aespa were SM Entertainment's first new girl group in six years when they debuted in November 2020, and they arrived with a concept nobody else was attempting: each of the four members had a virtual counterpart, an 'ae', and the songs told a story set in a digital world called Kwangya. The lore was divisive at first. The music was not.
Next Level, released in May 2021, is the song that made aespa. It changes tempo and genre halfway through, sounds like nothing else on the radio and became one of the biggest Korean hits of the decade. Savage, Girls, Spicy, Drama, Supernova and Whiplash followed, each pushing a loud, metallic, maximalist sound that fans call 'the aespa style' and that a whole generation of groups has borrowed from.
Along the way the group grew from SM's experimental project into one of the biggest live acts in K-pop, with dome shows in Japan, an arena tour in the United States and a run of number-one albums. If you like your pop dramatic and a little strange, aespa is the group to start with.
Start here: five songs
- 1
Next Level (2021)
The genre-switching monster that defined 2021 in Korea. The mid-song tempo change is the moment most people become fans.
- 2
Supernova (2024)
The lead single from their first full album, Armageddon, and the biggest song of 2024 in Korea. A hyperpop hook that never lets up.
- 3
Savage (2021)
The follow-up that proved Next Level was not a fluke. Aggressive, chaotic and the source of a dozen dance challenges.
- 4
Whiplash (2024)
A sleek, minimal house track that shows the group's cooler side and became a global streaming hit.
- 5
Black Mamba (2020)
The debut, and the introduction to the Kwangya storyline. It set a record for the fastest K-pop debut video to reach 100 million views at the time.
Timeline
2020
Black Mamba
Debut under SM Entertainment with a virtual-avatar concept and a debut video that reaches 100 million views in record time.
2021
Next Level and Savage
Next Level becomes a national phenomenon and Savage tops album charts. aespa are named rookie of the year at multiple Korean award shows.
2022
Girls and Coachella
The Girls EP breaks first-week sales records for a girl group, and aespa perform at Coachella, the first K-pop girl group to play the main stage.
2023
MY WORLD and Drama
Spicy and Drama lead two EPs; the SYNK: HYPER LINE tour takes the group to arenas in Asia, the United States and Europe.
2024
Armageddon and Whiplash
Supernova and Armageddon lead the first full album, and Whiplash closes the year as a global streaming hit. aespa headline Tokyo Dome.
2025
Dirty Work and Rich Man
New singles and a second world tour keep the group at the top of the fourth generation.
Moments fans remember
The Next Level flip
The beat switch in Next Level was so unusual for a girl-group single that some fans thought the video had glitched. It became the song's signature, and the phrase 'I'm on the next level' entered everyday Korean slang.
Kwangya, explained by the fans
The Kwangya universe, with its villain Black Mamba and the members' virtual doubles, was confusing on purpose. MYs turned that into a game, mapping the lore across music videos and SM's other groups until the story became part of the fun.
First on the Coachella main stage
In April 2022 aespa played the Coachella main stage as a group less than eighteen months old. The performance of Next Level and Savage, and a debut of an English track, put the fourth generation on a festival stage for the first time.
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