20th Korean Music Awards

The 20th Korean Music Awards was held in Seoul, South Korea on March 5, 2023. Hosted by the Korean Music Awards Selection Committee and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency, the ceremony recognized the best music released in South Korea between December 1, 2021, and November 30, 2022.

20th Korean Music Awards
Date	March 5, 2023
Location	Seoul, South Korea
Highlights
Most awards	250 (4)
Most nominations	NewJeans (6)
Musician of the Year	250
Album of the Year	250 – Ppong
Song of the Year	Younha – "Event Horizon"
Website	koreanmusicawards.com
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Unlike other South Korean music awards, the Korean Music Awards are based on musical achievement rather than record sales. Winners are determined by the Korean Music Awards Selection Committee panel comprising music critics, radio show producers, academics, and other music industry professionals.

Nominations were announced on February 9, 2023. Newcomer girl group NewJeans received the most nominations with six, including in all three daesang categories.^[1] Producer 250 won the most awards of the night with four, while NewJeans won a total of three awards; 250 also served as the producer for the works NewJeans were nominated for.

Winners and nominees

NewJeans is the ceremony's most nominated artist

Main awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).^[2] Nominees are listed in alphabetical order.^[3][4]

Album of the Year 250 – Ppong‡ The Black Skirts – Teen Troubles Line and Circle – Night and Day NewJeans – New Jeans Nucksal, Cadejo – Sincerely Yours Song Young-joo – Atmosphere	Song of the Year Younha – "Event Horizon"‡ (G)I-dle – "Tomboy" Ive – "Love Dive" Jang Ki-ha – "Envy None" NewJeans – "Attention" Silica Gel – "No Pain"
Musician of the Year 250‡ Jang Ki-ha NewJeans Nucksal, Cadejo Younha	Rookie of the Year NewJeans‡ Hanroro Ive Le Sserafim Kim Yu-jin Sion
Best K-Pop Album NewJeans – New Jeans‡ (G)I-dle – I Love (G)I-dle – I Never Die Le Sserafim – Antifragile Taeyeon – INVU	Best K-Pop Song NewJeans – "Attention"‡ (G)I-dle – "Tomboy" Ive – "Love Dive" Le Sserafim – "Antifragile" Red Velvet – "Feel My Rhythm"
Best Pop Album Lee Chan-hyuk – Error‡ Choi Beck-ho – Moment Jang Ki-ha – Levitation Light & Salt – Here We Go Lim Young-woong – Im Hero	Best Pop Song Younha – "Event Horizon"‡ 250 – "It Was All a Dream" Jang Ki-ha – "Envy None" Lee Chan-hyuk – "Panorama" Wonpil – "A Journey"
Best Rock Album Concorde – Supersonic Airliner‡ ABTB – iii BadLamb – Universal Anxiety Lanalogue – Stereo Out! OVerdrive Philosophy – OVerdrive Philosophy	Best Rock Song Jambinai – "From the Place Been Erased" (feat. Sunwoo Jung-a)‡ BadLamb – "Love, Lies, Bleeding" Concorde – "Rainbow Flowers Are Blooming" HarryBigButton – "Thelma & Louise" OVerdrive Philosophy – "Painful Truth"
Best Modern Rock Album The Black Skirts – Teen Troubles‡ The Bowls – Blast From the Past Huckleberryfinn – The Light of Rain Say Sue Me – The Last Thing Left TRPP – Here to Stay	Best Modern Rock Song Silica Gel – "No Pain"‡ Cho Yong-pil – "Moment" Hanroro – "Let Me Love My Youth" Huckleberryfinn – "Tempest" Say Sue Me – "To Dream"
Best Electronic Album 250 – Ppong‡ Glen Check – Bleach Pierre Blanche – Ego Salamanda – Ashbalkum Two Tone Shape – Every Minute	Best Electronic Song 250 – "Bang Bus"‡ Glen Check – "4ever" Kirara – "Stargaze" Pierre Blanche – "Infinite Circle" (feat. Rondo Mo) Taeyeon – "INVU" (Moon Kyoo Remix)
Best Rap & Hip-Hop Album Nucksal, Cadejo – Sincerely Yours‡ C Jamm – Ghenn Lee Hyun-jun – Lost in Translation Paloalto – Dirt Qim Isle – Some Hearts Are for Two	Best Rap & Hip-Hop Song Nucksal, Cadejo – "Good Morning Seoul"‡ Lee Hyun-jun – "White Lighter" Lobonabeat! – "Birthday" (feat. Bill Stax) Paloalto – "Priceless" (feat. toigo) Zico – "New Thing" (prod. by Zico, feat. Homies)
Best R&B & Soul Album A.Train – Private Pink‡ Che – Kpop Joe Layne – Life O Life Rad Museum – Rad Slom – Weather Report Soul Delivery – FoodCourt	Best R&B & Soul Song Bibi – "Jotto"‡ A.Train – "Something Beautiful" (feat. Meaningful Stone, Simun, Seo Bo-kyung) Sion – "Braindead" Slom – "Anirago" (feat. Zion.T) Soul Delivery – "Nugs" (with Thama)
Best Folk Album Line and Circle – Night and Day‡ Bae Young-gyoung – You My Blue Kim Mok-in – Stored Images Lucid Fall – Voice Beside Guitar Summer of Thoughts – Hands	Best Folk Song Line and Circle – "Night and Day"‡ Bae Young-gyoung – "I Love You" (feat. Sunnie) Kim Mok-in – "Walking in the City" (feat. Dajung) Lucid Fall – "A Small Handful of Songs" Summer of Thoughts – "Rambler" (with Park Hye-li)
Best Jazz Album Song Young-joo – Atmosphere‡ Hoo Kim Big Band – Common Heritage of Humankind Kim Jung-sik – Hangul, Improvisation Mandong – Big Sun Yu Tae-sung – Michelangelo	Best Jazz Vocal Album Kim Yu-jin – A Piece and the Whole‡ Kim Ju-hwan – Candy: Memories of Nat King Cole Trio Maria Kim – Stellive Vol. 16 Two for the Road Song Yi-jeon & Vinicius Gomes – Home Youn Sun-nah – Waking World
Best Metal & Hardcore Album Madmans Esprit – I See Myself Through You Who See Us Through Me‡ Dog Last Page – Drunken Dream Nuclear Idiots – Nclridts Seaweed Mustache – Bombora" Visceral Explosion – Human Meat Distribution Process	Best Global Contemporary Album Jung Jae-il – Psalms‡ Baum Sae – Communication Hwang Gina – Short Film Ji Park, BlankFor.ms, VRI String Quartet – Syntropy Park Jiha – The Gleam Sinnoi – Illumination

Special awards

• Achievement Award – Love & Peace^[5]

References

1. Hicap, Jonathan (February 9, 2023). "K-pop group NewJeans bags most nominations at Korean Music Awards". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
2. "대중음악상 프로듀서 250 4관왕, 뉴진스 3관왕" [Producer 250 wins 4 awards at the Korean Popular Music Awards, New Jeans wins 3 awards]. Seoul Shinmun (in Korean). Naver. March 5, 2023. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
3. "Nominees Total". Korean Music Awards (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
4. "Nominees Genre". Korean Music Awards (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
5. Seo, Jung-min (February 9, 2023). 뉴진스, '한국대중음악상' 6개 부문 최다 후보 [NewJeans is nominated in six categories, the most at the Korean Music Awards]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023 – via Naver.