# 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards

The 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards ceremony, also known as 2021 MAMA, organized by CJ E&M and broadcast through its music channel Mnet, took place live on December 11, 2021. The ceremony was held at CJ ENM Contents World in Paju, South Korea. The theme for the ceremony was titled as "Make Some Noise". The ceremony was the 23rd in the show's history, and the last to be named as the "Mnet Asian Music Awards," as the show rebranded for the following edition.

## Background

On July 20, 2021, it was reported by Ilgan Sports the ceremony is undergoing discussion to be held in Hong Kong despite the ongoing pandemic and travel restrictions. On September 7, it was announced the ceremony would be held at CJ ENM Contents World in Paju, South Korea. This will be the second consecutive year, the ceremony will take place in South Korea only.
On October 13, Mnet announced that Lee Hyori will be hosting the ceremony. She will be the first female host for Mnet Asian Music Awards. In addition, Mnet also announced that the theme of the ceremony titled as "Make Some Noise". Mnet also announced that it will be airing a 7-episode special documentary titled "MAMA: The Original K-pop Awards" from October 28, to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Mnet Asian Music Awards. According to video teaser posted on Mnet's Twitter, the documentary is expected to feature interviews from Psy, Park Jin-young, Exo's Kai, Twice's Nayeon, Sana, and Jihyo, Mamamoo's Hwasa, Stray Kids, Super Junior, Shinee, and 2NE1.
On November 16, a global press conference was held. It was revealed that the awards ceremony will be an offline event with a limited audience in accordance with government disease prevention guidelines. South Korean-based company, Samil PwC, will be auditing the ceremony. Mnet also announced additional performers including British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, the 8 crews of Street Woman Fighter, a reunion stage of Wanna One, and a collaboration stage between members of top fourth-generation K-pop groups.
On December 9, Mnet announced the 2021 MAMA Ambassadors. Rain, Song Joong-ki, Ed Sheeran and Han Ye-ri will deliver the key values that made K-content globally loved by global audiences. On December 11, Mnet released a special album titled, "Do the dance", performed by Lee Hyori on music streaming platforms.

## Performers

Ed Sheeran, Street Woman Fighter, and Wanna One were announced as performers on November 16, 2021. The rest of the performers were announced on November 25. On December 5, Kep1er withdrew from the ceremony after a staff member from the group tested positive for COVID-19. Some performances are pre-recorded.
List of performers at 2021 MAMA :
| Name(s) | Song performed | Stage theme |
| Heeseung (Enhypen), Hyunjin (Stray Kids), Karina (Aespa), Wooyoung (Ateez), Yeji (Itzy), Yeonjun (Tomorrow X Together) | — | "BlooM The Sound" |
| Brave Girls | "Rollin'" (Ballad ver.) + "Chi Mat Ba Ram" + "Rollin'" | "Wind of Wish" |
| INI | "Rocketeer" | "One Dream" |
| Kimura Masaya (INI), Kawashiri Ren (JO1) | — | "One Dream" |
| JO1 | "Bokura no Kisetsu" | "One Dream" |
| Itzy (featuring Heo Sung-tae) | "Loco" (MAMA ver.) + "In the Morning" (MAMA ver.) | "Mission: Be A Good Kitty" |
| Jannabi | "A Thought on an Autumn Night" + "I Know Where The Rainbow has Fallen" | "Sailing into the Autumn" |
| Gwang-il Jo X Gaeko | "Waterbomb" + "Garion" (MAMA ver.) | "Shout Out If Hip Hop" |
| Show Me the Money 10 | "Resume" + "82" (MAMA ver.) | "Shout Out If Hip Hop" |
| NCT U | "Universe (Let's Play Ball)" | "Welcome to Universe" |
| Ateez | "Turbulence" + "The Real" (Heung ver.) | "The Real Journey Begins" |
| Tomorrow X Together | "Frost" + "Loser=Lover" | "Break All Myself" |
| Stray Kids | "Cheese" | "Stray Kids World Domination" |
| 3Racha (Bang Chan, Changbin, Han) | "Hey, Monster!" | "Stray Kids World Domination" |
| Stray Kids | "Thunderous" (Hero ver.) | "Stray Kids World Domination" |
| Ed Sheeran | "Bad Habits" + "Shivers" | "Permission to Challenge" |
| NCT Dream | "Hello Future" + "Hot Sauce" (MAMA ver.) | "Dipping in a Dream" |
| Wanna One | "Spring Breeze" (MAMA ver.) + "Energetic" + "Burn It Up" + "Beautiful" (Part III) | "1 = 1$^{11}$ (I Miss You)" |
| Aespa (featuring Haha) | "Next Level" + "Savage" | "Oh My Gosh! We Are On Another Level" |
| Enhypen | "Drunk-Dazed" + "Tamed-Dashed" (MAMA ver.) | "Carnival to Dilemma" |
| NCT 127 | "Favorite (Vampire)" + "Sticker" (MAMA ver.) | "Eternal Love" |
| Lee Hyori X Street Woman Fighter (YGX, LACHICA, WANT, WAYB, CocaNButter, PROWDMON, HolyBang, HOOK) | "Do the Dance" | "Make Some Noise" |

