The 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA Awards) are fast-approaching, and the nominees were finally announced on Nov. 1. This year, MAMA Week kicks off with its premiere in South Korea on Dec. 10, followed by Fans’ Choice in Japan on Dec. 12 and concluding with the finale in Hong Kong on Dec. 14. Some of the biggest names in K-Pop and on the Asian music scene have been nominated and you can see the full list of all the honorees below.
The MAMA Awards debuted in 1999 as the Mnet Music Video Festival in Seoul, as a model of the United States’ MTV Video Music Awards. The event was renamed to the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2009, as the categories began to encompass acts outside of South Korea. From 2010-2017, the ceremony was held outside of South Korea, so 2018 is the first time in eight years that the ceremony will return to its original stomping grounds. Here are the nominees:
TikTok Best Music Video
Black Pink – “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du”
Twice – “What Is Love?”
Wanna One – “Beautiful”
BTS – “IDOL”
Shinee – “Good Evening”
Best Male Group
Got7
NCT 127
NU’EST W
Wanna One
BTS
Seventeen
Best Female Group
Black Pink
Twice
Red Velvet
Mamamoo
Momoland
GFriends
Best Male Artist
DEAN
Roy Kim
Park Hyo Shin
ZICO
Hwang Chi Yeul
Best Female Artist
IU
Sunmi
Chung-Ha
Taeyeon
Heize
Best Dance Performance – Male Group
Wanna One – “Boomerang”
Got7 – “Lullaby”
Monsta X – “Shoot Out”
BTS – “Fake Love”
Seventeen – “Oh My!”
Pentagon – “Shine”
Best Dance Performance – Female Group
AOA- “Bingle Bangle”
Twice – “What Is Love?”
Black Pink – “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du”
Red Velvet – “Bad Boy”
Lovelyz – “That Day”
Oh My Girl – “Secret Garden”
Best Dance Performance – Solo
Sunmi – “Siren”
Seungri – “1,2,3!”
Chung-ha – “Roller Coaster”
HyunA – “Lip & Hip”
Hyolyn – “Daily (ft. GRAY)”
Best Unit
EXO-CBX – “Blooming Day”
Wanna One – Triple Position – “Kangaroo:
Gugudan SEMINA – “SEMINA”
Seventeen-BSS – “Just Do It”
Girls’ Generation-Oh!GG – “Lil’ Touch”
Best Vocal Performance – Group
Ikon – “Love Scenario”
Mamamoo – “Starry Night”
MeloMance – “Tale”
Bolbbalgan4 – “Travel”
BTOB – “Only One For Me”
Best Vocal Performance – Solo
Roy Kim – “Only Then”
Park Hyo Shin – “Sound of Winter”
Im Chang Jung – “There Has Never Been A Day I Haven’t Loved You”
Jung Seung-hwan – “The Snowman”
Heize – “Didn’t Know Me”
Best New Male Artist
HAON
Stray Kids
Kim Dong Han
The Boyz
Vinxen
Hyeongseop X Euiwoong
Best New Female Artist
NATURE
GWSN
IZ*ONE
(G)I-DLE
LOONA
Fromis_9
Best OST
NU’EST W – And I (Mr. Sunshine)
Roy Kim – No Longer Mine (Familiar Wife)
Park Hyo Shin – The Day (Mr. Sunshine)
Seventeen – A-Teen (A-Teen)
Paul Kim –Every Day, Every Moment (Should We Kiss First)
Best Band Performance
Day6 – “Shoot Me”
FTISLAND – “Summer Night’s Dream”
Guckkasten – “Stranger”
Kiha and the Faces – “Cho Shim”
Hyukoh – “Love Ya!”
Best HipHop & Urban Music
Dean – “Instagram”
Jay Park – “SOJU”
ZICO – “Soulmate (ft. IU)
Crush – “Bittersweet”
Heize – “Jenga”
Mwave Global Fan Choice
Wanna One – “Beautiful”
Monsta X – “Dramarama”
JBJ – “My Flower”
Got7 – “Look” & “Lullaby”
EXO-CBX – “Blooming Day”
BTS – “Fake Love”
Seventeen – “Oh MY!”
Stray Kids – “My Pace”
At the 2017 MAMA Awards, BTS was the big winner as the Artist of the Year, while EXO took home Album of the Year. BTS also won for Best Music Video (“Spring Day”), while Wanna One took home Best Male Group and Best New Male Artist.