NewJeans sweep K-pop categories at the 2023 Korean Music Awards
NewJeans swept the K-pop categories at this year’s Korean Music Awards, beating out popular contemporaries such as (G)I-DLE, LE SSERAFIM, IVE and more.
The quintet took home the awards for both Best K-pop Album and Best K-pop Song, with their self-titled debut EP and the hit song ‘Attention’ respectively. In addition, the girl group also clinched the trophy for Rookie of the Year, besting fellow K-pop acts LE SSERAFIM and IVE, among others.
Meanwhile, the biggest winner of the night was DJ and producer 250 – real name Lee Ho-hyung – who took home four awards: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Electronic Song, and Best Electronic Album. Notably, 250 has produced many of NewJeans’ hits, including ‘Attention’.
Other winners at the 2023 Korean Music Awards include vocalist Younha (Song of the Year and Best Pop Song for ‘Event Horizon’), AKMU‘s Lee Chan-hyuk (Best Pop Album for ‘Error’), BIBI (Best R&B & Soul Song for ‘Jotto’).
The Korean Music Awards are notable for placing emphasis on musicality and artistic achievements over popularity and sales. According to Korea JoongAng Daily, this year’s winners were selected by a panel of 54 critics and music reporters.
Earlier this year, NewJeans sat down with NME to discuss some of their aspirations and hopes for their future releases. “I want our listeners to be open-minded to new music and have them listen to things that maybe they haven’t heard before,” said member Danielle when asked about the impact she would like NewJeans to have. Read the full NME cover story with NewJeans here.
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Puah Ziwei
NME
