Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
BTS is a famous music group from South Korea. It has seven members.
The Grammy Awards is a big music award show. BTS will not enter its music for the next Grammys.
The group said this on July 29. All seven members wrote the same message.
This happened after the Grammys made a new award just for Asian pop music. Many people think BTS is unhappy about this new award.
- member
- a person who belongs to a group
- award
- a prize given for doing something well
- enter
- to sign up or take part in something, like a contest
- message
- words sent from one person to others
- category
- a group that things are sorted into
- protest
- to show that you disagree with something
- unhappy
- not happy or pleased
- famous
- known by many people
Level 2 — Elementary
The K-pop group BTS announced that it will not submit its music for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards, a decision that many see as a protest against a new award category created by the Recording Academy.
On July 29, all seven members of the group, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, posted an identical statement in Korean on their individual Instagram accounts. The message said, 'We have decided not to submit an entry for Grammy consideration this year.'
The members explained that they hope their music can be 'heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.' The announcement came just over a month after the Recording Academy unveiled a new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.
Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr. responded that he was 'saddened to hear' about the decision but said, 'as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision.' He defended the new category, saying it does not exclude any artists from competing in the show's general fields, such as Album of the Year.
- submit
- to formally send something in for consideration or approval
- consideration
- the act of thinking about something carefully, especially for a decision
- identical
- exactly the same
- individual
- belonging to or done by one single person
- unveil
- to show or announce something publicly for the first time
- respond
- to say or do something as a reaction to something else
- exclude
- to leave someone or something out
- general
- not limited to one specific group or topic
Level 3 — Intermediate
The K-pop group BTS announced on July 29 that it will not submit its music for consideration at the 69th Grammy Awards, scheduled for February 2027, a move widely interpreted as a protest against the Recording Academy's recent creation of a Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.
All seven members, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, relayed an identical message in Korean on their individual Instagram accounts rather than in English, a choice observers read as a deliberate signal of their unwillingness to be marginalized into a niche category. The statement read, 'We have decided not to submit an entry for Grammy consideration this year,' and expressed hope that their music could be 'heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.'
The announcement followed just over a month after the Recording Academy unveiled the new category, which critics speculate was designed to accommodate the popularity of K-pop without necessarily rewarding its artists in more prestigious general fields such as Album of the Year or Record of the Year.
Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr. responded in a statement that he was 'saddened to hear' of the decision, adding, 'as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision.' He nonetheless defended the new category, asserting that it does not preclude any artist from being considered in the ceremony's general fields.
- relay
- to pass on a message from one person or place to another
- deliberate
- done on purpose, intentionally
- marginalize
- to treat a person or group as unimportant or on the edges
- niche
- a specialized or narrow segment of something
- accommodate
- to make suitable arrangements for someone or something
- prestigious
- inspiring respect and admiration; having high status
- assert
- to state something confidently and firmly
- preclude
- to prevent something from happening
Level 4 — Advanced
The K-pop group BTS announced on July 29 that it will decline to submit its music for consideration at the 69th Grammy Awards, scheduled for February 2027, a move broadly interpreted as a rebuke of the Recording Academy's recent introduction of a Best Asian Pop Music Performance category.
All seven members, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, relayed an identical message in Korean across their individual Instagram accounts rather than in English, a choice observers construed as a deliberate refusal to be marginalized into a niche classification. The statement read, 'We have decided not to submit an entry for Grammy consideration this year,' expressing hope that their music might be 'heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.'
The announcement arrived just over a month after the Recording Academy unveiled the category, which critics speculate was conceived to accommodate K-pop's commercial ascendance without necessarily conferring recognition upon its artists within more prestigious general fields such as Album of the Year or Record of the Year.
Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr. responded that he was 'saddened to hear' of the decision, adding, 'as a music creator, I understand and respect their decision,' while nonetheless defending the category by asserting that its existence does not preclude any artist from consideration within the ceremony's general fields.
- rebuke
- an expression of sharp disapproval or criticism
- construe
- to interpret the meaning of an action or statement
- classification
- a system of arranging things into categories
- ascendance
- the state of rising in power, influence, or popularity
- confer
- to grant or bestow something, such as an honor
- conceive
- to form or create an idea or plan in the mind
- commercial
- related to buying and selling, or making a profit
- recognition
- acknowledgment of achievement or existence
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