## Presenters

The list of presenters was announced on December 7, 2021. Choi Si-won was originally scheduled as a presenter but was diagnosed with COVID-19 a day before the ceremony.
* Lee Hyun-yi & Ahn Hyun-mo – red carpet hosts
* Lee Sun-bin & Lee Do-hyun – Best New Artists (Male & Female)
* Haha, Monika, & Shin Ga-bee – KTO Breakout Artist
* Kim Seo-hyung – Best Band Performance
* Kim Young-dae & Kim Hye-yoon – Best HipHop & Urban Music
* Yeo Jin-goo – Best Dance Female Group
* Jo Jung-suk – Album of the Year
* Heo Sung-tae & Nam Yoon-su – Best OST
* Jo Bo-ah & Ahn Bo-hyun – Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10
* Rain & Noh Hong-chul – Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10
* Han Ye-ri – The value of being different segment
* Lee Jung-jae – Worldwide Icon of the Year
* Song Joong-ki – Breaking the Norm
* Kwon Yul – TikTok Favorite Moment
* Tiffany Young & Choi Soo-young – Best Female Group
* Song Joong-ki – Song of the Year
* Uhm Jung-hwa – Artist of the Year

## Criteria
### K-pop categories

All songs that have been released from October 29, 2020, to October 31, 2021, are eligible to be nominated.
| Division | MAMA professional panel (Local and foreign) | Digital sales | Record sales | Global music video view counts | Global music platform (Apple Music) | Online voting |
| Artist of the Year | 40% | 20% | 20% | 10% | 10% | — |
| Categories by Artist | 40% | 20% | 20% | 10% | 10% | — |
| Song of the Year | 40% | 30% | 10% | 10% | 10% | — |
| Categories by Genre | 40% | 30% | 10% | 10% | 10% | — |
| Album of the Year | 40% | 10% | 40% | — | 10% | — |
| Best Music Video | 70% | — | — | 30% | — | — |
| Worldwide Icon of the Year | — | — | — | — | — | 80% (MAMA website) 10% (Twitter) 10% (Apple Music Playlist Voting) |
| Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 | — | — | — | — | — | 80% (MAMA website) 10% (Twitter) 10% (Apple Music Playlist Voting) |
| ↑ Best New Male/Female Artist, Best Male/Female Artist, Best Male/Female Group. ↑ Best Dance Performance (Solo/Male/Female Group), Best Vocal Performance (Male/Female/Group), Best Hip-hop & Urban Music, Best Band Performance, Best Collaboration, Best OST. ↑ Only albums with 5 new songs or more. 1 2 Pre-voting will be held from November 4 to 22, 2021. Main voting period will be held from November 25 until the live broadcast of the show. |||||||

### Asia Music categories

Artists from Japan, Greater China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam who have worked on songs released from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021.

### Professional categories

Music experts who participated in the production, creation, activities etc., of K-Pop's records and digital songs released from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021.

