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  • BTS and Stray Kids Skip the 2027 Grammys — Is the Asian Pop Category Dividing Fans?

    TTK Original — Beyond the Headlines

    Two of K-pop’s biggest groups will be absent from the 2027 Grammy race. BTS announced that it would not submit music for consideration, while JYP Entertainment confirmed that Stray Kids had also submitted no entries.

    The decisions come as the Recording Academy prepares to introduce Best Asian Pop Music Performance, a new award intended to recognize Asian pop music.

    But the announcement has raised a difficult question: Does giving Asian pop its own category create more recognition—or another boundary?

    Why BTS Is Sitting Out the Grammys

    BTS made its position clear in July 2026. The group expressed its hope that music would be appreciated without being divided by language or region.

    That message carries particular weight from a group that has already achieved worldwide success and received five Grammy nominations.

    For BTS, the debate appears to go beyond whether an Asian pop award would be easier to win. It raises a larger question about how global music is classified.

    If a Korean-language song reaches listeners around the world, should its language determine the category in which it is recognized?

    Did Stray Kids Make the Same Statement?

    Not officially.

    JYP Entertainment confirmed that Stray Kids did not submit music for the 2027 awards, but the company did not explain why.

    Some fans have interpreted the decision as solidarity with BTS. Others point out that choosing not to submit music does not necessarily establish a political or artistic protest.

    That distinction matters. The two groups made the same submission decision, but only BTS publicly explained its position.

    What Reddit Fans Are Debating

    On Reddit, discussions have reflected competing views about the new category.

    Some fans welcome an additional opportunity for Asian musicians to receive recognition. They argue that dedicated categories can spotlight artists who might otherwise receive less attention.

    Others worry that Asian pop could be treated as a separate musical space, even when its artists compete directly with mainstream international stars.

    The concern is not simply about winning another trophy. It is about whether K-pop is being recognized as global pop—or continually introduced as something outside it.

    Can K-Pop Still Win Major Grammy Awards?

    Yes.

    Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. has clarified that eligibility for the Asian pop category does not prevent artists from competing for major awards such as Album of the Year, Record of the Year or Song of the Year.

    The Academy also says the new category is designed to expand recognition, not restrict it.

    Following consultations with members of the Asian music community, the organization confirmed that the category would proceed in 2027.

    That clarification addresses an important misconception, although it does not resolve every concern about how voters may perceive Asian artists.

    The Bigger Question Behind the Controversy

    The Grammys are attempting to recognize the growth of Asian pop at a time when K-pop has already established a worldwide audience.

    Those two realities create an unusual tension.

    A dedicated category may help introduce more Asian artists to Grammy voters. Yet the same category can prompt questions about why globally successful music needs a regional label.

    Neither outcome is guaranteed. Much will depend on how artists are nominated across categories and how the awards evolve.

    The real debate is not whether Asian pop deserves recognition. It is what meaningful recognition should look like when music has already crossed borders.

    For BTS, Stray Kids and their fans, that question will remain relevant long after the 2027 Grammy ceremony.

    Update: Stray Kids Also Skip the 2027 Grammys

    There is now another major development in the Grammy debate.

    JYP Entertainment confirmed that Stray Kids did not submit any music for consideration for the 2027 Grammy Awards. Because the submission deadline has passed, the group will not be eligible for nominations this cycle.

    The timing has attracted attention because BTS had already announced that it would not submit music for the same Grammy cycle. The Recording Academy has also confirmed that its new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category will go ahead at the 2027 ceremony after consultations with members of the Asian music community.

    But one distinction is important: JYP has not said that Stray Kids skipped the Grammys because of the Asian Pop category. The group therefore should not automatically be described as officially supporting BTS’s position.

    What we know is simpler—and perhaps more interesting.

    Two of the biggest K-pop groups in the world will not have submitted music for the 2027 Grammys, while the Academy is moving forward with a category created specifically to recognize Asian pop.

    That leaves the larger question unresolved:

    Is the new category a bigger door for Asian music—or another boundary around it?

    The answer may become clearer only after the category is actually used and we see how Asian artists are recognized across the Grammys as a whole.

  • “I Don’t Like K-Pop — So Why Do I Like Stray Kids?”

    “I don’t really listen to K-pop.”

    Then someone plays Stray Kids.

    A few minutes later:

    “What was that?”

    Then:

    “Play another one.”

    This reaction appears surprisingly often in first-time Stray Kids videos.

