DOJA CAT, RAYE, & LISA (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Disney via Getty Images)
Disney via Getty Images
Once again, Lisa of BLACKPINK has proven herself a force at the MTV Video Music Awards despite not being able to attend the 2025 ceremony.
The Thai superstar scored one nomination at this year’s VMAs in the Best K-Pop category for her single “Born Again” featuring Doja Cat and RAYE. While some debated whether the English-language pop single was actually a K-pop song, Lisa’s comeback single and tour with BLACKPINK this year brought her back into the Korean-pop industry at least for 2025.
While the Alter Ego starlet wasn’t able to accept her Moonman in person, she did record a winner’s speech that aired during the VMAs pre-show.
“I’m so honored to be receiving this award,” Lisa said of her Best K-Pop win. “I want to thank MTV and VMAs for all the love and support. Thank you to Doja Cat and RAYE for making ‘Born Again’ such a special song, and to [my]
RCA Family and Team LLOUD, thank you for helping me to get to where I am today. And lastly, to Lilies and Blinks, I couldn’t have done it without you guys, so thank you and I love you.’”
“Born Again” competed against all three of Lisa’s BLACKPINK bandmates in Best K-Pop with Jisoo’s “Earthquake,” Jennie’s “Like Jennie,” and Rosé’s “Toxic Till the End.” Jimin of BTS’ “Who” was also nominated alongside “Chk Chk Boom” from boy band Stray Kids and “Whiplash” by girl group aespa.
Lisa’s win for Best K-Pop marks her third win in the category in four years.
After making her K-pop solo debut in 2021 with the hip-hop single “Lalisa,” Lisa won the 2022 award for Best K-Pop that she accepted in person with her BLACKPINK bandmates cheering for her. In addition to appearing and performing at the 2024 ceremony, Lisa also took home the award for Best K-Pop for “Rockstar,” the lead single for her first full-length album Alter Ego.
Now with three wins under her belt for Best K-Pop, Ms. Lalisa is tied with fellow international superstars BTS for the most wins in the category. Both have won the statue three times since its introduction in 2019, with Stray Kids securing a win in 2023. Interestingly, just like Lisa, BTS have won the Best K-Pop award for songs sung primarily in both Korean and English. Lisa is the only artist to win Best K-Pop every year she’s nominated.
The “Born Again” win marks Doja Cat’s sixth VMA. It’s also RAYE’s first-ever win after the singer-songwriter was first recognized last year with a nod in Video for Good for her breakthrough single “Genesis.”
Later in the telecast, BLACKPINK won the VMA for Group of the Year proving how fans of Lisa and BP truly showed up when voting for the girls this year.
Every Winner of MTV’s Video Music Award for Best K-Pop
MTV first introduced the Video Music Award for Best K-Pop at the 2019 VMAs. While it’s allowed for greater representation and more artists from the K-pop scene at the show, it also earned some criticism from the media and fans who said the category segregated Korean acts from more of the major categories.
Take a look at the winners through the years.
- 2019: BTS (featuring Halsey), “Boy With Luv”
- 2o2o: BTS, “ON”
- 2o21: BTS, “Butter”
- 2022: Lisa, “Lalisa”
- 2023: Stray Kids, “S-Class”
- 2024: Lisa, “Rockstar”
- 2025: Lisa, “Born Again (featuring Doja Cat and Raye)”