Jung Kook is nominated in six categories at the 2023 MAMA Awards, whose nominations were announced Thursday (Oct. 19).
Jung Kook is nominated for artist of the year and best male artist, while his global hit “Seven” (featuring Latto), which entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1 in July, is nominated in three categories: song of the year, best collaboration, best dance performance by a male and best music video. (Several of the nods for “Seven” specify the “Clean Version.” Jung Kook casually uses the F-word in the original version.)
In a sign of how impactful BTS have been on the K-pop scene, three members of the group are nominated for best male artist. BTS members Jung Kook, Jimin and V are competing in that category with Lim Young Woong, Parc Jae Jung and TAEYANG.
TWICE is nominated for best female group, while JIHYO, a member of that nine-member group, is nominated for best female artist.
While many Western awards shows are moving toward gender-neutral categories, fully half of the 20 categories here are gendered. There are separate male and female categories for best artist, best group, best new artist, best dance performance solo and best dance performance group.
The nominees for album of the year include two albums that topped the Billboard 200: Stray Kids‘ 5-STAR and NewJeans’ Get Up.
Latto isn’t the only major Western artist to land a nomination: J. Cole and Nile Rodgers are also on the list as featured artists on J-Hope’s “on the street” and LE SSERAFIM’s “UNFORGIVEN,” respectively. British singer Anne-Marie is listed as a co-lead artist with MINNIE of (G)I-DLE on “Expectations.”
The MAMA Awards, which bills itself as the biggest night in K-pop, will take place Nov. 28 and 29 at Tokyo Dome, Japan. The event will also air live on various global platforms, including CJ ENM’s music channel Mnet.
Awards will be presented in 20 categories. There are the usual five or six nominees in 16 of the categories, but in the big four categories – artist, song and album of the year and worldwide fans’ choice – there are dozens of entries. All artists who were nominated in one of the subordinate categories were automatically nominated there — an unusual approach for an award show to take.
In the worldwide fans’ choice category, winners are determined by global fan votes. The first round of nomination votes will take place from Thursday (Oct. 19) to Oct. 30. The second round will take place from Nov. 6 to Nov. 20. Fans can vote on the K-culture platform Mnet Plus and on Spotify, which is also one of the sponsors for this year’s awards.
The MAMA Awards, which bills itself as the world’s foremost K-pop awards, is presented by entertainment company CJ ENM. This year’s eligibility period ran from Oct. 22, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2023. The vote count and process will be verified by Samil PwC.
Here’s the full list of nominations for the 2023 MAMA Awards.