    Some viewers arrive knowing almost nothing about the group. Some know BTS or BLACKPINK but little else about K-pop. Others have already decided that K-pop simply isn’t for them.

    And then Stray Kids complicates that assumption.

    So what are these listeners hearing?

    Why can Stray Kids work for people who don’t think they like K-pop?

    The answer may be hiding in one sentence repeated by first-time listeners:

    “I’ve never heard anything like that.”

    The First Attraction Isn’t Familiarity. It’s Confusion.

    Normally, a song becomes easier to like when listeners recognize its structure.

    Stray Kids often does something different.

    Take “S-Class.”

    In one reaction by K-pop newcomers, the listeners struggled to predict where the song was going.

    Different sections felt dramatically different from one another.

    Then came the reactions:

    “I’ve never seen this done before.”

    “I’ve never heard anything like that.”

    And finally, one listener said the song had “pushed the boundaries of what I thought was K-pop.”

    That may be one of the biggest clues to Stray Kids’ appeal outside the traditional K-pop audience.

    The music doesn’t always confirm a newcomer’s idea of K-pop.

    Sometimes it destroys it.

    “What Genre Is Going to Be Next?”

    One comment from the same reaction is especially revealing.

    While listening to “S-Class,” a newcomer wondered:

    “What genre is going to be next?”

    That question captures the experience remarkably well.

    A Stray Kids song can move through rap, electronic sounds, melodic vocals, aggressive beats and abrupt transitions without giving a first-time listener much time to settle.

    For some people, that’s exactly why the music doesn’t work.

    Stray Kids can be polarizing.

    But for others, unpredictability becomes the hook.

    Instead of thinking:

    “I know where this chorus is going.”

    they think:

    “What are they going to do next?”

    And that keeps them watching.

    One Fan Said K-Pop “Wasn’t for Me”

    The most interesting evidence doesn’t come from chart positions.

    It comes from fans explaining their own conversion.

    Under a video of newcomers discovering Stray Kids, one fan described finding the group through YouTube.

    Before that discovery, the commenter said K-pop had seemed like something that simply wasn’t for them.

    What changed?

    They specifically pointed to Stray Kids’ unique style, production and refusal to fit into a single K-pop prototype.

    That discovery eventually turned them into a STAY.

    This is only one person’s story, so it shouldn’t be treated as proof of why every international fan likes Stray Kids.

    But it matches what we repeatedly see in first-time reactions:

    Stray Kids often attracts attention precisely when it violates expectations.

    That Isn’t Accidental

    Stray Kids themselves have talked about this.

    The group’s internal production unit 3RACHA — Bang Chan, Changbin and HAN — plays a central role in shaping Stray Kids’ music.

    Bang Chan told GRAMMY.com that the group experiments heavily with its songs and compared an album’s variety to a full-course meal.

    Changbin described wanting to show many different “flavors” of Stray Kids.

    Most revealingly, Bang Chan said one of the greatest compliments would be for listeners to feel that:

    Stray Kids has its own genre.

    That idea helps explain why their songs can feel unusual even to people who already know K-pop.

    They aren’t simply trying to fit whatever musical formula is currently popular.

    In another GRAMMY interview, Bang Chan said they enjoy making the music they want regardless of whether it follows current trends.

    Seungmin similarly described the group’s constant interest in exploring music and trying new things.

    That experimentation isn’t a side effect.

    It’s part of the identity.

    3RACHA Changes the Equation

    There is another reason Stray Kids can feel different.

    The people performing the music are deeply involved in creating it.

    3RACHA existed before Stray Kids officially debuted, and Bang Chan, Changbin and HAN have continued to play central songwriting and production roles in the group’s discography.

    Other members also participate in songwriting.

    That doesn’t mean Stray Kids works without outside collaborators, nor does it mean other K-pop groups don’t write or produce their own music.

    But creative involvement matters here because Stray Kids repeatedly talks about developing its own musical “color.”

    Changbin has explained that because the members understand their own strengths, they can use the production process to emphasize the group’s identity.

    That helps explain something first-time listeners notice surprisingly quickly:

    Even when the genre changes, it still somehow feels like Stray Kids.

    But the Noise Isn’t the Whole Story

    There is a common stereotype about Stray Kids:

    They’re the loud K-pop group.

    Listen only to certain title tracks and it’s easy to understand where that reputation comes from.

    But that explanation is incomplete.

    Even within one song, the group often uses contrast.

    A heavy section can suddenly give way to something sparse.

    Rap can move into melody.

    Tension can disappear and then return.

