2024 MAMA Nominations Surprise: BLACKPINK’s Lisa, BABYMONSTER, and Others Left Out?

On October 14, the complete list of nominees for the 2024 MAMA Awards (Mnet Asian Music Awards) was unveiled, capturing substantial interest from fans and the industry alike.

However, the announcement has sparked outrage among supporters of several artists, who feel their favorites were unfairly overlooked regarding nominations in various categories. Particularly vocal in their dissent are fans of YG Entertainment’s girl group BABYMONSTER and BLACKPINK member Lisa.

When two artists from YG were leading this category… MAMA suddenly decides to alter the criteria after all these years?? BABYMONSTER and LISA were so robbed…. Now I understand why YG didn’t send BLACKPINK there! https://t.co/MfN1C2j763 pic.twitter.com/uVVJ1yZzdt

— el (@baesdolls) October 14, 2024

Fans specifically criticized MAMA for unexpectedly modifying the criteria for the Best Music Video category, which resulted in BABYMONSTER and Lisa—both considered frontrunners—landing no nominations.

BABYMONSTER holds the record for the most viewed K-pop music video this year, and expectations were high for their win. Can someone explain why they’re not nominated? @MnetMAMA BABYMONSTER ROBBED IN MAMA https://t.co/Qc7FqJUtHa pic.twitter.com/fbMMYQlcTG

— ‏ً (@endedbyahy) October 14, 2024

Additionally, ATEEZ fans were left stunned after the group received nominations only for Worldwide Fan’s Choice and Album of the Year, especially considering their successful year, which included a performance at Coachella.

It’s shocking that it took ATEEZ performing at Coachella and having their song go massively viral for MAMA to give them only one meaningful nomination…

— 🐇 (@NotBonkyP) October 14, 2024

In another notable exclusion, LE SSERAFIM’s hit track “Perfect Night,”despite its impressive chart performance, did not receive a nomination for Song of the Year, while their newer song “Crazy”did.

How is “Perfect Night” not nominated for SOTY when it has the highest points, while “Crazy”got nominated despite being released just a month ago and having far fewer points? We expected to get robbed by the judges, but they didn’t even make it to the nomination.

— gabrii⚡ (@mythssera) October 14, 2024

Since “Crazy”was launched much later and ranked lower on the Korean charts, many fans have speculated that MAMA’s decision to nominate this song over “Perfect Night”was an intentional slight against LE SSERAFIM.

Furthermore, music groups like DAY6 and QWER, which have dominated Korean charts for an extended period, also failed to make the nominations, leaving their fans enraged and disheartened.