MAMA 2021 nominees announced: BTS, NCT, Stray Kids, SEVENTEEN, and more

The grandest K-pop music award, Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA 2021), released its nominations on November 3, 2021. The nominations have multiple fandoms pulling up their socks while leaving others upset.

MAMA 2021 has not announced the daesang (Grand Prize) nominations - Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Artist of the Year.

The remaining 14 categories were announced in a livestream and on their official Twitter account soon after the live. The MAMA 2021 has only one category reserved for fan voting and will have three daesangs judged on multiple criteria without fan votes.

Mnet releases nominations for the highly-anticipated year-end music show, MAMA 2021

The time for fanwars, fan votes, preps, and a month full of anticipation has arrived as MAMA 2021 announced their nominees for the famous music awards show. The show will be hosted by K-pop icon Lee Hyori and will take place in Paju, South Korea.

Check out the complete list of nominations announced below.

Best Band Performance:

10 cm - Sleepless in Seoul

CNBLUE - Then, Now and Forever

DAY6 - You Make Me

Jannabi - A Thought on an Autumn Night

N.Flying - Moonshot

Best HipHop & Urban Music:

ASH ISLAND - Melody

Changmo - GJD

Jessi - What Type of X

Mino - Run Away

Yumdda - 9ucci

Best Collaboration:

AKMU & IU - Nakka

Coldplay x BTS - My Universe

Gaeko & Kwon Jin Ah - I Feel Like

Hyolyn & Dasom - Summer or Summer

Rain & J.Y. Park - Switch to Me

Best OST:

10cm - Borrow Your Night (Romance 101)

Cho Jang Seuk - I Like You (Hospital Playlist 2)

Cho Yu Ree - Wish (Hometown Cha Cha Cha)

Lee Mu Jin - Rain and You (Hospital Playlist Season 2)

Yang Yo Seob x Jeong Eun Ji - Love Day (Romance 101)

Best Vocal Performance:

AKMU - Nakka (feat. IU)

Davichi - Just Hug Me

Heize - Happen

IU - Celebrity

Lee Mu Jin - Traffic Light

Best Dance Performance - Solo:

EXO’s Baekhyun - Bambi

HyunA - I’m Not Cool

BLACKPINK’s Lisa - LALISA

BLACKPINK’s Rosé - On The Ground

Jeon So Mi - DUMB DUMB

Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon - Weekend

Best Dance Performance - Female Group:

aespa - Next Level

ITZY - In the Morning

Oh My Girl - Dun Dun Dance

Red Velvet - Queendom

STAYC - ASAP

TWICE - Alcohol-Free

Best Dance Performance - Male Group:

Stray Kids - Thunderous

NCT 127 - Sticker

NCT Dream - Hot Sauce

SEVENTEEN - Ready to Love

SHINee - Don’t Call Me

BTS - Butter

Best New Female Artist:

aespa

Jo Yu Ri

Kwon Eun Bi

LIGHTSUM

STAYC

Best New Male Artist:

DRIPPIN

ENHYPEN

EPEX

MIRAE

p1Harmony

Best Female Artist:

Heize

BLACKPINK’s Lisa

BLACPKINK’s Rosé

Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon

Best Male Artist:

EXO’s Baekhyun

EXO’s D.O

EXO’s Kai

Kang Daniel

Lee Mu Jin

Best Female Group:

(G)I-DLE

Brave Girls

ITZY

Oh My Girl

Red Velvet

TWICE

Best Male Group:

BTS

NCT 127

NCT Dream

SEVENTEEN

Stray Kids

TOMORROW X TOGETHER

The only category fans can vote for in MAMA 2021 is the Worldwide Fans’ Choice Top 10. The voting will take place in two rounds - pre-vote and final vote. Ten groups with the most votes from the 20+ will advance to the final round. The group with the highest votes will win the daesang Worldwide Icon of the Year.

All the groups mentioned above are nominated for the MAMA 2021 Fans' Choice category. The below mentioned groups will join them too:

ATEEZ, Chungha, CL, ENHYPEN, EXO, fromis_9, iKON, Kang Daniel, Lee Seung Gi, LOONA, MAMAMOO, WINNER’s Song Mino, MONSTA X, NU’EST, SF9, Sunmi, Super Junior, THE BOYZ, TREASURE, and Weeekly.

The votings for MAMA 2021 Worldwide Fans’ Choice Top 10 will open on November 4, 6:00 PM KST.

MAMA 2021 will be held on December 11 at 6:00 PM KST. The red carpet for MAMA 2021 will start two hours earlier at 4:00 PM KST.

About the author

Afreen has been a K-Pop Content Specialist at Sportskeeda since 2021. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, along with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication. Afreen has over 4+ years of working in various positions including being an entertainment content writer with Pinkvilla’s K-pop division Hallyutalk and CineDope, and as a copywriter at Flying Cursor.

As per Afreen, she loves her work because she gets to write about the things she is obsessed with. Her thorough research and following the two-genuine-source rule of journalism helps her produce the most accurate content, along with helping her be up-to-date with the industry.

Afreen has had the privilege to interview The Rose's frontrunner, WOOSUNG, and LIONESSES, K-pop's first openly LGBTQ+ group. She is a big fan of SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids, BTS, and The Rose for their hard work, sincerity, and the comic relief their shows provide.

When she is off her shift, Afreen explores the streets of Nottingham in the UK, cooks, and listens to new music.

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Edited by R. Elahi