Friday Bonus: Did I agree with MAMA album of the year 2023?
Is MAMA rigged or is it actually a good reflection of Kpop quality?
I was today years old when I realized MAMA releases a longlist of albums nominated for album of the year in 2023. And since I, too, kept a running list of what I thought were the best albums of the year, we can compare and see if I think MAMA got it right. Keep in mind that the MAMA eligibility period is albums released 22 October 2022, to 30 September 2023, so it’s not really a “Best of 2023” list (mainly this is why you don’t see Taemin or Jungkook or VIVIZ on this list).
Best album of 2023 (my opinion): Get Up by NewJeans
Best album of 2023 (MAMA): FML by Seventeen
I mean, 2023 was always going to be Seventeen’s year. With BTS finally officially out of the way it was their moment in the sun after literal years of being always the bridesmaid, never the bride. I do wish FML had been a better album for them though. It was good, but not their best and I would have loved for them to have won for something on the level of Attacca or Heng;garae.
Nominated albums (my opinion): FML by Seventeen; Rover by Kai; I’ve IVE by IVE; The Name Chapter: Temptation by TXT
Nominated albums (MAMA): Get Up by NewJeans; ISTJ by NCT Dream; 5 Star by Stray Kids; The Name Chapter: Temptation by TXT
Honestly, 5 Star was reeeeeally close to making my top list as well but I thought IVE was just too good, and I wanted there to be a better gender balance in my top five. NCT Dream has just usually been kind of a miss for me, and although Kai’s album was truly one of the best of the year, he was never going to get nominated while he was doing military service (MAMA wants to nominate people who will perform!). But glad we agree on Seventeen, NewJeans and TXT, and all my other shortlisted albums were on their longlist and vice versa so lot’s of agreement here!
Now let’s compare the longlist, shall we?
Albums we have in common (ranked in my order, MAMA’s isn’t ranked):
Layover by V
D-Day by Agust D
Game Plan by Jeon Somi
Shalala by Taeyong
I Feel by (G)I-dle
ASSEMBLE by tripleS
House of Tricky: How to Play by xikers
Kiss of Life by Kiss of Life
Face by Jimin
Wind and Wish by BtoB
Reboot by Treasure
Albums that were on my list that were NOT on MAMA list:
Circle by ONEW
Rose by Ash Island
Who! by Boy Next Door
The Colors of Love by Bang Yongguk
The Calm Before the Storm by Tempest
Pygmalion by ONEUS
‘OK’ Episode 2: I’m OK by CIX
Albums on the MAMA longlist that I did not like enough to put on my list:
My World by aespa
Exist by EXO
Unforgiven by LE SSERAFIM
Down to Earth by Taeyang
Ready to Be by Twice
Youth In the Shade by ZeroBaseOne
Zone by Jihyo
Teenfresh by STAYC
Albums that were on their list that I just straight up hadn’t heard of (my bad!):
Hopeless Romantic by Big Naughty
7+Up by El7z Up
Target: Me by Evnne
Over the Moon by Lee Chae-yeon
Love & Happiness by LimeLight
Alone by Parc Jae-jung
MAMA (and a lot of Kpop awards shows) are kind of notorious for being rigged, with opaque and ever changing decision criteria. This year, 80% of the decision for album of the year was based on sales and 20% on judges panel. So artists from smaller agencies are going to really struggle to be seen here, and it makes it more and more likely that massively popular groups like BTS and Seventeen win if so much of the decision is based on sales and not objective quality of the album. This is also why I think there are some objectively bad albums on their longlist and a lot of really good albums from artists from small agencies are on my list but would never be on MAMA’s list.
With all that being said, we had 18 albums in common on our longlists, including each others’ shortlists, so I don’t think MAMA is that far off the mark (at least this year). There were another 7 albums that I thought should have been on the list, 8 albums that I did NOT think deserved to be on the list, and 6 albums I hadn’t listened to.
I would love to see a ten album shortlist from MAMA moving forward with a better eye to actual album quality, but in the meantime you can just trust my opinions :)
I can do an abbreviated version of this analysis for 2022 as well, because I listened to a lot of albums in 2022, but it won’t be as comprehensive!