aespa

South Korean girl group under SM Entertainment

aespa promotional overview
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genre	K-pop, pop, electronic
Years active	2020–present
Label	SM Entertainment
Members	4
Debut	November 17, 2020
Fandom	MY

aespa is a four-member South Korean girl group under SM Entertainment, debuting in November 2020. The group is built around SM's metaverse concept in which each member has a virtual AI counterpart — their "ae" — creating an extended fictional universe tied to the group's music and lore.

History

Debut and concept

aespa debuted with "Black Mamba," which broke the record for fastest SM debut music video to reach 100 million YouTube views at the time. The track established the group's high-energy, dark-pop direction and introduced the overarching KWANGYA lore that would run through subsequent releases.

Commercial breakthrough

"Next Level" became one of the biggest domestic hits of 2021, topping charts for weeks and driving significant streaming numbers. "Savage" and "Girls" continued building the group's profile internationally, and their debut studio album Armageddon marked a major milestone.

Members

• Karina (Yoo Jimin) — Leader
• Giselle (Uchinaga Aeri) — Japanese-Korean member
• Winter (Kim Minjeong)
• Ningning (Ning Yizhuo) — Chinese member, maknae

Discography

Release	Type	Notes
Savage	EP	Included "Savage"
Girls	EP	Coachella debut era
Drama	EP	Included "Drama" and "Supernova"
Armageddon	Studio album	Debut full-length album

Trivia

• aespa performed at Coachella in 2023, making them the first SM girl group to do so.
• "Next Level" — originally a song from the Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw soundtrack — was adapted for aespa and became one of the biggest domestic hits of 2021.
• SM built an extended fictional universe (KWANGYA) around aespa that connects across multiple media.

Latest Album