    And their wider catalog stretches well beyond aggressive title tracks.

    This matters because unpredictability is different from simply being loud.

    Noise alone becomes predictable.

    Contrast doesn’t.

    That distinction may be one reason newcomers keep asking what will happen next.

    Then the Lyrics Change the Relationship

    Music and visuals can get someone through the door.

    But something interesting happened when the newcomers we studied began paying attention to the lyrics of “MANIAC.”

    Their reaction changed.

    They began talking about individuality.

    About people who feel different.

    About not hiding parts of yourself simply to satisfy other people’s expectations.

    One listener eventually said:

    “I feel like we relate to their lyrics.”

    That’s a completely different response from:

    “That beat sounds cool.”

    Now the listener isn’t simply watching Stray Kids.

    They’re finding something of themselves inside the song.

    And that may help explain why curiosity can turn into fandom.

    This May Also Explain the Size of STAY

    Stray Kids’ message repeatedly returns to identity.

    Being different.

    Finding your own path.

    Refusing to shrink yourself.

    That theme fits naturally with the group’s name itself.

    And once listeners identify with that message, fandom becomes more than consuming songs.

    In the same first-time reaction, the participants interpreted the group’s message as almost an invitation to people who feel outside the norm:

    You’re not alone.

    Come with us.

    That interpretation is especially interesting when placed beside the way STAY behaves online.

    Reaction videos don’t simply produce comments about songs.

    Fans recommend ten more songs.

    Then a member guide.

    Then live performances.

    Then albums.

    Then solo tracks.

    A curious listener can fall down the Stray Kids rabbit hole very quickly.

    So Why Can Non-K-Pop Fans Like Stray Kids?

    There probably isn’t one answer.

    Some discover Felix’s voice.

    Some love Changbin or HAN’s rap.

    Some notice Hyunjin’s performance.

    Some come from hip-hop, EDM, rock or metal and hear familiar ingredients used in unfamiliar ways.

    Others connect with the lyrics.

    But underneath those different entry points is one recurring pattern:

    Stray Kids doesn’t always sound like what newcomers expected K-pop to sound like.

    For someone who already believes they dislike K-pop, that difference can be extremely powerful.

    Because they aren’t being asked to suddenly change their opinion about an entire genre.

    They’re simply confronted with something that doesn’t fit their existing definition.

    And then comes the question:

    “Wait… K-pop can sound like this?”

    That question creates curiosity.

    Curiosity leads to another song.

    Another song introduces another member.

    The lyrics begin to make sense.

    And somewhere along the way:

    “I don’t like K-pop.”

    can quietly become:

    “I like Stray Kids.”

    Maybe that’s the secret.

    Stray Kids doesn’t always convince outsiders to like the K-pop they imagined.

    Sometimes, they make them realize that what they imagined K-pop to be was too small in the first place.

  • What Is the “Felix Effect”? Why One Voice Turns First-Time Listeners Into Stray Kids Fans

    You can almost predict what is going to happen.

    Someone watches a Stray Kids music video for the first time.

    They are enjoying the choreography. They notice the rappers. They comment on the production.

    Then Felix opens his mouth.

    The video stops.

    “Wait… what?”

    “Who is that?”

    “Is that really his voice?”

    Sometimes they rewind.

    Sometimes they immediately ask which member he is.

    And sometimes, that tiny moment becomes the beginning of a much bigger journey into Stray Kids.

    Among STAYs, there is even an unofficial name for this phenomenon:

    The Felix Effect.

    What Does “Felix Effect” Mean?

    The “Felix Effect” isn’t an official JYP Entertainment term.

    It is a fan expression used to describe a familiar pattern: someone who knows little—or sometimes nothing—about Stray Kids hears Felix’s unusually deep voice, becomes curious about him, and then starts exploring the group.

    And there is plenty of anecdotal evidence behind the nickname.

    Reaction compilations built specifically around people hearing Felix’s voice have attracted huge audiences. Fans in reaction-video comment sections repeatedly say that watching newcomers discover his voice is one of their favorite parts of introducing someone to Stray Kids.

    Even in 2026, new reaction videos still explicitly refer to the phenomenon as the “Felix Effect.”

    So why does it work?

    The First Shock Is the Contrast

    Felix doesn’t necessarily look the way first-time viewers expect that voice to sound.

    That contrast matters.

    A new viewer sees his face—and then hears an unexpectedly low, resonant voice.

    The brain needs a second to connect the two.

    That is why one of the most common reactions isn’t simply:

    “I like his voice.”

