Is Aespa the new Blackpink? The K-pop supergroups, compared – from Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning’s Coachella performances and endorsements with luxury brands like Givenchy, to smash hit debuts
Fast-rising K-pop girl group Aespa, composed of members Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning, have been surpassing records and achieving milestones since its debut in 2020 (a very successful one, in the middle of a global pandemic, at that!)
The group also recently made it into Forbes’ 30 under 30 Asia list, being the only K-pop group included. The prestigious list hails Gen Z and millennial leaders who’ve survived and thrived in their respective fields amid lockdowns, uncertainties and other hurdles. Clearly, the quartet is making a big impact in roughly just two years – despite unusual circumstances.
This all has us wondering: could Aespa be poised to be the next Blackpink? While the two groups can’t really be compared – both are a force to be reckoned with – it’s probably safe to say that Aespa is on their way to even bigger success than what they have achieved now.
Below, we chart the similar paths of fourth generation girl group Aespa and the members’ Blackpink seniors.
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Smashing debut, top performances, and making and breaking records
Aespa and Blackpink both have four members, each one oozing with charisma, attractive looks and talent. It also helps that they both hail from Korea’s top entertainment agencies, SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment, respectively. So when Blackpink debuted in 2016 and Aespa in 2020, both were expected to be big. K-pop fans were giddy with anticipation, waiting to see what the new girl groups were all about.
According to SM Entertainment’s website, when the music video of Aespa’s debut song Black Mamba was released in November 2020, it amassed up to 21 million views in just 24 hours and reached the 100 millionth view mark in just 51 days. This would just be one of the many targets that Aespa would hit, including songs making it to the Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart.
Blackpink’s debut songs, Whistle and Boombayah, also broke records – both debut songs topped the Billboard chart at No 1 and 2, and Boombayah became the first-ever debut music video to surpass a billion views on YouTube, per Soompi.
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This is on top of both group’s other endorsements and partnership deals outside luxury fashion, including skincare, cosmetics and apparel, to name a few.
Global domination, US debuts and Coachella
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Aespa performed hits Savage, Next Level and Black Mamba, as well as Life’s Too Short – an unreleased track. The girls’ Coachella appearance also marked their first live concert performance in the US.
What’s next for Aespa? Its second EP “Girls” is slated to be released in July, more brand deals are coming up, and hopefully more overseas performances, thanks to its partnership with Warner Records, as recently announced on The Music Network.
- Aespa is on a roll: Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning just became the first K-pop idol group to land on Forbes’ 30 under 30 Asia list, hailed as Gen Z leaders
- Like its seniors in Blackpink – Jennie, Lisa, Rosé and Jisoo – Aespa has topped Billboard charts and smashed YouTube records with its music video for Black Mamba