There will be no YG Entertainment artists at the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) this year. The agency announced on Tuesday, Nov. 22 that none of their singers will be attending the 2016 MAMA which will be held at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong on Dec. 2.
"The final decision has been made that YG singers will not be participating in the 2016 MAMA.," a source from YG Entertainment told Korean news outlet Star News (via Soompi). The source further explained that their artists already have their schedules in December and it would be hard for them to attend.
YG artists nominated for 2016 MAMA include rookie girl group BLACKPINK for best new female artist award, iKON for best male group, Lee Hi for best female singer and PSY for best male singer. BLACKPINK's "Whistle" was nominated for best music video while MOBB's "Hit Me" was nominated for song of the year award and best collaboration. BLACKPINK, iKON, PSY, and Lee Hi were also nominated for artist of the year award.
Among YG Entertainment artists, BIGBANG, Sechs Kies and PSY are all scheduled to make a comeback this December and are busy finishing their albums and doing promotions. It was reported previously that BIGBANG and Sechs Kies will have their comeback before mid-December so they are really busy but fans are wondering why the other YG artists could not attend.
YG Entertainment though explained that there is no conflict between the agency and Mnet and that the former already relayed their decision to the latter. "We hope there won't be any speculations or misunderstandings," a representative of the label said, according to All Kpop.
The agency also said it does not know if any of their artists have a possibility of winning an award and even if they do get invited, it would be difficult to prepare a special performance for the award show. However, the decision is only for 2016 MAMA and YG entertainment artists might be able to attend other year-end award ceremonies.
