After a gloomy period filled with “family feuds” between HYBE and NewJeans‘ “mom” Min Hee Jin, K-pop had an exciting May with a series of high-quality comebacks. aespa impressed with their two “blockbuster” MVs, Supernova and Armageddon, once again bringing the virtual reality craze to the market. Alongside aespa, another name making an equally explosive impact is XG. While the girl group from SM spreads nationwide, XG stands out as the most unique and striking, more beautiful and eccentric than ever.
XG’s MV WOKE UP is like “dropping a bomb” on K-pop, which is saturated with beautiful but “stereotyped” products. Many viewers must have been shocked during their first watch of the MV, witnessing the bizarre, mysterious overlapping images, edgy appearances and unique accessories, even including a scene where member Cocona shaved her head. XG delivered a visually explosive feast, earning admiration and recognition from experts.
When bringing WOKE UP to promotional stages, 7 girls did not hesitate to maintain their originality. Recently, XG performed at the K-Wave Concert Inkigayo, a grand music festival featuring top artists including aespa, NewJeans, Stray Kids, ILLIT and Treasure. Despite being a Japanese girl group, XG’s orientation and activities in South Korea have set them apart from typical K-pop groups.
On the K-Wave Concert Inkigayo stage, XG showcased their strength in “rapping like swallowing a CD”. All 7 members have distinct personal colors but blend surprisingly well as a group. In terms of skills, XG has completely convinced even the most demanding audiences.
Few female idols can rap in English as accurately and attractively as these 7 girls. Their cool aura and calculated eye glances for each lyric delivery are huge plus points. Previously, on many stages, XG also demonstrated flawless skills, with singing and dancing at a stable level, being evaluated as one of the top-skilled girl groups of the 4th generation.
In particular, XG’s bold styling has created quite a buzz. Bringing the unique concept of WOKE UP to live stages, 7 members “played big” with mysterious black lipstick. Each girl’s makeup was uniquely highlighted with intricate eye designs and unusual colored lenses. Overall, XG is unique, eccentric yet stunningly beautiful and stylish. Not to mention, Cocona even promoted with a shaved head on various stages for WOKE UP, earning admiration for her daring and confidence.
XG is truly a contrasting color to K-pop. They do not adhere to the strict visual standards of the market and are ready to transform to showcase their originality. It can be seen that XG embodies the spirit of early 2000s pop stars, bold, edgy and unafraid to take risks.
