The Melon Music Awards 2021 (MMA 2021) were held on December 4, and the four Daesangs (Grand Prizes) were awarded to IU, BTS, and aespa, respectively.
This was IU's first appearance at the Melon Music Awards in four years, and she was thrilled to be there. Last seen in 2017, when she won Album of the Year, Best Songwriter, and Top 10 Artists awards at the Melon Music AwardsAwards (Bonsang).
A total of five awards were presented to her at MMA 2021: not only Album of the Year, but also Best Songwriter and another Top 10 Bonsang, as well as Solo Album of the Year and Best Solo Performance (again) (Female). These awards included two Daesangs, which were given out for Album of the Year and Artist of the Year, respectively.
"I am overwhelmed to have received such a prestigious award," IU said in her acceptance speech for Artist of the Year. The title of "Artist of the Year" carries a great deal of significance. This year, a large number of artists worked extremely hard and gave their all, but because I am the only one to receive this award, I feel a strong sense of gratitude toward the other artists. I intend to bear the weight of this honor and channel it into putting forth my best effort to create music in the coming year. "Congratulations, artists, on your hard work this year."
"We've reached a point where we can allow for smaller audiences once more," she explained. After a little more time, the day will come when we can shout, "Make some noise," and we will be able to scream and cheer, and we will be able to tell people, "You're beautiful," in person. Next year, I'd like to meet more people who live in my immediate vicinity. Because Uaena [fan club name] was present today, I had the impression that I had actually received an award. Uaenas, I've received five trophies; are you pleased with yourself? I'm glad that I've been able to make Uaenas' shoulders stand tall and proud. I am hoping that the day will come soon when we will be able to enjoy this with the rest of the K-pop fans. "I'm madly in love with you."
"This is such a significant award," IU said of winning Album of the Year. This year, more than ever, I felt a strong desire for music and ate it up as a consumer of it. I'm pleased with myself for receiving this honor. Even though my music career has been either short or long depending on how you look at it, I've never taken a break from releasing music once in my life, which spans the years from age 20 to 30. Even though there were times when I wished I could take a break, I believe I did a good job of connecting with my fans through my music over the course of ten years. This is a prize that I had hoped to win for a long time. In my cool 30s, I plan to put a lot of effort into music next year. "Uaena, you have my heartfelt affection."
BTS was named Song of the Year for the third consecutive year. While BTS was still in Los Angeles for their promotional activities in the United States, they released a video message in which they announced that they had won the Song of the Year award at the Melon Music Awards. We were able to receive such a significant award as a result of the love and support that everyone showed us. The fact that our summer song, 'Butter,' has naturally permeated the year makes us very happy. We also had a wonderful year in 2021. The ARMY, who embraced BTS's music once again this year, has earned our gratitude."
Best Group (Female), a Top 10 Bonsang, Best New Artist (Female), and a Daesang—Record of the Year were all given to aespa in a total of four awards. "We're grateful to producer Lee Soo Man and the executives and staff members at SM, who assisted us in creating a cool album like 'Savage,'" they said in a video message. We'd like to express our appreciation for the overwhelming amount of support we've received. We were able to accomplish things we had only dreamed of because of the generosity of those who assisted us."
