aespa

Blurring the line between virtual and real, South Korean girl group Aespa combined its four human members with their respective digital avatars, delivering an immersive experience that sonically falls somewhere between K/DA and BlackPink. Unveiled in 2020 as SM Entertainment’s first girl group since Red Velvet, they made their debut with the single “Black Mamba” and released their first EP, Savage, the following year. A second chart-topping EP, Girls, arrived in 2022. Their third set in as many years, My World, and a quick follow-up, Drama, both landed in 2023. Armageddon, the group’s ambitious debut album, arrived in 2024. In the months leading up to their arrival, SM Entertainment teased the concept of an avatar experience (the “a” and “e” of Aespa) bundled up as a pop group before revealing the quartet in October 2020. Aespa’s four members are Karina (vocalist, rapper, and dancer Yoo Ji-min), Giselle (rapper and vocalist Uchinaga Eri), Winter (vocalist and dancer Kim Min-jeong), and Ningning (vocalist Ning Yi Zhuo), with avatar monikers adopting an “ae-” before their human counterpart’s name. The first taste of Aespa’s music landed in November with the bombastic dance-pop single “Black Mamba.” In 2021, the group issued their first mini-album, the energetic Savage, which included the raucous lead single of the same name. The group inked a deal with Warner Records the following year and issued their sophomore EP, Girls. Buoyed by the single “Life’s Too Short,” Girls topped the South Korean album chart and hit number three on the Billboard 200. The genre-blurring dance-pop set also featured “Dreams Come True,” which interpolated S.E.S.’s late-’90s K-pop classic of the same name. Building upon the promise of Girls, Aespa released their third EP, My World, in May 2023. Pushing their limits yet again, the short set included the electro-washed “Spicy” and “Salty & Sweet,” as well as the cinematic opener “Welcome to My World,” which featured backing vocals by SMCU’s Naevis. Just months later, the group released their second EP of the year, Drama, which featured the booming title track and the English-language hit “Better Things.” Armageddon, the group’s first full-length, was released to acclaim in 2024, hitting number two on the Korean albums charts. ~ Neil Z. Yeung