The кσяєαn Music Awards (KMA) is an award ceremony that aims to blur the lines between mainstream and non-mainstream music. The judging panel consists of music critics, music program directors, and other industry professionals.

The annual awards ceremony is considered by fans to be one of the most prestigious music awards in кσяєα, known for prioritizing musicality and artistry over commercial success.

However, the ceremony recently faced a huge backlash from ARMYs when it announced that it would disqualify RM's solo album 'Right Place, Wrong Person' (RPWP) from being nominated for the award due to its genre clαѕѕification.

On April 21, KMA committee member Jo Hye Rim, in an interview with Ling Rong Dang, shared about music and songs that were not recognized due to their genre ambiguity.

She explained RM's second solo album as an example and why it did not receive any nominations. This was because the committee found it difficult to understand the genre of the album even though 'Right Place, Wrong Person' was a notable album.

According to her official Instagram post, she said: "There are often songs that don't get selected because it's hard to clearly categorize their genre. In cases like RM’s album, which leans toward the alternative genre, even though it’s an excellent album, we struggled because it didn’t fall neatly into a specific genre. Sometimes, the clαѕѕification of music genres seems to become more of an obstacle."

The statement by KMA committee member Jo Hye Rim immediately angered netizens, who believed that the selection committee was negligent in reviewing music products, especially the BTS leader's album, rather than being difficult to "clαѕѕify genres".

Fans also claimed that RM's album 'Right Place, Wrong Person' was a "hiphop album that leans heavily towards the alternative & neo soul genres". Fans criticized the KMA committee members and questioned their ability and sкιℓℓs in not being able to clαѕѕify the works of art.

KMA has also been accused by many fans of belittling RM's album, and more broadly, of not recognizing the talents of many genuine artists. While the awards show has always emphasized music, art, and creativity, the judges themselves have been unreceptive or have shown a lack of appreciation for diverse works.

On the other hand, RM's second solo album 'Right Place, Wrong Person', released on May 24, 2024, has received a lot of domestic and international recognition for both its music and visuals.

The music video for LOST! was screened at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2024. The BTS rapper's documentary 'Right People, Wrong Place' was also screened at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival.

‘Right Place, Wrong Person’ received the Best Hip Hop Album in a special category at the 2025 Hanteo Music Awards. Furthermore, Pop Golden Awards 2024 awarded the B-side tracks Groin and Come Back to Me in the Golden Rap Performance of the Year and Golden Underground Record categories, respectively.

Music Video LOST! won  Best Production Design in a Video Award and Best Alternative Video International Award at the 2024 UK Music Video Awards. It also won awards in four different categories at the 2024 CICLOPE International Festival of Craft, making RM be the first and only кσяєαn artist to be nominated and receive awards in a maximum number of categories

On April 24, 2025, the αмєяι¢αn Music Awards announced the nominees for the Favorite K-Pop Artist Award, including RM, who is one of the first three кσяєαn solo artists to be nominated in the category along with member Jimin and several other K-pop idols.

Previously, the MV LOST! was also confirmed to be nominated at the Berlin Video Music Awards, making RM the first and only кσяєαn to be nominated at the prestigious G͜͡E͜͡R͜͡M͜͡A͜͡N͜͡award ceremony.

Furthermore, the music video was also nominated for EyeCandy’s Most Creative Video of the Year at the 2025 Hollywood Video Music Awards (HMVA).

The list of achievements that RPWP has achieved is not shortened by not being nominated at the кσяєαn Music Awards. Even by removing RM from the nomination list for a ridiculous reason, the jury and this award have been underestimated by the public, losing the value that it always aimed for:

- This is ridiculous

- Umm where we can file a complaint cause clearly the critics panel is incapable and unsкιℓℓful

- So the кσяєαn Grammy overlooked RPWP cause it’s too creative for them it doesn’t fit into one box they need an easy pop cliche album so they can understand it and critic it lol

- They are suppose to be experts and KMA is suppose to be the "Grammy" of кσяєα. They overlooked RPWP because they can't box him into a genre. What a total joke!?

- So foreign music critics can't clαѕѕify his album so they put it inside kpop box and korean music critics can't clαѕѕify his album so they don't nominate him for awards??? Ohk

- Basically,, and now theyre trying to "speak up" as if their dumbness isn't seen through trying to make themselves "relevant" when a CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED album received so many recognition globally yet the one from its own country missed to recognize it

- Well that's frankly ridiculous on the critics end. Is it not alternative hip-hop? Like, Tyler the creator's "igor" isn't necessarily a rap album but at least they nominated it rather than brush past it

- Whole time it was a hiphop album that leaned heavily towards the alternative & neo soul genre. This album was very experimental in terms of the kpop world but ppl that listen to diverse music could hear many of the jazz & r&b soul influences

- I'm going mad about this because the hip hop category was RIGHT THERE and they acting like he did a country jazz gospel album while it's just hip hop also alternative/experimental? yeah BUT STILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL HIP HOP