KMA Nominations 2024 - full list and artist reactions

The nominations for this year's KMAs have been announced and, as always, is a mix of newer artists and established names. Here we take a look at the nominations and pick some of our favourites out.

On Friday, the Korean Music Awards announced the list of nominations for this year's awards. Since 2004, the KMAs have aimed to highlight music from a variety of different genres, with a focus on celebrating some of Korean music’s most unique and creative talents. This year is no exception with an amazing list of artists featuring some of our absolute faves.

Cacophony's insanely good album, DIPUC, got nominated for Best Pop Album. She was nominated alongside the likes of Lee Jin Ah and Yoon Jiyoung.

The two rock categories (Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song) feature some names that will be familiar to Platform Magazine readers. OHCHILL got the nod for both of these awards with their album The Burning City and the song Something Wrong (which ranked highly in our top songs of the year list) receiving nominations.

"It's a great feeling," the band told us. "This year marks our 10th anniversary as a band, so it's like getting a 10th anniversary present, so we're very grateful! I don't think we'll be hungry for a while if we win the award."

Rock music veterans Seoul Electronic Band also received a nomination for the song Ghost Writer. "I was very surprised to be nominated," SEB frontperson Yoonchul Shin told us. "I'm very grateful to all the people who I worked with on the song, and I hope to continue to make music that people enjoy."

The KMAs give awards for Best Modern Rock Album and Best Modern Rock Song (modern rock basically means indie/alternative). 

Math rock band Dabda cap off a great 12 months by being nominated in both sections here. Their excellent album Flower Tail and the track Yonder both received nominations. Parannoul also received the nod for their incredible second studio album, After The Magic. 

Verycoy Bunny also received a very deserved nomination in the Best Song category for her track Now or Never. "It is all the more valuable and rewarding because I know that I have worked so hard," Bunny tells us with a smile. "They say the real thing recognises the real thing."

The Best Metal and Hardcore category is always a place where new music is celebrated, and this year is no exception. 

Emergent death metal band Doguul were nominated for Best Metal and Hardcore Album for their EP If These Bodies Could Talk. "It is definitely an honour to be nominated among so many great artists," explains Doguul bassist and vocalist Alex, "and to receive such recognition for our effort. We hope to keep delivering great metal music this year as well. The gravedigging continues!"

After an amazing year, artist and activist Hwang Puha was nominated for both Best Folk Album and Best Folk Song. "My third album, Two Faces, I worked really hard on, and it feels great to be nominated alongside some amazing musicians," he tells us. "There's been a lot of great records coming out this year, and I think all these different genres of creativity is what moves this world forward, and I support them all." Other artists featured in this category include Yeoyu and Seolbin and Lee Min-hwi.

The nominations for Best Electronic Song and Best Electronic features some of Korea's most interesting producers. Kirara, who is a regular name for the KMAs, is nominated for her track Numbers. She is nominated alongside Cifka, who is also nominated for Best Electronic Album.

Electronic duo 옷옷 also got the nod for Best Electronic Album for Otot for their banger of a record, 21st-century Electronic Duo.

Unsurprisingly, Silica Gel are heavily represented here. After a blockbuster year for them, the band received nominations for Artist of the Year (alongside the likes of Wave to Earth and New Jeans), Album of the Year (with the excellent Yeoyu and Seolbin) and Song of the Year for Tik Tak Tok.

Here is the full list of nominations:

Musician of the Year
NewJeans
Beenzino
Jungkook
Silica Gel
Carina Nebula
wave to earth

Song of the Year
‘Tik Tak Tok’ ft. So!YoON! – Silica Gel
‘Rose Blossom’ – H1-KEY
‘Ditto’ – NewJeans
‘Travel Again’ ft. Cautious Clay – Beenzino
‘Seven’ ft. Latto – Jungkook

Album of the Year
‘COMEDY’ – Yeoyu and Seolbin
‘Get Up’ – NewJeans
‘Heart of the City’ – Lee Jin-ah
‘Machine Boy’ – Silica Gel
‘NOWITZKI’ – Beenzino

Rookie of the Year
dongyi
HANEL
H1-KEY
KISS OF LIFE
Moon Mi-hyang
NO.LINK

Best Pop Song
‘In My Garden’ – Yoon Ji-young
‘Love Lee’ – AKMU
‘DIE 4 YOU’ – DEAN
‘Cocktail Paradise’ – Yun Seok-cheol and Sejin
‘Let’s Say Goodbye’ – Parc Jae-jung

Best Pop Album
‘Round and Round’ – Kim Soo-young
‘In My Garden’ – Yoon Ji-young
‘DIPUC’ – cacophony
‘Heart of the City’ – Lee Jin-ah
‘1집 Alone’ – Parc Jae-jung
‘문(門)’ – Kim Se-jeong

Best K-pop Song
‘Seven’ ft. Latto – Jungkook
‘Cupid’ – FIFTY FIFTY
‘Ditto’ – NewJeans
‘Rose Blossom’ – H1-KEY
‘I AM’ – IVE