## Winners and nominees

Winners and nominees are listed in alphabetical order. Winners listed first and highlighted in bold.
Online voting for Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 opened on the official website and Twitter on November 4, 2021. Online voting for Worldwide Icon of the Year opened on the official MAMA website and Twitter on November 25, 2021. Voting on the official website and Apple Music ended on December 9, 2021, while voting on Twitter ended during the live broadcast.

### Main Awards

The list of nominees for all categories excluding Album of the Year, Worldwide Icon of the Year, and Best Music Video, were announced on November 3, 2021, through the official website.
| Artist of the Year (Daesang) | Song of the Year (Daesang) |
| BTS Aespa IU NCT 127 Oh My Girl | BTS – "Butter" Aespa – "Next Level IU – Celebrity Lee Mu-jin – "Traffic Light" Oh My Girl – "Dun Dun Dance" |
| Album of the Year (Daesang) | Worldwide Icon of the Year (Daesang) |
| BTS – Be Aespa – Savage IU – Lilac NCT 127 – Sticker NCT Dream – Hot Sauce | BTS Enhypen Lisa NCT 127 NCT Dream Seventeen Stray Kids Tomorrow X Together Treasure Twice |
| Best Male Group | Best Female Group |
| BTS NCT 127 NCT Dream Seventeen Stray Kids Tomorrow X Together | Twice (G)I-dle Brave Girls Itzy Oh My Girl Red Velvet |
| Best Male Artist | Best Female Artist |
| Baekhyun D.O Kai Kang Daniel Lee Mu-jin | IU Heize Lisa Rosé Taeyeon |
| Best Dance Performance – Male Group | Best Dance Performance – Female Group |
| BTS – "Butter" NCT 127 – "Sticker" NCT Dream – "Hot Sauce" Seventeen – "Ready to Love" Shinee – "Don't Call Me" Stray Kids – "Thunderous" | 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 | Best Vocal Performance |
| Rosé – "On The Ground" Baekhyun – "Bambi" Hyuna – "I'm Not Cool" Jeon Somi – "Dumb Dumb" Lisa – "Lalisa" Taeyeon – "Weekend" | IU – "Celebrity" AKMU – "Nakka" (with IU) Davichi – "Just Hug Me" Heize – "Happen" Lee Mu-jin – "Traffic Light" |
| Best OST | Best Collaboration |
| Jo Jung-suk – "I Like You" (Hospital Playlist Season 2) 10cm – "Borrow Your Night" (Romance 101) Choi Yu-ree – "Wish" (Hometown Cha Cha) Lee Mu-jin – "Rain and You" (Hospital Playlist Season 2) Yang Yo-seob & Jung Eun-ji – "Love Day" (2021) (Romance 101) | AKMU & IU – "Nakka" Coldplay & BTS – "My Universe" Gaeko & Kwon Jin-ah – "I Feel Like" Hyolyn & Dasom – "Summer or Summer" Rain & J.Y. Park – "Switch to Me" |
| Best New Male Artist | Best New Female Artist |
| Enhypen Drippin Epex Mirae P1Harmony | Aespa Jo Yu-ri Kwon Eun-bi Lightsum STAYC |
| Best HipHop & Urban Music | Best Band Performance |
| Ash Island – "Melody" Changmo – "GJD" Jessi – "What Type of X" Mino – "Run Away" Yumdda – "9ucci" | Jannabi – "A Thought on an Autumn Night" 10cm – "Sleepless in Seoul" (feat. Lee Su-hyun) CNBLUE – "Then, Now and Forever" Day6 – "You Make Me" N.Flying – "Moonshot" |
| Best Music Video ||
| BTS – "Butter" ||