    It is:

    “Is that really his voice?”

    Felix himself has talked about how naturally deep his voice became during puberty. In an interview with W Korea, he recalled that both he and his family were surprised by how low his voice had become when he was around 12.

    He has also described his deep voice as an important part of his identity as a performer.

    So the surprise that first-time listeners experience isn’t an accident created only by studio effects.

    It is connected to one of Felix’s most recognizable natural characteristics.

    Then Came “God’s Menu”

    If there is one song most closely associated with the Felix Effect, it is Stray Kids’ 2020 breakthrough track “God’s Menu.”

    The song was released on June 17, 2020 as part of the album GO LIVE.

    Near the middle of an already aggressive, unpredictable song, Felix suddenly delivers one of its most recognizable moments in his signature low register.

    For many first-time listeners, everything stops there.

    Reaction videos repeatedly show the same behavior:

    pause,

    confusion,

    rewind,

    then:

    “Who is that?”

    There is even a large subgenre of Stray Kids reaction content built around capturing exactly this moment.

    And “God’s Menu” was important to Stray Kids for reasons beyond Felix.

    Felix himself later described the song as a turning point for the group because it clearly showed Stray Kids’ own musical identity.

    That distinction matters.

    The Felix Effect didn’t happen in isolation.

    His voice landed inside a song that was already designed to sound unmistakably like Stray Kids.

    The Effect Didn’t End With “God’s Menu”

    Then came “MANIAC.”

    Years after “God’s Menu,” the reaction remained remarkably familiar.

    In one first-time reaction we examined, a listener hears Felix and immediately remembers the same voice from an earlier Stray Kids song:

    “What on earth? That is so cool.”

    By the end of the reaction, Felix is one of the members they can remember and identify.

    That pattern appears elsewhere too.

    Some fans describe hearing MANIAC and wanting to know who had “that voice.” Others say Felix’s voice was the first Stray Kids voice they could recognize before they knew all eight members.

    This is what makes the Felix Effect more interesting than simply saying:

    “Felix has a deep voice.”

    The important part is what happens after people hear it.

    A Voice Can Become a Search Button

    Think about the sequence.

    A casual viewer doesn’t need to know anything about Stray Kids.

    They don’t need to understand Korean.

    They don’t need to know what STAY means.

    They don’t even need to be a K-pop fan.

    They only need one moment strong enough to make them curious.

    Voice → surprise → “Who is that?” → Felix → Stray Kids → another song.

    Felix effectively becomes a human search button.

    And this may help explain why his voice works particularly well in short-form video, reaction content and first-listen experiences.

    You don’t need three minutes to understand what makes it unusual.

    You can hear it in seconds.

    But Felix Alone Doesn’t Turn Someone Into a STAY

    This is where the story becomes more interesting.

    The Felix Effect may open the door.

    But Stray Kids still has to keep the listener inside.

    When we looked through first-time Stray Kids reactions, newcomers quickly began noticing other things:

    Changbin and Han’s rap,

    Hyunjin’s performance and visuals,

    Bang Chan,

    the group’s unusual song structures,

    the music-video production,

    and eventually the lyrics.

    One K-pop newcomer described Stray Kids as pushing the boundaries of what they thought K-pop could sound like.

    Another fan said they had previously thought K-pop simply wasn’t for them, but Stray Kids’ unique style and production changed their mind.

    That’s an important distinction.

    Felix can create curiosity. Stray Kids has to convert that curiosity into fandom.

    Even within the fandom, some fans push back against giving the Felix Effect all the credit for the success of “God’s Menu.” They point to the song’s rap, choreography, production, beat changes and other members as equally important parts of what made the track memorable.

    That’s probably the better way to understand it.

    The Felix Effect is an entrance—not the entire building.

    Why the Felix Effect Is So Valuable to Stray Kids

    Every group needs something memorable.

    But memorability becomes especially valuable when someone encounters a group for the first time.

    Eight unfamiliar faces can be difficult for a newcomer to remember.

    A completely unfamiliar Korean song can disappear among thousands of recommendations.

    But an unexpected voice creates a reference point.

    “The guy with the deep voice.”

    Now the viewer has something to remember.

    Later, Felix becomes Felix.

    Then Changbin becomes Changbin.

    Han becomes Han.

    Bang Chan becomes Bang Chan.

    And eventually eight strangers become Stray Kids.

    That may be the real power of the Felix Effect.

    It isn’t simply that Felix has one of K-pop’s most recognizable deep voices.

