The nominees for the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards were announced.
The awards ceremony, which is scheduled to take place on 11 December at 6:00 p.m. KST, had some surprise acts nominated.
Several changes have also been made to the criteria for determining the awards this year. Unlike in previous years, fan votes will not be a criteria in determining the Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, or Album of the Year awards.
The Worldwide Icon of the Year and Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 awards will still remain to be entirely determined by fan votes, featuring no other criteria.
The criteria for the final winners are as follows:
- Artist of the Year and Artist Category Awards - determined by 40% judges' evaluations, 20% digital performance, 20% physical album sales, 10% music video, and 10% global music platform.
- Song of the Year and Song Genre Category Awards - determined by 40% judges' evaluations, 30% digital performance, 10% physical album sales, 10% music video, and 10% global music platform.
- Album of the Year - determined by 40% judges' evaluations, 10% digital performances, 40% physical album sales, and 10% global music platform.
- Worldwide Icon of the Year and Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 - determined by 100% official votes.
Voting for the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards will take place online on the Mnet website (Mwave) starting from 4 November at 6:00 p.m. KST and ending on 22 November at 4:59 p.m. KST.
And the nominees for the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards are as follows:
BEST NEW MALE ARTIST
- DRIPPIN
- ENHYPEN
- EPEX
- MIRAE
- P1Harmony
BEST NEW FEMALE ARTIST
- aespa
- Jo Yu Ri
- Kwon Eun Bi
- LIGHTSUM
- STAYC
BEST MALE ARTIST
- EXO's Baekhyun
- EXO's D.O.
- EXO's Kai
- Kang Daniel
- Lee Mujin
BEST FEMALE ARTIST
- Heize
- IU
- BLACKPINK's Lisa
- BLACKPINK's Rose
- Girls' Generation's Taeyeon
BEST MALE GROUP
- BTS
- NCT 127
- NCT DREAM
- SEVENTEEN
- Stray Kids
- TXT
BEST FEMALE GROUP
- (G)I-DLE
- Brave Girls
- ITZY
- Oh My Girl
- Red Velvet
- TWICE
BEST DANCE PERFORMANCE MALE GROUP
- BTS - "Butter"
- NCT 127 - "Sticker"
- NCT DREAM - "Hot Sauce"
- SEVENTEEN - "Ready to love"
- SHINee - "Don't Call Me"
- Stray Kids - "Thunderous"
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 SOLO
- EXO's Baekhyun - "Bambi"
- HyunA - "I'm Not Cool"
- BLACKPINK's Lisa - "LALISA"
- BLACKPINK's Rose - "On The Ground"
- Jeon Somi - "DUMB DUMB"
- Girls' Generation's Taeyeon - "Weekend"
BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE
- AKMU - "NAKKA" featuring IU
- Davichi - "Just Hug Me"
- Heize - "HAPPEN"
- IU - "Celebrity"
- Lee Mujin - "Traffic light"
BEST BAND PERFORMANCE
- 10cm - "Sleepless in Seoul" (featuring AKMU's Lee Suhyun)
- CNBLUE - "Then, Now and Forever"
- DAY6 - "You Make Me"
- Jannabi - "A thought on an autumn night"
- N.Flying - "Moonshot"
BEST HIP HOP AND URBAN MUSIC
- ASH ISLAND - "MELODY"
- CHANGMO - "GJD"
- Jessi - "What Type of X"
- WINNER's Song Mino - "Run away"
- YUMDDA - "9ucci" (featuring DOGE)
BEST OST
- 10cm - "Borrow Your Night" (from "Romance 101")
- Jo Jung Suk - "I Like You" (from "Hospital Playlist 2")
- Choi Yu Ree - "Wish" (from "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha")
- Lee Mujin - "Rain and You" (from "Hospital Playlist 2")
- Highlight's Yang Yoseob and Apink's Jung Eun Ji - "Love Day" (from "Romance 101")
BEST COLLABORATION
- AKMU - "NAKKA" (featuring IU)
- Coldplay and BTS - "My Universe"
- Gaeko and Kwon Jin Ah
- Hyolyn and Dasom - "Summer or Summer"
- Rain - "Switch to Me" (featuring Park Jin Young)
WORLDWIDE FANS' CHOICE TOP 10
- (G)I-DLE
- aespa
- AKMU
- ASH ISLAND
- ASTRO
- ATEEZ
- Brave Girls
- BTS
- Chungha
- CL
- Davichi
- ENHYPEN
- EXO
- fromis_9
- Heize
- HyunA
- iKON
- ITZY
- IU
- Jannabi
- Jessi
- Kang Daniel
- Lee Mujin
- Lee Seung Gi
- BLACKPINK's Lisa
- LOONA
- MAMAMOO
- WINNER's Song Mino
- MONSTA X
- NCT 127
- NCT DREAM
- NU'EST
- Oh My Girl
- Rain
- Red Velvet
- BLACKPINK's Rose
- SEVENTEEN
- SF9
- SHINee
- Jeon Somi
- STAYC
- Stray Kids
- Sunmi
- Super Junior
- Girls' Generation's Taeyeon
- THE BOYZ
- TXT
- TREASURE
- TWICE
- Weeekly