How Aespa Dominated the First Half, Rising to the Top Among 4th Generation Girl Groups

aespa emerged as the winner in the first half of this year’s K-pop girl group market. Their first full-length album ‘Savage’ released earlier this year achieved double title track success, marking prolonged success with four consecutive million sellers. aespa confidently claimed the top spot surpassing other girl groups active during the same period.

aespa released their first full-length album ‘Savage’ on May 27th. With this album released four years after their debut, ‘Savage’ set various new records. It recorded 1.15 million copies in initial sales, achieving ‘four consecutive albums with over a million copies sold on debut’ success. The pre-released double title track ‘Supernova’ maintained the top spot on the Melon weekly chart for five consecutive weeks, setting a record for ‘longest period at number one among songs released this year’.

The momentum of the other double title track ‘Savage’ is also strong. Alongside the syndrome-level popularity of ‘Supernova’, ‘Savage’ also secured top positions on major music charts, proving aespa’s unmatched momentum. Despite the influx of comebacks from prominent artists during this period following the album release about a month ago, both ‘Savage’ and ‘Supernova’ firmly maintained top ranks on major music charts, demonstrating the public’s enthusiastic response to aespa. This stands out as an outstanding achievement among ‘4th generation girl groups’ debuting around the same time, firmly establishing aespa in the ‘top tier’ of their peers.

aespa’s success extends beyond mere popularity on music and album charts. Through their first full-length album, aespa led explosive discussions and gained widespread popularity. ‘Supernova’ and ‘Savage’ dominated various platforms with dance challenges, and the addictive lyrics of ‘Supernova’ were utilized like memes, gaining immense popularity.

Within the explosive response to their first full-length album, aespa also achieved a new turning point in their musical career. While they have consistently received great love with every song released since their debut, ‘Supernova’ and ‘Savage’ instantly renewed aespa’s representative songs.

This achievement is not merely about releasing new representative songs. The most significant outcome is that aespa successfully ingrained their unique musical color firmly into the public consciousness, standing out distinctively in the music industry.

Since their debut, aespa has presented conceptual and intense music reminiscent of SMP (SM Music Performance), based on a ‘desert’ worldview. Instead of following trends in the K-pop market, their focused dedication to their unique style ultimately established a new genre described as ‘aespa’.

Regarding the remarkable achievements through their first full-length album, their agency SM Entertainment stated, ‘As it was aespa’s first full-length album, we planned to showcase aespa’s best music, concepts, and performances based on an expanded multi-universe worldview from the planning stage. We aimed to increase accessibility for listeners with the pre-released double title track ‘Supernova’ and demonstrated aespa’s distinctive musical color through ‘Savage’, capturing both popularity and a unique identity.’

aespa members also expressed gratitude for the warm interest and praise they received. They conveyed, ‘We prepared diligently for our first full-length album, so we are proud to receive such great interest and love. We will continue to strive to show even better performances in the future.’ They also urged fans, ‘Please look forward to a wonderful stage as we meet global MYs (official fan club name for aespa) during our second world tour.’