Group aespa became the first K-pop girl group to be selected as one of the “2022 Next Generation Leaders” by American magazine TIME.
TIME, a famous U.S. media outlet, announced “2022 Next Generation Leaders” on May 12th (KST). aespa was the only K-pop artist to be named, confirming their popularity once again.
“Next Generation Leaders” is a list of trendsetters and pioneers who lead the way to a brighter future that TIME announces every year. TIME talked about aespa, “aespa is an experiment, but it may also be the inevitable next step for the music industry: a fresh way to bridge the virtual and the real. So far, aespa has released only a few singles and one six-song EP—but that EP broke records, debuting on the Billboard 200 album chart higher than any previous K-pop girl group. Their first music video, ‘Black Mamba’, had YouTube’s fastest climb to 100 million views for a K-pop debut.”
aespa said in an interview with TIME, “We were worried in the beginning because our concept is something new to SM as well. But our fans really loved it and are even creating memes out of it.” They added, “We would like to generalize or normalize metaverse concepts and have our fans and other people be a little more comfortable with the whole idea of it. It can be a journey for fans to not only enjoy our songs, but also to enjoy videos and contents that contain our worldview.”
aespa performed hits “Black Mamba”, “Next Level”, “Savage” as well as their new track “Life’s Too Short” which was specially prepared for this performance at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the largest outdoor music festival in the U.S. held in Indio, California, USA on April 24th (KST).
Source: Daum
