December 1, 2023
SEOUL – NewJeans, the fourth-generation K-pop girl group, notched Artist of the Year on Wednesday, the last day of the two–day 2023 MAMA Awards.
The MAMA Awards, the world’s biggest K-pop festival organized by CJ ENM, took place at the Tokyo Dome, Japan’s top concert venue, Nov. 28-29.
Artist of the Year was one of the four top awards presented this year.
Three other main awards were the Worldwide Icon of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year.
This is the first time in 12 years that a girl group has taken the Artist of the Year honor.
NewJeans was also recognized with the Song of the Year for its successful single “Ditto” which took major local music charts by storm.
Such accomplishments come just a year and four months since the quintet’s debut in July last year with the debut single “Attention.”
NewJeans took home two more awards—Best Female Group and Best Dance Performance Female Group.
There were no acceptance speeches from the group as they did not attend the event.
The award for album of the year went to Seventeen for the boy band’s 10th EP, “FML,” which sold more than 6 million copies, recording the highest number of album units sold in K-pop history.
This was the group’s first top honor at the MAMA Awards since its debut in 2015.
“We never thought we would get this award. Because of Carats, we extended our exclusive contract with our agency and we were able to receive this award,” said Seventeen leader S. Coups, referring to the group’s fandom, who joined the group on the stage despite a knee injury.
“It’s been 11 years that I’ve been making music for Seventeen. I am grateful for so much love that we’ve received through this album and we will continue presenting good music,” said bandmate and producer Woozi.
Seventeen was also recognized for Worldwide Fans’ Choice, best dance performance male group, best male group and the award for Bibigo Culture and Style.