does anyone think aespa will hit it big in the west

    SM seems to be really serious about pushing Aespa into the West but most people think their sound, concepts, and even members wont appeal to the west.


    If you genuinely think Aespa can become big in the west (blackpink or bts level), can you explain why?

  • Moderator

    Approved the thread.

    I ask this because kpop is already a relatively big thing in the US and people who are open to kpop and likes aespas sound probably already like them. I really dont see pushing aespa into the US when they've already gained the fanbase that they're most likely going to get either way and when their concept isnt going to appeal to any new groups. Most nonkpop fans already find kpop fake enough but with similar looking members(to non fans), songs like NL and Savage, and the lack of live singing, I just dont see them appealing to the west and gaining any new fans.

    I think they will. People forget aespa is a new group they compare them to ive who have had 2 members in a group already and itzy who’s been around for 4 years. Aespa comeback will set the stage with how big they’ll be in the west.

    the most aespa can do is tour in the US and have decent sales to chart well in bb200 but that's about it. Also mys are delusional thinking that Coachella thing did anything for them, it was only hyped by kpop stans.

    Quote from OP

    SM seems to be really serious about pushing Aespa into the West but most people think their sound, concepts, and even members wont appeal to the west.


    If you genuinely think Aespa can become big in the west (blackpink or bts level), can you explain why?

    Yes anything is possible! I believe many people who love storylines, lore, etc will also love their conceot and even people who don't (like me) will find them interesting. Them achieving all these records/streams from songs like Next Level and Savage which are non gp friendly songs (Savage being hyperpop at that) just shows how many people love their sound. Something I noticed is that they join Blackpink and Twice as the only gg with an album to have all songs with over 10M streams on Spotify (I'll Make You Cry has just 1M left but we'll count it already). This also shows how they have a fanbase who will actually stream their bsides and not just title tracks. Even their station song has almost 60m streams in just 5 months. To answer the question; yes I believe aespa can become big in the west. If SM wants to push them in the west (like every other company) then I would suggest to get a brand new marketing job who knows how the western market works. Also if possible their title tracks can be a little more gp friendly but still have the aespa sound (like "I'll Make You Cry" and "Iconic" from their Savage album).

    i just want and care about new songs from them :pepe-shrug:

    the fact that they pushed back their supposed comeback, I think SM will give them a banger. Remind me of when SM pushed back SNSD comeback (they already recorded dancing queen and supposed to comeback on Q4 2008) however SM changed their mind and decided to pushed back the comeback. Record new song and released it on Feb 2009 (National Hit Gee). And you know how the story goes.


    So maybe they will finally get success internationally this time.

    Naah, dont think so.


    If that was their goal, they would have to handle things very differently to suit a western audience better.

    Then again, it's SM, they've already proven to suck at knowing what western pop music fans would like, so maybe this really is their 'wannabe' attempt.

    Do yk what bp and bts have in common?? Stage presence and aura which aespa clearly lacks.

    Gp in usa don't really care about kpop (except bts maybe) so to actually chart in usa aespa needs a strong US fandom which will push them until gp notices, they don't seem to have that.

    Also aespa hasn't even charted on us spotify which shows that they don't have major demand there

    Are they going to do real Western promo, heavily pushing singles to radio, etc? Singing in English/adapting the songs somewhat for general audience? Staying in USA more than one week? If so, this signals SM is ready to play ball. But I won’t hold my breath.

    They got really good reception in coachella. I bet they garnered new fans. Other than that, they are the best performing 4th gen GG in billboard. So, it is not impossible to do good in the west.

    This reminded me when SM was desperate for NCT to take off and put Exo on the back burner. They kept pushing NCT but only after SuperM did NCT took off because many exols became NCTzens too. So SM already had GOT out of the way so that SNSD and RV’s fans will support aespa too. The next step is to push aespa harder in the west (they already started with Macy’s day parade and coachella). I think aespa will be successful but not at BTS level. Blackpink’s level maybe.

    Depends on the song

    Their performance

    How lively they are...

    They have as much of a chance as any other group.

    Quote from Smoked Olive Boar (239)

    This reminded me when SM was desperate for NCT to take off and put Exo on the back burner. They kept pushing NCT but only after SuperM did NCT took off because many exols became NCTzens too. So SM already had GOT out of the way so that SNSD and RV’s fans will support aespa too. The next step is to push aespa harder in the west (they already started with Macy’s day parade and coachella). I think aespa will be successful but not at BTS level. Blackpink’s level maybe.

    The delusion oh my gawd. Nct did not blow up thanks to superm. It was just a waste of everyone's time. What really made them take off was ther constant growth and with Kick It's viral moment they got a jump. Later that same year nct 2020 happened and helped them garner a huge amount of new fans resulting in hot sauce's surprising success later and the rest is history. Exo's top sales for an album is 1.4m, a million less than what nct has sold - please don't make up such stories just because you can't cope with the fact that other SM groups managed to do as well in terms of sales.

