Grammys CEO sounds off on Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, K-pop

Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAYWed, January 21, 2026 at 1:39 AM UTC

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Over the last few years, the Grammys have had to adapt to the unexpected.

In 2020, mere hours before the Los Angeles awards show, Lakers legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash. The 2021 and 2022 ceremonies faced COVID-19 disruptions. Last year, devastating wildfires impacted the show and many of its celebrities.

So it’s understandable that, even with no current obstacles, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. says, “We do not exhale. We’re always holding our breath trying to create one of the most complicated shows and focus on celebrating music.”

This year’s coronation of music’s supernovas will air live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Feb. 1 with Trevor Noah returning as host.

The show is reliably packed with performances, often from the most-nominated stars. While Kendrick Lamar leads the nominations with nine, followed by Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas and Sabrina Carpenter among those landing six nods, only Carpenter has been announced as a performer as of Jan. 20.

In his recent chat with USA TODAY, Mason jr. wouldn’t detail a potentia Bob Weir/Grateful Dead tribute during the ceremony, noting it was a “tragic year” with the death of many major musicians, but said, “We’ve done so much to make sure we’re doing these tributes respectfully and in a creative way – that is always top of mind.”

But the Recording Academy chief did share his thoughts on top nominee Kendrick Lamar, the global impact of Bad Bunny’s music and how five nominations for the “Kpop Demon Hunters” soundtrack might signal a future K-pop Grammy category.

Sabrina Carpenter, shown performing at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, will also perform at the 2026 Grammy Awards, where she is nominated six times.

Question: Kendrick Lamar has nine nominations this year and 22 career awards. It seems as if Grammy voters don’t even think twice now about spotlighting hip-hop.

Harvey Mason jr: Isn't that great? It’s a result of the popularity of the genre, the talent, the prolific nature of the artists. Our membership plays a role in that – the genres and the types of creators being honored. You have legends and superstars and up and comers, artists who have taken the traditional path and people on TikTok.

How else do you think the influx of new members might impact voting and viewership?

I hope it impacts voting by more reflective outcomes on our nominees and winners. Making sure the voting body is representative of music gives us a chance that we’re more relevant. These are the people making the most interesting music of the year and that leads to, what can we put on the show? How do we reach consumers and get them excited? That allows us to generate revenue for all of the things the Recording Academy does all year, like the $15 million raised for FireAid from MusiCares (last year).

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What do you think is the most competitive Grammys category?

They’re all competitive. Everyone is going to be biting fingernails and pulling out hair. Think of all the time and energy and passion that go into all of those projects. Anyone you select is a valid winner.

Harvey Mason jr., the CEO of MusicCares & Recording Academy, attends the 67th annual GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.

Bad Bunny’s album nomination for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” is the second time an all-Spanish album has received an album of the year nod and the other was also him (“Un Verano Sin Ti” in 2023). What are your thoughts on what he’s done to expand not just the Grammys, but music, to a broader culture?

He’s had such an amazing year and there’s been massive movement of the needles based on what he’s done. Music, his performances … what he’s done is highlight what is happening in music ‒ different sounds, styles, artists who all have the possibility of shaping the core of music. Everyone is accepting music from where it comes from, no matter the language whether it’s Afro beats or K-pop or Bollywood in India. Now it’s just about great music. When you look at Bad Bunny, you realize people are really coming together to be moved.

We’ve talked about K-pop the past couple of years in the sense of when might it have its own category. I’m guessing you never thought an animated Netflix movie (“Kpop Demon Hunters”) would be the thing to really break the genre at the Grammys.

It’s not what I saw coming, but that genre has been impactful for quite some time, 15 years now. But seeing the growth and evolution of where the artists come from, I’m not surprised they’re being recognized the way they are.

So do you think the time has come for a K-pop category?

There’s more groundswell for a category now, but categories are determined by the members and music communities. When a contingency wants to be represented they create proposals and our members vote on it. Like with the contemporary country category (new for 2026), that came from the music community saying we want to honor our music differently, we want to talk about that category. I don’t choose the categories. I hope people don’t have problems with it, because the objective is to honor more music.

This will be the sixth year Trevor Noah is hosting. Why he is still the best choice?

Trevor has been the perfect host and a big part of the reason our show is what it is and the growth the show has created has been influenced by him. He’s funny, smart, respectful, full of positive energy and he’s also a huge fan of music. He loves music and that comes through. He doesn’t take jabs at the expense of the community. There’s nothing cringey. There is enough of that going around.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grammys CEO talks Kendrick, Bad Bunny and K-pop ahead of awards

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