LISA and Doja Cat Win Best K-Pop VMA

If you're looking for a controversial VMA moment, LISA, Doja Cat, and RAYE's 2025 Best K-Pop win for "Born Again" delivers. The track contains zero Korean lyrics and features no Korean artists or labels. LISA matched BTS's Best K-Pop VMA record with this win, beating out six competitors including her own BLACKPINK bandmates. The victory sparked a fierce debate about what K-pop actually means — and there's plenty more to unpack here.

Key Takeaways

• LISA, Doja Cat, and RAYE won Best K-Pop at the 2025 MTV VMAs for "Born Again," held at UBS Arena in New York.
• "Born Again" contains no Korean lyrics, sparking debate over whether language or cultural origin defines K-pop.
• LISA matched BTS's VMA Best K-Pop record, having previously won in 2022 with BLACKPINK and solo in 2024.
• RAYE secured her first-ever VMA win with "Born Again," after a prior 2024 nomination for "Genesis."
• The Best K-Pop category featured seven nominees, including four solo BLACKPINK members, Jimin, aespa, and Stray Kids.

Why LISA and Doja Cat's Best K-Pop VMA Win Is Such a Big Deal

When LISA, Doja Cat, and RAYE won Best K-Pop at the 2025 MTV VMAs for "Born Again," it wasn't just another awards moment — it was a lightning rod for one of K-Pop's biggest identity debates. You're watching language politics in music play out in real time.

The song is entirely in English, features no Korean artists, and still claimed a genre award rooted in Korean culture. Fans erupted, questioning whether MTV had fundamentally redefined what K-Pop means. Yet others saw it as proof of cross-cultural authenticity — that genre transcends language.

Lisa's third win since the category's 2019 debut only intensified the conversation, forcing you to ask: Is K-Pop a sound, a culture, or simply a passport? Notably, this win also marked a first VMA victory for RAYE, who had previously been nominated in 2024 for "Genesis" in Video for Good without taking home the award.

How LISA Matched BTS's Legendary Best K-Pop Record

Few records in VMA history carry as much weight as BTS's dominance in the Best K-Pop category — and in 2025, LISA matched it. With her win for Born Again, she achieved record parity with the legendary group, equaling their feat count in the category. That's a solo milestone no other K-Pop artist has pulled off at the VMAs.

What makes it sharper is the context. BTS built their record as a full group, with a massive coordinated fanbase behind every push. LISA did it as an individual artist, winning in 2022 with BLACKPINK, then back-to-back in 2024 and 2025 under her own name. You're watching a generational shift — from group dominance to solo excellence — unfold in real time across three wins in four years. The win wasn't without controversy, as ARMYs argued that Born Again was performed entirely in English with no Korean performers on the track.

Who Competed Against LISA in the 2025 Best K-Pop Category

Matching BTS's record is one thing — doing it against this field makes it even more impressive. The 2025 Best K-Pop category featured seven acts total, and BLACKPINK dominance was undeniable from the start. Four of the seven entries came from BLACKPINK members alone — Jennie's "Like Jennie," Jisoo's "Earthquake," ROSÉ's "Toxic Till the End," and LISA's winning "Born Again" featuring Doja Cat and RAYE.

You'd also notice the solo rivalries extending beyond BLACKPINK. BTS's Jimin entered with "Who," while groups Aespa and Stray Kids competed with "Whiplash" and "Chk Chk Boom," respectively. Despite the crowded, stacked lineup, LISA stood out. Beating six other strong acts — including her own bandmates — makes her win that much harder to dismiss.

The VMAs ceremony itself was a massive production, taking place at UBS Arena in New York and simulcast across CBS, MTV, and Paramount+ for audiences worldwide.

Why "Born Again" Sounds Different From Every Other Best K-Pop Winner

Something felt off the moment "Born Again" claimed the Best K-Pop trophy — and the discomfort wasn't just sentimental. You're hearing a track defined by English dominance, with no Korean lyrics bridging it to the genre it supposedly represents.

Compare that to aespa's "Whiplash," which maintained Korean-language elements — the contrast is stark.

Then there's the matter of label origins. Traditional K-pop winners emerge from powerhouses like HYBE or SM Entertainment. "Born Again" came through RCA Family and Team LLOUD — Western infrastructure, full stop.

Lisa is Thai, Doja Cat is American, and RAYE is British. Nobody on the track carries Korean heritage.

The song's a legitimate banger, but its DNA — linguistically, geographically, and structurally — belongs somewhere else entirely. Adding another layer of distance from K-pop convention, Lisa wasn't even present at the ceremony, delivering her gratitude through a pre-filmed acceptance speech rather than appearing in person.

How RAYE's Vocals Helped "Born Again" Cross Into Western Markets

RAYE's vocals do something precise and intentional on "Born Again" — they translate it for Western ears without hollowing out its texture. You'll notice how her vocal layering thickens the chorus without crowding Lisa's low register or Doja Cat's vocal fry. That balance matters. It keeps the track cohesive while signaling familiarity to pop-trained listeners.

Her disco influence in co-production gives the song a soulful, futuristic pull that Western markets recognize. Her Grammy nomination and high-profile visibility only deepen that connection.

Then there's the religious imagery. When she delivers lines referencing prayer and making someone "need religion," it taps into the universal anthemic language Western pop thrives on. Her bridge frames the breakup as salvation for her soul, reinforcing the track's spiritual metaphor at its most emotionally direct moment.

RAYE doesn't dilute "Born Again" for crossover — she sharpens it.

Why Fans Are Debating Whether "Born Again" Belongs in Best K-Pop

That crossover sharpness RAYE brings to "Born Again" is exactly what's fueling the controversy — because the more the song sounds like Western pop, the harder it becomes to justify its placement in the Best K-Pop category.

Fans are questioning genre purity, language politics, and cultural appropriation — arguing that a fully English track from Thai, British, and American artists simply doesn't qualify.

Here's what you need to know about the debate:

• No Korean lyrics challenge the category's core identity
• Fan identity fractures between Lisa loyalists and genre purists
• Competing nominees like Jisoo and Jimin represent authentic K-pop
• Critics call MTV's decision culturally ignorant
• The win stretches K-pop's definition dangerously thin for future nominations

Many fans also pointed to the absence of j-hope and Jin from the nominations entirely, arguing that successful solo releases like "Killin It Girl" and "Mona Lisa" deserved recognition over tracks that don't fit the category they were placed in.

How LISA's Win Is Redrawing the Line Between K-Pop and Global Pop

When a fully English track by a Thai artist wins Best K-Pop at the MTV VMAs, the category itself stops meaning what it used to. Lisa's "Born Again" doesn't fit traditional K-pop markers — no Korean lyrics, no Korean artists, no Korean label. Yet it claimed the trophy anyway, pushing genre boundaries further than any previous win in this category.

You're watching cultural hybridity replace origin-based definitions in real time. Lisa isn't abandoning K-pop — she's expanding what a K-pop artist can become on the global stage. Her collaborations with Doja Cat and RAYE signal a deliberate pivot toward mainstream Western pop. The result is a blurred line that rewards international reach over cultural specificity, forcing both fans and award shows to rethink how they define the genre entirely. Lisa even recorded portions of her album Alter Ego in Thailand while simultaneously filming The White Lotus, proving that her artistic identity now operates across multiple industries and continents at once. Tools like Fact Finder by category make it easier to explore how cultural events like this one fit into broader global narratives across politics, science, and entertainment.