    Exols don't quote me I'm one of you too

    SM could push from now until the end of time and Aespa still won't hit big in the U.S unless they undergo some major changes in their concept and production. The fact that Aespa popularity skews so heavily toward China and Korea just goes to show that they appeal more to the East than the West.


    SM is very stubborn and hardheaded though. Even after SuperM they still haven't learned their lesson. At this point I'm really starting to believe Lee So Man to have an incredible amount of hubris to think that he can just keep pushing that same tacky AI concept and "experimental" music and it will somehow make them the next BlackPink in the U.S.


    It's getting almost painful to watch too. Aespa sucks at performing and watching them appearing on U.S television where the hosts have to pretend to be super interested in their expressionless robotic dancing and lipsyncing... And many Americans are already so closed minded and probably can't tell most Kpop groups from another they will probably think Aespa is what Kpop groups are all like.

    No. The likes of bts & bp got there organically, there was always demand for them and didn't feel pushed by their companies. They got that special aura/stat factor aespa and everyone else in kpop are lacking.

    Meanwhile, they're quickly losing ground on a daily basis to most groups in SK. Get real.

    No

    Not in their current form.

    They need to majorly work on their stage presence and live skills. MASSIVELY so. Better dance, better synchronicity with each other, less obvious lip syncing and ditch this supposed "we are AI's/Robots thats why we are boring on stage".

    Ditch the whole AI concept entirely. Western audiences think gimmicky crap like that is childish. The AI thing never really took off anyway and seems half assed. Just get rid of it.

    Rework their sound a little as well. Black Mamba is probably their most Western friendly song, the others arent really radio friendly or concert friendly and come across as gimmicky.

    Let the members personalities out more. They all seem quite lovely, but always seem too "managed" to me. This makes them come across as kind of boring/dull.

    I think Western audiences like getting to know members more and prefer groups where members are very distinct in terms of personality. Social media is a BIG thing for this. Let the members have their own accounts, or at the very least a less managed social media presence

    They are boring on stage. And they also lipsync. Their songs have very disjointed structures, far from western appeal. They will not succeed in the west no matter how hard SM tries to promote them. They aren’t that group

    yes just to piss off these antis

    I think if they stopped using playback and showed their talents, maybe they would get more attention

    Quote from Stewed Mustard & Thyme Yak (973)

    The delusion oh my gawd. Nct did not blow up thanks to superm. It was just a waste of everyone's time. What really made them take off was ther constant growth and with Kick It's viral moment they got a jump. Later that same year nct 2020 happened and helped them garner a huge amount of new fans resulting in hot sauce's surprising success later and the rest is history. Exo's top sales for an album is 1.4m, a million less than what nct has sold - please don't make up such stories just because you can't cope with the fact that other SM groups managed to do as well in terms of sales.

    Exols don't quote me I'm one of you too

    No you are not exol. You are talking as if nct is more popular than exo at their peak which is not any exol would say. Let alone exols, no k-pop fan would say something like that. You are not exol otherwise you would know that exo had 1.4million sales in 2018 when k-pop was not as big as it is now. Exo didn't do 14-15 versions and 50 fansigns like nct does. The number of versions are the reason behind nct sales not their popularity because no one knows them.

    Quote from Breaded Honey Turkey (67)

    No you are not exol. You are talking as if nct is more popular than exo at their peak which is not any exol would say. Let alone exols, no k-pop fan would say something like that. You are not exol otherwise you would know that exo had 1.4million sales in 2018 when k-pop was not as big as it is now. Exo didn't do 14-15 versions and 50 fansigns like nct does. The number of versions are the reason behind nct sales not their popularity because no one knows them.

    Now you're talking about completely different things than what you mentioned in your original post (saying ncts success is due to the superm project). Nobody said exo wasn't more popular in their peak, i think everyone knows that just by looking at random people on the streets of korea calling exo their pride. Our discussion is over. And I'd like you to see you call me a fake exol on main.

    they need a change in the music direction. A mainstream song like Love Dive will do wonders for a group like Aespa. Also they need to lipsync less. Their performance at Coachella was just about good.

    Agree with the user above, that AI concept is cringe af. I was surprised to see that people were eating it up and even discussing what would happen next in kwangya during their next comeback. I honestly wonder how SM fooled people into enjoying this stuff. And I’m also sick of hearing the word kwangya. It’s making me aggressive at this point

    They have the talent, music and personality to be massive in the west.

    I think they will surpass BP easily but not be as big as BTS level though

    lol aespa songs are too weird for the west and they aren't the best performers either

    They could get million sales just like other sm acts bg. But blackpink level? Lol

    Rosé tiktok just gained almost 3m just by posting 1 random video (92m views), beat that first

    IMG_20220531_232223.jpg

    I think literally any active K-Pop group can become big in the west with a song that connects with people. It doesn't have to even be a good song, as we have multiple one word title examples of.


    I don't think they can appeal to fans in the west on the same aesthetic level as Blackpink though. They look very KBS, except NingNing.

  • This thread contains 52 more posts that have been hidden for guests, please register yourself or login to continue reading.

Participate now!

Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our community!

Register Yourself Login