it’s clear who the winners will be this year. MAMA isn’t a particularly shocking show. Just look at the award show’s history, it’s predictable.
BUT still, every group and artist nominated are on the list because they deserve to be nominated. If those groups/artist win it’s because they deserve to win. I’m very proud of everyone that is nominated.
-EliMarie
I talk more about KPOP on my channel YouTube.com/elimariereacts
You can follow my Twitter HERE and my Instagram HERE.
*I do not own any of the pictures of the artists and groups on this post.
