Two reasons that prove aespa has become a top Kpop girl group: Is it too early to confirm or is it inevitable?
After a successful comeback with ‘Savage’, many netizens think that although they’re still a rookie, aespa deserves to enter the lineup of Kpop’s top girl groups.
On October 5, aespa had a comeback with the first mini-album in their career called ‘Savage’ and the title track of the same name. After the huge success of ‘Next Level’, many fans were looking forward to the new song and achievements of SM’s rookie girl group. Following its official release, the results of Savage have even exceeded the expectations of most people.
In fact, aespa only debuted in November 2020, and so far the group is only about to turn a year old. However, many netizens agree that aespa can now be considered one of the top girl groups in Kpop. Is this statement too soon to confirm or is it something inevitable? Let’s take a look at 2 reasons why so many Knetizens are starting to call aespa an ‘A-class Kpop girl group’.
Sweeping digital music charts: The first 4th generation Kpop girl group to get an All Kill
For Kpop idols, one of the key factors to prove their popularity is their rankings on Korean digital music charts. In fact, not all veteran K-pop idols can easily do well on digital music charts in Korea, let alone rookies. However, aespa soon managed to do that with their 2nd single ‘Next Level’.
The song ‘Next Level’ initially received mixed reactions right after it was released, but then it unexpectedly became a hit and even reached No.1 on Melon 24 Hits – during the time when the chart had not reformed and was still using a more difficult ranking system than the current Melon Top 100 chart. With the achievement of ‘Next Level’, aespa became the first 4th generation Kpop group and the first SM group to rank No.1 on Melon 24 Hits.
The digital achievements of ‘Next Level’ are indisputable. But the group’s latest song ‘Savage’ could even obtain something more remarkable. ‘Savage’ was released at 6 pm KST on October 5. Within the first hour, the song debuted at No.1 on Bugs and Genie, and No.4 on Melon Top 100. This is the best achievement of a Kpop idol’s song within the first hour after release. ‘Savage’ is also the first song to debut in the Top 5 of Melon Top 100 since the chart reform.
After that, ‘Savage’ continued to rank higher on Bugs, Genie, Melon, and FLO. Most recently at 6 pm (KST) on October 6, the song officially reached No.1 on Bugs, Genie, Melon and FLO. Thus, aespa has officially got the first Realtime All-kill (RAK) in their career.
Impressive physical album sales for a K-pop rookie girl group
A K-pop group is considered successful when they record remarkable achievements both digitally and physically. Although it hasn’t been long since their debut, aespa has proved that they can do well on digital charts while also getting high album sales. Physical sales are often the weakness of many rookie K-pop girl groups, but aespa is the exception.
Accordingly, the pre-order sales of aespa’s first mini-album ‘Savage’ has exceeded 400,000 copies. With this number, aespa has become the Kpop girl group with the highest number of pre-order sales for a debut album in history. The girls are also expected to reach other milestones of the highest sales for a debut album in Kpop.
Regarding actual sales, according to Hanteo, on the first day (October 5), ‘Savage’ sold 112,403 copies. As of 6 pm KST on October 6, this number went up to 192,955 copies and is still increasing. In just a few hours, ‘Savage’ will become the best-selling debut album by a K-pop girl group, breaking the record of BLACKPINK with ‘SQUARE UP’ (196,335 copies).
When ‘Next Level’ became a hit, many people already thought of placing aespa in the lineup of the top Kpop girl groups. However, it was still considered too early and no one was sure whether Next Level was only a temporary trend or not. However, with the release of ‘Savage’ and its even more breakthrough achievements, many Knetizens began to recognize aespa as one of Kpop’s A-class girl groups because of their admirable results both in rankings on digital charts and physical album sales.
However, there are also arguments that it is still quite early to call aespa an A-class Kpop girl group. They said aespa’s music is new, exciting and trending at the moment, but it’s important to see the group’s long-term performance with future songs and albums to be sure. Many netizens are reminded of ITZY when the JYP girl group was also praised for their remarkable achievements in the early days, but the downgrade in quality of ITZY’s recent releases is considered a disappointment.
Some of Knetizens’ comments on whether aespa should be considered a top girl group in Kpop:
– With this digital achievement, they are definitely one of the top girl groups in Kpop.
– No but why are so many people being bitter and trying to deny this? You can’t change the fact that they have achieved exceptional results compared to other groups of the same generation.
– They are insane! They haven’t even debuted for a year yet.
– There is a saying, if you get hate on Pann, you will succeed.
– I’m looking forward to their first week sales, all the songs in this album are good ㅋㅋㅋ
– They’re only rookies now, so of course they’ll do well haha!! But this song sucks LOL! They will end up like ITZY and eventually the public will forget about them as they continue to go down that weird path.
-There must be a reason they got 400,000 pre-order copies.
– I’m guessing they’ll sell over 300,000 copies in the first week.
– I’m still listening to the song ㅠㅠ I love it!!
– Wow, aespa is very popular now!!
– This is a song that will get a better response once people watch their stage. The beat is crazy
– As expected, when they first debuted, they received a lot of hate and now they have become A-class idols.
