Inside a Rapidly Shifting K-Pop Landscape, aespa Welcomes Us To Their World

SM Entertainment

In aespa’s new comeback, their world is now our world – or at the very least, a planet that resembles ours. The girl group’s new single “Welcome to MY World” is a pivot for the group: Not only is the song the most mid-tempo and cinematic track they’ve ever released, but their lore is now contained to a planet that appears to be Earth. 

In the music video, the girls travel to a forest where they meet a mysterious aura that turns into naevis. This time, casual listeners can enjoy the song without any knowledge of the backstory. Take for example the line, “This city’s so pretty with your light’s on,” sung coyly by NingNing. It’s a lyric that feels knowing and conversational, which is significant because nothing about aespa has ever felt so low stakes.  

Realism continues to intertwine with the surreal in this era. In the video for a b-side, “I’m Unhappy”, aespa portrays a new first: bored high school students. Yet these high school students have an edge: They resemble the degenerate beauty queens of classic horror films. “Everyday’s the same,” sings a distressed Winter at a school dance, dressed in a button-up, blazer and tie. She sighs, “I’m bored.” Situated in another clique is NingNing, dressed as an American high school cheerleader, who confesses, “I just pretend to be happy.” 

Seen as a pair, “Welcome to MY World” and “I’m Unhappy” are a strong case for how aespa is adapting to a rapidly changing K-Pop landscape. Notoriously known for the strict rules placed on idols, one of the most notable recent changes in K-Pop is how open idols can be about their lives. TikTok has been an unexpected champion of this development: Groups now have the access to show that they, too, stay on trends. They can start and join in on dance challenges while creating genuinely funny, compelling content for their fans. 

But music releases, too, are allowing idols to show multiple sides of themselves, even if those sides feel curated.

Le Sserafim’s hit “Antifragile”, which went viral for the “anti-ti-ti-ti” loop, affirmed that girls can be both feminine and tough. When NewJeans crashed through the industry gates with “Attention” and “Hype Boy” in August they tossed a dismissive gauntlet to high-brow concepts. The five members portrayed teenage girls who wanted to chill with their friends or talk to a crush. Even the recent dark horse smash “Cupid” by FIFTY FIFTY is a rewarding shift to a straight-forward love song, something that feels oddly lacking in an industry built on fan service. 

These girl groups are remaking K-Pop into a space where relatability, either in lyrics or image, is valued more than perfection or illusion. This trend shows that perhaps fans want more from their groups. Today, fans want to see their dreams and anxieties reflected back to them through the music and image of their favorite idols. 

But how does this shift leave room for the fantasy-building world of aespa? 

When they debuted in 2020, aespa existed entirely in Kwangya, a metaverse created by Lee Soo-man, the disgraced former chairman of SM Entertainment. Their lore unraveled over several singles: aespa was trapped in Kwangya where they fought black mambas; aespa’s “ae” counterparts sometimes appear in music videos; aespa worshiped a deity, or something, known as naevis. 

But as they fought their way through Kwangya, they produced plenty of bangers, too. The group struck gold with “Next Level”, a completely absurd song that went very viral because of the insane lyrics and instantly recognizable choreography. “Savage”, the follow-up single, is their most experimental release yet but it largely succeeded because of a dogged commitment by aespa to their art. 

North American promotional plans were plotted to coincide with the release of their first mini-album “Savage”, and in 2021, the girls appeared in Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. They returned to the States over the following Spring and Summer in an effort to drum up international success. There they played a set at Coachella, and debuted “Life’s Too Short” , an English-language track. “Life’s Too Short” hit back at the haters who criticized aespa’s stage presence and doubted their success, but it also felt like a misstep to gain new fans. The juvenile lyrics and vanilla production sounded oddly sterilized for American audiences.  

When aespa dropped “Girls”, they avoided the variety show circuit at home in favor of promoting in America. But “Girls” was not massive and only reached number 8 on Korean charts. Instead, the song felt reductive, a rehash of previous concepts and sounds with very little for new listeners to grab onto. “Black Mamba/ I’m not afraid of you/ I’ll break you/ It has changed when we entered Kwangya,” they warn in the lyrics. But while other K-Pop groups undertook broad swing with concepts that explored self-worth or depression, SM largely stagnated aespa, both in their creative output and in alleged continuous delays over a new release. 

In August when NewJeans debuted, the industry didn’t just shift, it leapt forward. NewJeans brought realism to a genre that is built on fantasy. Their sound was chill and vibey; a far shot from the “everything but the kitchen sink” approach that SM deployed with aespa. The strategy behind NewJeans, a brainchild of Min Hee Jin who once worked at SM, was simple: These girls could be your best friends.. They were by far the biggest winners of 2022, and their success put other companies on notice: Styles are changing. 

Meanwhile, SM Entertainment was in flames. The company’s board of directors pushed out Lee Soo-man from his role as Chairman over “allegations of financial improprieties”, which Lee denied. In response, he sold his share of stakes to Hybe, which began a war between SM Entertainment and Hybe over ownership.

Caught in the crossfire was aespa, a group that was long overdue for a comeback. According to Chris Lee, Lee Soo-man allegedly wanted aespa’s next comeback to focus on the environment. “Parts of the lyrics include ‘just sustainability,’ ‘lowering the degree by even one,’ ‘co-existence,’ and ‘greenism.’ These words that have no relation to K-Pop at all appeared in the lyrics here and there,” he said in a video posted to YouTube. “The early part of the song even contained “planting trees. The aespa members were so upset they even got choked up [with tears].” 

In response, the girls posted their own video where Winter joked, “Everyone, please understand. The members are having a hard time today.” Next to her sat Karina and Gisellet with their heads buried in their palms, as if they were sobbing. Then, they looked up and smiled cheesily at the camera. “It looks like they’re having a hard time, right?” she said and smiled coyly. 

SM Entertainment

aespa is almost assured a successful comeback: Their fanbase is too large and their company is too powerful for it to fail. But questions remain over how this new era will leverage their past success. Can the exploration of a new world allow aespa to grow beyond a concept that threatened to box them in? And how will SM allow the girls to step into their own, sharing more of their funny, whipsmart personalities? 

What makes aespa’s new releases so compelling is that they are arguably darker and more layered than anything in their discography. “I’m Unhappy” strikes harder than previous attempts at introspection, and its video charts a new course for how aespa can evolve by reminding us that the biggest battle is always within. The songs are also earworms that will live inside your head long after you first hear them.

But for fans who want to get to know the girls better, they should download the LYSN bubble app and subscribe to the members. There you will find four self-aware, introspective girls who’ve juggled last year’s trials and rumors with grace. They don’t deserve the hurdles that have been placed in front of them, but they’re doing their best to clear them anyway.