Jungkook, Stray Kids, Blackpink, NewJeans take home awards at BBMAs

K-pop

Published: 20 Nov. 2023, 19:23 Updated: 20 Nov. 2023, 20:35

Jungkook, Stray Kids, Blackpink, NewJeans take home awards at BBMAs

Girl group NewJeans wins Top Global K-pop Artist at the 2023 Billboard Awards. [BILLBOARD]

Jungkook of BTS, Stray Kids, Blackpink and NewJeans each took an award home at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) on Sunday.

The awards aired on BBMAs.watch and Billboard’s social channels on Sunday, announcing the winners and rolling out performances all day in a new format where all the performances were pre-recorded instead of being performed live.

The BBMAs created four new categories exclusively for the K-pop genre, but no K-pop artist won anything outside of the K-pop-specific sections.

The four artists won Top Global K-pop Artist, Top K-pop Album, Top K-pop Touring Artist and Top Global K-pop Song.

NewJeans took Top Global K-pop Artist as the first fourth-generation K-pop girl group to win an award.

“To have been nominated in this category alongside such incredible artists, which we all look up to, is an honor in itself,” Hanni said while receiving the award.

“This award will be a reminder to us for all the love and support we’ve received from our fans, and we will try our hardest to make it up to our fans,” Minji said.

NewJeans performances of “Super Shy” and “OMG” were shown, which are two of its five songs that made it into this year’s Hot 100.

Stray Kids took home the Top K-pop Album with its third full-length album "5-STAR."

Stray Kids showcased performances for its song “S-Class” and “LALALALA,” the latter being the lead track of its latest album “Rock-Star.”

“We promise to return the favor with upcoming music and performances and love,” Bangchan said.

Blackpink won Top K-pop Touring Artist for its world tour, titled “Born Pink,” which kicked off Oct. 15, 2022, in Seoul. The tour held 66 concerts across 34 cities, garnering over 1.8 million concertgoers. The quartet wrapped up the tour in Seoul on Sept. 17.

Jungkook of BTS was the only K-pop soloist to take home an award. He won Top Global K-pop Song for his track “Seven,” featuring American rapper Latto. The song was released in July and dominated the Billboard charts, topping July’s Billboard 100.

“It's very hard to express my gratitude in words,” Jungkook said. “While working on 'Seven,' I had hope that everyone could enjoy this track. And the fact that I won this category means a lot to me.”

Girl group Fifty Fifty, which was also nominated as Top Duo/Group, failed to take home an award.

Keena of Fifty Fifty attended the event alone. The other members are currently in a legal battle with its agency Attrakt.

“It took me so long to get back,” Keena said at the official BBMAs party. “I want to give back to everyone who loved us and supported us with our music."

To find out more about K-pop Artists, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]