The 9th Seoul Music Performance Awards is an awards ceremony that was held in the evening of December 27, 2023. The ceremony was held in-person, as well as broadcast online through KCC2, U+ Idol Live and hellolive.
↑KCC Artist Choice Award, KCC Album Choice Award, KCC Song Choice Award, KCC Icon Choice Award (Female/Male), KCC Dance Choice Award (Group/Solo), KCC Vocal Choice Award (Group/Solo)
Winners and nominees[]
Winners are listed first and are bold underlined, with the other nominees listed alphabetically afterwards (in scrollboxes).
Grand Prizes[]
As Daesangs, none of the Grand Prize awards had nominations, hence online voting was not part of their criteria, save for the Worldwide Listeners' Choice Award.
Although busy with Japanese releases, group comebacks, their 4th world tour and their 8th debut anniversary, the members of EMERGE continued to give and give quality music and content, with several members pursuing solo activities too.
Showcasing a strong and critisising take on society's obsession with money, Ahn Minhui's GOLD SOCIETY perfectly demonstrates a meaningful and cohesive album.
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━ Juyeon
Performer of the Year Award
Song of the Year Award
CLKWRK
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CLKWRK not only shines with their distinct artistry, lore and sound, but they've really solidified themselves as spectacular performers too. From intricate stage sets to purposeful choreography, CLKWRK really is 2023's Performer of the Year.
This year's Song of the Year—SOLVIZ's "Candy Bear"—is not only insanely catchy and makes you want to dance along with others, but the optimistic lyrics have captured the hearts of fans and listeners of all ages from all over the world.
Globally-speaking, 2023 was quite the year for R3THR0! With the release of their EP From Now, the group gave global fans and listeners trendy sounds and meaningful songs. Not only did their music reach enthusiastic fans from all over the world, but their Pepsi collaborations also became quite trendy among fans on TikTok.
After a successful first world tour in 2022, NAIAD returned to the music scene this year with their Japanese EP, Hanagasumi, before making their long-awaited comeback with True Beauty in the summer. Not only was their Korean title track "Oh, My, Mayday!" well-received among the community, but their unit English song "Octave" and "Kiss Me" were also loved among fans from all over the world, proving that they truly are 2023's Best Female Group.
Constantly impressing with their unique concept, well-put-together albums and talented members is 2023's Best Male Group, MAHINAz! With the releases of their back-to-back full albums, Magipathy and Bewitched, MAHINAz really solidified themselves as budding artists and "concept kings", as dubbed by netizens.
After only making her debut last year, Noa truly shone and made 2023 her year. She released hit singles "Boys Over Flowers" and "L<3VE" as well as worked on several renowned collaboration songs, establishing herself as an up-and-coming lyricist and vocalist.
Starting his 2023 solo career with English single "CHRISTIAN!" is this year's Best Male Soloist, Gyumin! After his first chart entry on the Billboard Hot 100, Gyumin then released his first solo EP, K-FANON, which garnered attention for its relatable songs and interesting concept.
For the second year in a row, PURPLE TWILIGHT showed that they didn't come here to play with their mesmerising stages. "THE WINNER (FIRST)" shows exactly that through the group's fierce choreography and burning charisma.
Combining catchy guitar strums and electronic synths with the performance masters—rm8z—sure didn't disappoint! Every stage of "Strange Creatures" was turned into one of rm8z's most captivating and fun performances yet.
With this upbeat dance hit incorporating waacking and voguing, Gyumin never failed to get the community grooving along to his performances of "K-FANON".
Even with a more energetic sound and choreography, BEAUDENT continuously proved to be stable vocalists with each and every performance of their song "Your new girlfriend sucks!".
Now here's a group who stole the show this year! Despite only being their debut song, "Blue Flame" by lIGHTERS perfectly shows off the group's promising vocals.
Banding together three talented male singers and three talented female singers for a project co-ed group was an amazing idea! Despite their "weird" shrimp concept, this project group decided to release 2023's best collaborative single, "WiFi".
This year's discover was IMPGS, a multinational group with a fun video game concept that seemed to catch the attention of many new fans throughout the year.
Fans who were surveyed prior to the ceremony stated that JΣПΣЯΛƬIӨП's concept of turning past music vibes into fresh, new styles had brought them an entirely new listening experience.
After releasing two pre-debut singles, Star Maker X 101's debut group SOLUNEX officially debuted in January this year, quickly becoming a rookie group who has touched the hearts of many fans in the general public with their artistry, music and story.
After trending because of their admirable hard work during their debut era, netizens praised them for basically promoting for three months. Not only that, but netizens also praised FANC:Y for their dedication to putting on their absolute best performances.
Leading up to their debut, VALERIAN had already gained a following of many netizens who were curious about their concept of ciphers. Following their debut, VALERIAN then went on to gain even more recognition for their lore and beautifully-composed music. Truly monster rookies!
Dahyun's solo debut EYES ON ME became the trending trend with idols left and right either doing the "eyes on me" phone pose or joining in on the "Pop!" dance challenge. With her solo debut becoming as influential as that, there's no doubt that Dahyun was 2023's Best New Female Soloist.
Gaining recognition for his lovely and fun personality plus stylish fashion, AXENN quickly gained the title of "Poland's It Boy", which caused an influx of international and domestic netizens to take an interest in his music—which didn't disappoint!
Despite debuting under a lesser-known company, MERAVI's promotions for "Midnight Adventure" did just the right job because Korean and international netizens alike were in awe of the soft EDM song.
With a balanced group lineup and unique concept, our panelists were constantly impressed by Leaders of the South Korean Youth, its members and its music. "Artistry at its finest," one of our panelists spoke.
With a total of 16 songs, MEMOIRS OF A ROOKIE IDOL by rookie group EPHEMERA has something for everyone. Our panelists believe the album highlights messages many listeners can resonate with.
Explosive in sound and empowering in lyrics, "PLANET" has everything our panelists could look for in a song. Powerful vocals, a beautifully-built-up bridge, and a high-energy dance break.
Despite her creative hiatus during the summer, YUKI still managed to steal the attention of our panelists with her third mini album, ROSE BLOOM. Not only that, but YUKI impressed with her vocal professionalism during her time as a trainer on popular survival show, Road to ZERO.
And our second recipient is Jin Hyunah, who caught the attention of our panelists and fans from all over with her friendly personality seen on Hallyumak and with her highly-acclaimed solo debut, "Familiarity".
An artist who seemed to impress our panelists this year is GEMINI, a talented rapper, songwriter and producer. GEMINI caught the attention of our panelists after the release of his studio album Inside Out and with his associated European tour.
As the lead single from their first studio album, "Grace" is a beautiful example of a song with an expressive and detailed choreography. Royal Crush really didn't come to play, and our panelists agree.
Ni.U's song "Glitterful", from her mini album Silver, is a synth dance track which shows a fun and light-hearted—yet still elegant—choreography, which was particularly outlined in Ni.U's "Glitterful" TikTok with her younger sister.
RANDOMIZE's debut song "WOULD_U_RUN" seems to have caught the KCC panel's attention with the members' stable high notes during the pre-chorus and vocal-heavy bridge.
