The 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) was held on December 3, 2014, at the AsiaWorld–Arena, Hong Kong. It marked its sixteenth edition acknowledging the past year's K-pop releases.[1]
Nominees were announced on October 27, 2014.[2][3] Leading the nominees was Exo with five. By the end of the ceremony, Exo received four awards, the most received awards of the night.
Background
This event marked the sixteenth Mnet Asian Music Awards.[4] It was broadcast live in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia through various channels, as well as around the world.[5]
The event took place in the same country and the same venue for the second consecutive time. This also marked the first time that the event organized a campaign called Girls' Education Campaign with CJ and UNESCO.[6] It was also the first time that UnionPay sponsored the event exclusively.[7]
Performers and presenters
The following individuals and groups, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.[6][8][9][10]
G-Dragon's opening rap performance garnered widespread attention among K-pop fans.
G-Dragon became the subject of widespread attention following a rap performance prior to performing "Good Boy" with bandmate Taeyang. He raps: "It's been a year, MAMA. Because you set such a large table/awards, you hand it out generously so your children don't fight". Observers saw that the performance was meant to criticize the award committee for giving out awards to popular artists too easily, even when there are more technically qualified artists for the award.[13]
The reception of the performance was mostly positive. CNN Indonesia wrote that "2014 became an unforgettable MAMA event for K-Pop fans, especially Big Bang fans" when "G-Dragon openly satirized the award ceremony on stage."[13] In an article published by Yahoo! News Taiwan prior to the 2020 awards, an observer believed it to be one of the most legendary stages in MAMA history.[14]