There’s a new K-pop quartet in your area and their name is not Blackpink. It’s Aespa, a four-piece girl group formed by SM Entertainment in 2020. Since their debut, they’ve been on a dizzying path to the top, with the viral hyperpop-EDM singles “Black Mamba†and “Next Level†blowing up with K-pop fans worldwide. Now they’re back with a gig at the Good Morning America concert series in Central Park, performing tracks from their second EP, Girls — a follow-up to their debut mini-album Savage, which hit a historic No. 20 on the Billboard 200. Members Karina, Winter, Giselle, and Ningning are the first K-pop girl group to open the concert series, debuting the title track “Girls†and performing pre-release singles “Life’s Too Short (English Version)†and “Black Mamba†on the GMA stage.
And Aespa fans, known as MYs, are being well-fed. Last week, Aespa spoke at the United Nations High-level Political Forum for Sustainable Development, and before that, in April, they debuted “Life’s Too Short (English Version)†at their first-ever Coachella stage. Together with the nine-track mini-album Girls, out today — whose highlights include the EDM-trap song “Illusion,†a hip-hop remake of the 1998 K-pop song “Dreams Come True,†and the breezy pop song “Lingo†— the girls are venturing into the SM culture universe, an extended franchise made up of complicated metaverse lore. Each Aespa member has a metaverse counterpart, also known as their “ae’s,†who ventures into the made-up land of Kwangya to defeat the Black Mamba. Sounds confusing? Well, you’re just gonna have to learn the lingo, start calling yourself a MY, and listen to the record below.