    It’s that his voice gives people who know nothing about Stray Kids a reason to ask the first question.

    “Who is that?”

    And sometimes, that one question is all it takes to create a new STAY.

  • Stray Kids Hit 100 Million Views in Just 47 Days — Why Is “This & That” Their Fastest MV Ever?

    Stray Kids have plenty of music videos with more than 100 million views.

    So another one reaching the milestone might not sound surprising.

    But “This & That” is different.

    The music video reached 100 million YouTube views in just 47 days, making it the fastest Stray Kids MV ever to hit the milestone.

    For a group that already has a long list of huge YouTube hits, that raises a more interesting question:

    Why did “This & That” get there faster than every Stray Kids video before it?

    100 million views in only 47 days

    The “This & That” music video was released on August 7 at 1 p.m. KST.

    On September 23 at approximately 3:25 p.m. KST, it crossed 100 million views.

    That means it needed only about one month and 16 days to reach nine figures.

    The number itself is impressive.

    But the speed is what turned it into a new Stray Kids record.

    “This & That” is now the group’s fastest music video to reach 100 million views.

    And this is not Stray Kids’ first visit to the 100-million club.

    Far from it.

    It is their 21st full-group MV above 100 million

    “This & That” became the 21st full-group Stray Kids music video to surpass 100 million views.

    The list already includes some of the songs most closely associated with the group, including “God’s Menu,” “Back Door,” “Thunderous,” “MANIAC,” “S-Class” and “Chk Chk Boom.”

    That context makes the new record more interesting.

    Stray Kids did not suddenly discover YouTube success in 2026.

    They have been building a massive catalog of highly viewed music videos for years.

    The challenge now is different.

    They are competing with their own history.

    And “This & That” just moved faster than everything that came before it.

    Their previous benchmark was already difficult to beat

    One useful comparison is “Thunderous.”

    The 2021 music video reached 100 million views in roughly 55 days, which at the time made it the group’s fastest MV to reach the milestone.

    “This & That” needed only 47 days.

    Eight days may not sound enormous.

    But when the target is 100 million views, cutting more than a week from an already fast record is significant.

    It suggests that the audience waiting for a new Stray Kids video has become capable of generating enormous numbers almost immediately.

    So why was “This & That” so fast?

    There is no single number that can fully answer that question.

    But there is an obvious difference between Stray Kids now and Stray Kids several years ago.

    The audience is bigger.

    Every successful comeback adds new listeners.

    Every tour introduces the group to more fans.

    And every viral clip, performance and music video gives people another way to discover their music.

    By the time “This & That” arrived, it was not starting from zero.

    It was launching in front of a global audience that Stray Kids had spent years building.

    That matters enormously on YouTube.

    A music video does not need to slowly find its audience if millions of viewers are already waiting for the moment it appears.

    The 21 videos may matter more than the one record

    There is another way to look at the achievement.

    If Stray Kids had only one music video above 100 million views, “This & That” could be viewed as a single breakout moment.

    But this is No. 21.

    That changes the meaning.

    It suggests repeatability.

    “God’s Menu” reached the milestone.

    So did “Back Door.”

    Then “Thunderous.”

    Then “MANIAC,” “S-Class,” “LALALALA,” “Chk Chk Boom” and many others.

    Different songs.

    Different eras.

    The same threshold.

    And now the group is reaching that threshold faster than ever.

    This is really a record against themselves

    K-pop milestones are often framed as competitions.

    Which group is No. 1?

    Who reached a number first?

    Who has the biggest fandom?

    But the most interesting comparison here may simply be Stray Kids versus Stray Kids.

    Their older releases established the benchmark.

    Their newer release beat it.

    That is a useful sign for a group more than eight years into its career.

    Many artists experience their fastest growth near the beginning of their rise.

    Stray Kids are showing that even after accumulating numerous major hits, a new release can still set a personal record.

    What happens with the next MV?

    That may now be the fun part.

    The target has changed.

    For the next Stray Kids music video, 100 million views alone will not necessarily be the headline.

    Fans will have another number to watch:

    47 days.

    Can the next comeback beat it?

    Maybe.

    Maybe not.

    But “This & That” has already accomplished something more interesting than simply adding another 100-million-view video to Stray Kids’ catalog.

    It showed that after 20 previous full-group music videos crossed the same milestone, the 21st got there faster than all of them.

    For Stray Kids, the competition is increasingly becoming their own past.

    And this time, 47 days was enough to beat it.