Biography
aespa (Hangul: 에스파; Katakana: エスパ; also stylized as æspa) is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment, consisting of members KARINA (카리나), WINTER (윈터), GISELLE (지젤), and NINGNING (닝닝).
They debuted on November 17th, 2020 with the single "Black Mamba", which set a record as the most watched debut music video in it's first 24 hours, and fastest debut music video by a K-pop group to surpass 100 million views on YouTube (51 days). aespa received three awards with their debut, most notably the Female Group Artist at the Hanteo Music Awards.
On February 5th, 2021, they released "Forever", a remake of Yoo Young-jin's 2000 ballad. In the same month the french clothing Givenchy announced aespa as their new ambassadors. Their breakout hit "Next Level" arrived on May 17, 2021, becoming a nationwide sensation. The song remakes A$ton Wyld's song of the same name, which featured on the soundtrack of "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw". By June the song was (unofficially) banned during Korea's national college entrance exam, CSAT, by it's catchy melody and lyrics. It eventually achieved several accolades by the end of 2021 and 2022, most notably Best K-Pop Song, Rookie of the Year and Song of the Year at the 19th Korean Music Awards, making aespa the first SM idol girl group to win more than once within the awards, and the second girl group in the award's history to win the latter category, following fellow labelmate Girls' Generation's victory in 2010. Their first mini-album, "Savage", was released on October 5th, 2021, with the title track achieving the first Perfect All-Kill by a 4th generation K-pop group. The song won eight music show awards, including three non-consecutive wins that led to receiving the "triple crown" award on Inkigayo. In the YouTube the music video received 30.7 Million views in it's first 24 hours. The POS physical version of the EP won at the 'iF Design Award', one of the world's three major design awards. aespa quickly swept major rookie awards, winning Rookie of the Year at the Golden Disc Awards, Best New Artist, Best Female Group and Record of the Year at the Melon Music Awards, and New Artist of the Year at MAMA Awards. On December 20, 2021, they honored K-pop's first generation with a modern remake of S.E.S.' "Dreams Come True" produced by BoA for SMTOWN 2022 Project.
On April 23, 2022, aespa makes history as the fifth K-pop artist and the first 4th gen kpop group ever to perform at the Coachella Festival, in this performance, the girls presented a new song, "Life's Too Short". By July 8th, their second mini-album "Girls" broke records with over 1.6 million pre-orders, debuted at number one on South Korea’s Circle Chart, and entered the top 3 of the Billboard 200. That year, they also won Best K-pop at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Song of the Year at the Golden Disc Awards and continued picking up Bonsangs at major Korean shows. The girls made their first showcase tour at Los Angeles, and Japan, and their first fan meeting in Seoul. On September Chopard announced aespa as their new global ambassadors. On December 14th, aespa together with Red Velvet released the holiday song "Beautiful Christmas" for SMTOWN's ninth winter album.
On March 30th, 2023 "Hold On Tight" was released for the Apple's Tetris movie soundtrack. Their third mini-album "MY WORLD" followed on May 8th, 2023, with the title track "Spicy", surpassing 2 million copies in first-week sales, breaking girl group records at the time. The group dropped the viral english summer single "Better Things" on August 18th, 2023. Their fourth mini-album "Drama" was released on November 10th, 2023, selling over 1 million copies and dominated the charts. The title track "Drama" was praised for it's catchy chorus and bold choreography, getting praised by the online and real life audience, bringing a new wave of fans to the fandom.
On May 13, 2024, "Supernova" was released and became their second song to achieve a PAK, 317 (7th overall), setting the stage for their highly anticipated first full-length album "Armageddon", released on the 26th of that same month. The album received widespread acclaim, topped charts globally, and sold over 1.7 million units in its first week, debuting at #25 on the Billboard 200. aespa was honored as Billboard Music Awards' Group of the Year in 2024, becoming the first K-pop girl group to receive the distinction. By awards the most notably are: Best Album, Song of the Year and Best Digital Song at the Golden Disc Awards; Best Kpop Song, Song of the Year and Best Album on the Korean Music Awards; Bonsang at the Seoul Music Awards; Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Female Group, Best Performance, Millions Top 10 Artists, Song of the Year and Top 10 Artists at the Melon Music Awards; Best Choreography, Best Dance Performance (Female Group), Best Female Group, Best Music Video, Song of the Year and Worldwide Fans' Choice Top 10 at the MAMA Awards; Bonsang, Best Artist (Female Group) and Best Music Video at the K-World Dream Awards; and many more Bonsangs/Awards throughout the year. On July 3rd, 2024, aespa made their official Japanese debut with the single "Hot Mess", showcasing a bold new artistic direction. Their fifth mini-album "Whiplash", released on October 21st, 2024, broke digital chart records in both Korea and Japan, further expanding their influence and sonic evolution, with viral posts on social media and worldwide listeners acclaim, the stage performances were highly commented and appreciated by the audience, with the title track being chose as a queer anthem at the Korean Pride Parade.
In 2025, on March 26, aespa released the English version of the song "Whiplash", alongside a Steve Aoki remix. On June 27, aespa released their summer comeback with the digital single "Dirty Work", with a remix featuring the rapper Flo Milli. Which debuted with 15.4 million views and earned a total of 4 music shows wins. On July, 15, aespa released the song "Dark Arts" in a collaboration with PUBG Battlegrounds, along with new skins, dance moves and weapons inside the game.
On July 14, it is confirmed that aespa will be making their comeback as a mini album somewhere in September and are scheduled to film their new music video in the following week. On August 4, aespa announced their sixth mini album, titled as Rich Man", and it was scheduled for release in September 5.
aespa has completed two sold-out World Tours —"SYNK : Hyper Line" (Feb 2023) and "SYNK : Parallel Line" (June 2024) performing across Asia, North America, Europe, and Latin America— and already has announced their 3rd World Tour "SYNK : aeXIS Line", that will start in August 2025.
æspa has multiple meanings, with the use of æ standing for both "Avatar × Experience" as well as becoming an "aspect" being both sides. Another meaning of "æspa" is meeting another avatar of yourself and experiencing a new world, "you always perform at your best despite fear and doubts", and "beauty & aesthetic". Each member has a digital version of themselves, referred as avatars, the æ. The group has a lore, and which comeback it is expanded, with music videos and digital episodes presenting iconic characters, such as the fan-favorite nævis, or the villain Black Mamba.
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