Best K-pop Album
‘Get Up’ – NewJeans
‘The Name Chapter: Freefall’ – Tomorrow X Together
‘the Billage of perception: chapter three’ – Billlie
‘Golden’ – Jungkook
‘Born to be XX’ – KISS OF LIFE

Best Rap and Hip-hop Song
‘Travel Again’ ft. Cautious Clay – Beenzino
‘25’ ft. Yang Hong-won – Kid Milli
‘14-23’ – Skyminhyuk
‘Young Boy’ ft. oygli – lobonabeat!
‘What The Hell’ – E SENS

Best Rap and Hip-hop Album
‘NOWITZKI’ – Beenzino
‘해방’ – Skyminhyuk
‘선전기술 X’ – O’Domar
‘Trapstar Lifestyle’ – lonbonabeat!
‘BEIGE’ – Kid Milli

Best R&B and Soul Song
‘Bump It Up’ – THAMA
‘Closet’ ft. Uhm Jung-hwa – SUMIN
‘Whiskey’ (with SOLE, THAMA) – Soul delivery
‘Motif’- youra
‘Closed’ ft. JJANGYOU – jerd

Best R&B and Soul Album
‘Sailing’ – Hoody
‘(1)’ – youra
‘BOMM’ – jerd
‘wonderego’ – Crush
‘YOURS TRULY’ – BRWN

Best Electronic Song
‘Acid Wasp’ – Mount XLR
‘Hush’ – CIFIKA
‘NUMBERS’ – KIRARA
‘JONGNO’ – HYPNOSIS THERAPY
‘Farewell Two Shell’ – Guinneissik

Best Electronic Album
‘Move That’ – NO.LINK
‘21st century electronic duo’ – OTOT
‘PSILOCYBIN’ – HYPNOSIS THERAPY
‘My Star My Planet My Earth’ – Yetsuby
‘ION’ – CIFIKA

Best Rock Song
‘soju & soul’ – OVerdrive Philosophy
‘Ghost Writers’ – Seoul Electronic Band
‘ALL IN’ – Gate Flowers
‘I’m blues man’ – zeonpansansa
‘Something’s Wrong’ – OHCHILL

Best Rock Album
‘Animal’ – THORNAPPLE
‘12가지 말들’ – bongjeingan
‘2/4분기 실적보고서’ – zeonpansansa
‘The Burning City’ – OHCHILL
‘Yellow Supernova Remnant’ – TOUCHED
‘64 see me’ – OVerdrive Philosophy

Best Modern Rock Song
‘Tik Tak Tok’ ft. So!YoON! – Silica Gel
‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ – JUNGWOO
‘NOW OR NEVER’ – verycoybunny
‘Flower Tail’ – Dabda
‘Feeling Of You’ – Cho Yong-pil

Best Modern Rock Album
‘Yonder’ – Dabda
‘After the Magic’ – Parannoul
‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ – JUNGWOO
‘Machine Boy’ – Silica Gel
‘0.1 flaws and all.’ – wave to earth

Best Folk Song
‘Hometown to Come’ – Lee Min-hwi
‘Fire’ – Hwang Pu-ha
‘밤하늘의 별들처럼’ – Yeoyu and Seolbin
‘난 말을 못해요’ – Hwang Pu-ha
‘서술’ – Jeong Mil-ah

Best Folk Album
‘Riverside’ – Jeong Mil-ah
‘Two Faces’ – Hwang Pu-ha
‘봉오리 시절’ – Heo Jeong-hyuk
‘COMEDY’ -Yeoyu and Seolbin
‘Hometown to Come’ – Lee Min-hwi
‘우리는 서로를 간직 하려고’ – Lee Hyung-ju

Best Metal and Hardcore Album
‘다떠위다’ – hollow january
‘Behind the Mask’ – Noeazy
‘REASON FOR SILENCE’ – MAHATMA
‘If These Bodies Could Talk’ – Doguul

Best Global Contemporary Album
‘날초소 분석법’ – dongyi
‘Evolving’ – Iseul Kim’s Two Voices
‘Vals del Sí’ – HANEL
‘COSMOS’ – Ensemble SINAWI

Best Jazz – Vocal Album
‘Extraordinary’ – Kim Yu-jin
‘I Wished On The Moon’ – Moon Mi-hyang
‘FLOW’ – Lim Mi-jung
‘Liminal Silence’ – Sunny Kim, Vardan Ovsepian, Ben Monder
‘Lawless Heart’ – Varden Ovsepian and Song Yi-jeon
‘Good Match’ – Carina Nebula

Best Jazz – Instrumental Album
‘Four Seasons’ – Lee Soo-jung
‘마침내 나는 신록의 봉우리를 비집고’ – Song Nam-hyun
‘Intrinsic Nature’ – Jung Su-min
‘Will It Be Spring Tomorrow?’ – Heo Daeuk