MAMA announces nominees for 2022 MAMA Awards

(CJ ENM)

K-pop groups are vying to take home some of the biggest awards at the 2022 Mnet Asian Music Awards, which will take place at Osaka’s Kyocera Dome in Japan from Nov. 29-30.

Ive, Kep1er, Le Sserafim, NewJeans, NMixx and Choi Yena, who made their debuts between December 2021 and July 2022, are battling it out for the best new female artist category, also known as the rookie of the year award.

The nominees for the best new male artist are ATBO, Tempest, TNX, Xdinary Heroes and Younite, who all debuted between December 2021 and July 2022.

Five solo female acts have been nominated for best female artist: IU, (G)I-dle’s Miyeon, who embarked on her first solo adventure in April with “My,” Twice’s Nayeon, who dropped her first solo album “Pop” in June, Red Velvet’s Seulgi, who made her solo debut in October via “28 Reasons,” and Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, who released her 3rd LP “INVU” in February.

BTS’ J-hope, Kang Daniel, trot singer Lim Young-woong, Gangnam style singer Psy and Zico are eyeing the best male artist award.

(G)I-dle, Aespa, Blackpink, Itzy, Red Velvet and Twice are among the nominees for best female group, while BTS, Enhypen, NCT Dream, Seventeen, Stray Kids and TXT have been listed for best male group.

IU’s “Drama,” Kim Min-seok’s “Drunken Confession,” Lee Mujin’s “When it Snows,” Lim Young-woong’s “Our Blues Out Life” and Taeyeon’s “INVU” are in the running for best solo vocal performance.

Big Bang’s “Still Life,” BTS’ “Yet To Come,” female duo Davichi’s “Fanfare,” Enhypen’s “Polaroid Love” and Winner’s “I Love U” have been shortlisted for the best group vocal performance.

Jannabi, Jaurim, Lucy, The Black Skirts and Xdinary Heroes are up for best band, while Jessi, Twice’s Nayeon, Psy, Sunmi and Choi Yena are the nominees for best solo dance performance.

Six groups have been listed for the best dance performance by a male group. Two groups from the NCT umbrella have been nominated for the category: NCT 127’s “2 Baddies,” and NCT Dream’s “Glitch Mode.” Seventeen, Stray Kids, TXT and Treasure, have also been chosen, with “Hot,” “Maniac,” “Good Boy Gone Bad” and “Jikjin,” respectively.

(G)I-dle’s “Tomboy,” Blackpink’s “Pink Venom,” Ive’s “Love Dive,” Le Sserafim’s “Fearless,” NewJeans’ “Attention” and Red Velvet’s “Feel My Rhythm” are among the nominees for the best dance performance by a female group.

The nominations for best song from an original soundtrack, include 10cm’s “Drawer,” Jimin and Ha Sung-woon’s “With You,” MeloMance’s “Love, Maybe,” V’s “Christmas Tree” and Wonstein’s “Your Existence.”

The contenders for best collaboration are 10cm and BIG Naughty’s “Just 10 Centimeters,” Crush’s “Rush Hour (feat. J-hope),” rapper Loco and Hwasa of Mamamoo’s “Somebody!” Psy’s “That That (prod. & feat. Suga)” and Woo Won-jae and Meenoi’s “Ghosting.”

BE’O’s “Counting Stars,” “BIG Naugty’s “Beyond Love,” J-hope’s “More,” Jay Park’s “Ganadara” and Zico’s “Freak” have been nominated for best hip-hop and urban music.

A total of 46 K-pop artists are up for song of the year, 33 musicians have listed themselves as nominees for artist of the year and 50 K-pop soloists and bands have been nominated for Worldwide Fans’ Choice Top 10.

This year’s nominations will be evaluated by a panel of judges, global and domestic song downloads and streaming, physical album sales and fan votes. All music and albums must have been released between Nov. 1, 2021, and Oct. 21, 2022, to be eligible for the awards.

MAMA is one of the biggest annual music awards ceremonies in the K-pop industry. It first kicked off in 1999, as South Korea’s first video awards ceremony, the Mnet KM Music Video Festival.

By Park Jun-hee(junheee@heraldcorp.com)