2022 MAMA Awards Will Feature j-hope and Legend Collaborations
The 2022 MAMA Awards Global Press Conference Live Stream revealed additional highlights for the world’s top K-Pop awards ceremony. Held on November 29 and 30 at the Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan, the show will be livestreamed on global platforms with English subtitles, including the Mnet K-Pop YouTube channel.
If you want to catch the action from the start, the red carpet will be broadcast from 4PM KST (11PM PST/ 2AM EST) and the award show will go live from 6PM KST (1AM PST/4AM EST). Aside from the artists that have been gracing our eyes all this year, they announced special collaboration stages that are likely to blow our minds. Also via the Q&A with the journalists, it was revealed that MAMA is looking to come stateside in the next few years.
The first highlight you’ve probably already screamed over if you’re an ARMY is that j-hope will be the first member of BTS to grace MAMA’s stage as a soloist. As the first BTS member to release a solo album since the announcement of separate solo activities, it’s fitting he’s the first to appear as a soloist. Yoon Shinhye, CJ ENM’s Chief Producer for the awards, stated, “BTS’s stages at MAMA remain iconic every single year,” highlighting that he’s doing new choreography for a performance titled, you guessed it, “I Am Your Hope.”
Aside from j-hope, three collaborations that sound like the stuff of legends were announced.
The first was (G)I-DLE’s collaboration with JAURIM. For anyone unfamiliar with these amazing groups, you need to check this out. (G)I-DLE’s fierceness combined with the power of a band who has been around for over 25 years should be epic.
The next collaboration announcement likely shook everyone listening. Thirty-two members of the five hottest and freshest girl groups this year will be performing on one stage. IVE, Kep1er, LE SSERAFIM, NMIXX, and NewJeans have been killing the charts with song after song in 2022. You’ll be taking a “Love Dive,” unable to mutter anything but “WA DA DA” when these “ANTIFRAGILE” girls roll over you like a “TANK'' commanding your “Attention.”
The last collaboration announced focused on artists that put as much into creating and producing the music as they do with its performance. With Squid Game and Parasite OST credits, you’ve probably heard Jung Jaeil’s musical creations more than you thought. This combined with the power of the legendary Tiger JK, soloist and member of MFBTY who often bears the title as the “Godfather of Korean Hip-Hop,” and the youngest of this crew, 3RACHA, a sub-unit of Stray Kids who are responsible for writing and producing the majority of their discography, can only be something dreams are made of.
These collaborations, combined with the performers already announced, solidify MAMA’s position as the top Asian music awards show. With JEON SOMI as the host for day one followed by veteran MAMA host Park Bogum, the star power under one roof is mind-blowing. Yoon also spoke about the strength and power of JEON SOMI, thrilled to have a woman as one of the hosts for the event. As for Bogum, she echoed the thought that others have had, which is when the words, “Music makes one,” comes from his mouth at the end of the show, you can’t help but believe it.
While you might see some of the greatest stars in Korea attending or on the stage in a couple of weeks, one thing you won’t see is a Western artist collaboration live. Yoon did state though the focus was on Korean artists, some global artists did send messages and videos of encouragement which tie into MAMA’s concept of “K-Pop World Citizenship” and how K-Pop fans all over the world can connect and become one through music.
Now if you’re in the states catching the livestream, it’s going to be a really late night or an obscenely early morning, but frankly, who needs sleep when you have K-Pop? So if you’ve missed any of the other previous announcements, let’s see who’s going to wipe the sandbags from your eyes.