### Favorite Awards

The list of nominees for Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10, were announced on November 3, 2021, through the official website.
Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 :
| BTS Enhypen Lisa NCT 127 NCT Dream Seventeen Stray Kids Tomorrow X Together Treasure Twice List of nominated artists (G)I-dle Aespa AKMU Ash Island Astro Ateez Brave Girls Chungha CL Davichi Exo Fromis 9 Heize Hyuna iKon Itzy IU Jannabi Jeon Somi Jessi Kang Daniel Lee Mu-jin Lee Seung-gi Loona Mamamoo Mino Monsta X NU'EST Oh My Girl Rain Red Velvet Rosé SF9 Shinee STAYC Sunmi Super Junior Taeyeon The Boyz Weeekly ||
| Favorite Asian Artist | Favorite International Artist |
| INI | Ed Sheeran |

### Special Awards

| Category | Category | Winner |
| Best Asian Artist | Japan | JO1 |
| Best Asian Artist | Mandarin | Accusefive |
| Best Asian Artist | Thailand | Tilly Birds |
| Best Asian Artist | Indonesia | Anneth |
| Best Asian Artist | Vietnam | Quân A.P [vi] |
| Best New Asian Artist | Japan | Ado |
| Best New Asian Artist | Mandarin | Anson Lo |
| Best New Asian Artist | Thailand | Sprite X Guygeegee |
| Best New Asian Artist | Indonesia | Lyodra |
| Best New Asian Artist | Vietnam | Hoàng Duyên [vi] |
| TikTok Favorite Moment | TikTok Favorite Moment | BTS |
| KTO Breakout Artist | KTO Breakout Artist | Brave Girls |
| 2021 Visionary (CJ E&M) | 2021 Visionary (CJ E&M) | BTS Aespa Yoo Jae-suk Choi Jung-nam Youn Yuh-jung Hwang Dong-hyuk |

### Professional Categories

| Category | Winner | Work |
| Best Executive Producer of the Year | Bang Si-hyuk | BTS |
| Best Producer of the Year | Teddy | Lalisa |
| Best Composer of the Year | Yoo Young-jin | "Savage" |
| Best Engineer of the Year | Gu Jong-pil & Kwon Nam-woo | "Celebrity" |
| Best Video Director of the Year | Lumpens | "Butter" |
| Best Choreographer of the Year | Leejung Lee | "Money" |
| Best Art Director of the Year | MU:E | "Butter" |

### Multiple Awards

The following artist(s) received three or more awards:
| Awards | Artist(s) |
| 10 | BTS |
| 3 | IU |
| 3 | Aespa |

## Broadcast

The ceremony of the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards was broadcast live worldwide from Mnet in South Korea, to simulcast across CJ E&M channels; other international networks, and online via Mnet K-pop, Mnet TV, M2, and KCON's YouTube account. The red carpet was broadcast live 2 hours before the main ceremony.
| Country | Network | Network |
| Worldwide | YouTube (Mnet K-Pop, Mnet TV, M2 & KCON Official) | YouTube (Mnet K-Pop, Mnet TV, M2 & KCON Official) |
| United States | KCON USA | KCON USA |
| South Korea | Mnet, TVING, tvN STORY, tvN Show | Mnet, TVING, tvN STORY, tvN Show |
| Japan | Mnet Smart, Mnet Japan, au Smart Pass | Mnet Smart, Mnet Japan, au Smart Pass |
| Hong Kong | JOOX, ViuTV, ViuTVsix, viu.tv, NOW Drama | tvN Asia |
| Macau | ViuTV, ViuTVsix, viu.tv, NOW Drama | tvN Asia |
| Taiwan | FET Friday Video, FET Mobile Circle app (Far EasTone) | tvN Asia |
| Philippines | GigaPlay (Smart Communications) | tvN Asia |
| Singapore | MeWATCH | tvN Asia |
| Indonesia | Indosiar, Vidio, JOOX | tvN Asia |
| Malaysia | JOOX, TonTon | tvN Asia |
| Thailand | JOOX | tvN Asia |
| Myanmar | tvN Asia | tvN Asia |
| Maldives | tvN Asia | tvN Asia |
| Sri Lanka | tvN Asia | tvN Asia |
| Vietnam | FPT TV, FPT Play, Foxy | FPT TV, FPT Play, Foxy |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | tvN Asia (through DStv) | tvN Asia (through DStv) |