Rolling Stone Magazine - "Aespa are redefining how people experience K-pop in 2021"

  • We love to see it!


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    Members of the group cite everyone from Beyoncé to Stevie Wonder to Blink-182 as influences on their innovative sound

    By BRITTANY SPANOS 


    aespa-group-image-no-watermark.jpg?resize=1800,1200&w=1200



    Aespa have only three songs out, but they have already shown incredible range for a budding supergroup. The quartet (Karina, Winter, Giselle, Ningning) was assembled last year, becoming SM Entertainment’s first new girl group since the popular Red Velvet six years earlier. With their debut, they also reinvented how a K-pop group looks, often accompanied by a quartet of virtual avatars.


    “From the moment it was decided that we were going to debut as Aespa until now, we’ve always had great teamwork and communication, with many heart-to-heart conversations,” Giselle says. “I think we were able to build a stronger bond because we were always open to talking about our feelings and what’s on our minds.”


    Aespa’s first single, “Black Mamba,” introduced them to the world as a powerful pop act, with its heavy synths and dubstep-y beat. Their second song, “Forever,” surprised by showing off a softer side. “We receive inspiration from other artists, but instead of trying to become like someone else, we want to create our own music genre,” Karina says.


    All four (physical) members say they wanted to pursue music from a young age, and they were raised on a diverse array of genres and artists. Karina’s grandmother played her plenty of older Korean songs, while her mom got her into classical and jazz. Winter’s older brother played in a band, so she loved guitar-driven music. Giselle’s influences are perhaps the widest ranging: She cites everyone from Stevie Wonder to Blink-182 to Ariana Grande, with her taste leaning toward rock and R&B. And Ningning’s personal hero? “Beyoncé is always on my playlist,” she exclaims.


    While the recent pandemic proved challenging, Aespa have done what they can to make the most of these unprecedented circumstances. As a group, it’s all they know. “Watching the staff work so hard with their masks on makes us want to work even harder,” Winter says, of recording music and videos during this time. “We are sad that we can’t meet our fans in-person and perform in front of an audience, but we’re always trying to utilize various social media and video platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter to showcase the different sides of us that you don’t necessarily see in our music videos or performances.” (They’ve also promoted the group with virtual avatar versions of each member.)


    Aespa are planning much more in the near future, and Karina has her own wish list for what she hopes they get to showcase — including their great harmonies, more rapping, and chances to share their own stories in the songs. “I’m sure that our song lyrics will get more interesting as they tell a story of our adventures in that world,” she explains, “adding on to the fun in uncovering the full story with each new release.”

  • It makes me laugh that in kpop they consider "virtual avatars" as something new, being that in Japan they have been having virtual idols for 20 years


    ps: aespa virtual avatars are horrible compared to Japanese virtual/anime idols

  • It makes me laugh that in kpop they consider "virtual avatars" as something new, being that in Japan they have been having virtual idols for 20 years


    ps: aespa virtual avatars are horrible compared to Japanese virtual/anime idols

    sm always take from japan and sm stans think they invented, nct akb system is the same way

  • sm should have hired Japanese animators for the aespa designs, so at least it would have ensured some success for the group, because for Japan aespa has absolutely nothing new

    like all sm has try lore-wise, they will probably drop it after some years

    nct was the same, the quality of whatever they tried drop for nct2020 as the group got old

    so that's why they aren't doin all that much for the ai visuals

  • Article Title: "Aespa Want to Reinvent the K-Pop Girl Group Sound"


    Is it possible? Yes. Some Pop reinventions are usually just imported over from other genres. We'll see if SME levels up Aespa's music properly. I don't think the "Ae-vatars" are going to truly show up as anything special until SME's partners get their hands on the VFX/motion capture tech. that Marvel Studios, and others, are using.

  • It makes me laugh that in kpop they consider "virtual avatars" as something new, being that in Japan they have been having virtual idols for 20 years


    ps: aespa virtual avatars are horrible compared to Japanese virtual/anime idols

    But it is true tho, the article is talking about kpop not the entire music industry and as far as i know Aespa is the first kpop group to use avatars.



  • It's hilarious how there's no single MY on this thread but here's comes the pressed users lmao. It's always this none stans are loud.




    Anyway obviously the article is talking about South Korea and Kpop that makes Aespa a breath fresh air when most GGs nowadays are sounding the same. I can't even hardly tell them apart.





    No GG after SNSD has been this exciting and game changer. Aespa will only just grow from here, their only 8th month rookies but their already making all this talk and commotion.




    Biggest Girl Group in the making.


  • But it is true tho, the article is talking about kpop not the entire music industry and as far as i know Aespa is the first kpop group to use avatars.

    off course, they are the first korean group, but it makes me laugh how korea keeps stealing jpop things and passes them off as something new in the west

  • is this some bitter sone twice steal all title from snsd and then bp did too?

    get with the present babe

  • is this some bitter sone twice steal all title from snsd and then bp did too?

    get with the present babe


    How's SONEs and SNSD has anything to do with this thread? The never ending impact of SNSD on people lmao.




    I'm already living in the present where as Aespa is currently a hot topic. Twice commercially bombing and Blackpink being the current IT girls but have no sign of getting out of the dungeon soon.




    But you think you did something by quoting me. Your shade needs some polishing, try harder next time.


  • "No GG after SNSD has been this exciting and game changer" korea aint think that, neither the world

    u sound like lsm, well they rt a article calling aespa the 2nd bp so no wonder

  • "No GG after SNSD has been this exciting and game changer" korea aint think that, neither the world

    u sound like lsm, well they rt a article calling aespa the 2nd bp so no wonder


    And how this affects you personally? Lmao. I'm entitled to my opinion but if it does bother you that you needs to brought some try hard cheap shade, it isn't working as you think it is boo.




    People calles their faves as Beetles incarnation all the time and I have the right to hype the groups I stan. If you have an issue with that then that's not my problem anymore.




    Hop off my notification bc I don't have all day dealing stinking ass users around here. Xiao :) 



    OT: Aespa Biggest GG in Korea and the World soon.


  • fine :pepe-popcorn:


  • Imagine being that pressed that you have to talk about people you seems not to like and going on threads making a fool out of yourself, embarassing.



    OT: Aespa leading the 4th Gen wbk.



  • People come trying to spread the hate? Read the fuckin title. Yes it is not original but the TITLE said in KOREA. Ofcourse it a new concept. Why so stupidity?


    They need to come up with something to circle jerk Aespa and discredit their Achievements so far, it's nothing new really.




    gagging @ certain user had to brought up Japan when the article is talking about Kpop and South Korea. The logic fled somewhere in Tokyo




    No one is saying SM invented this whole thing but they are the First Entertainment Company who introduced this concept to SoKor like how they basically pioneered the genre as a whole. Give the credit where it's due




    Whether y'all like it or not. Aespa will go down in History as the first Official Pop Group with Virtual Ae Counterparts.



  • It makes me laugh that in kpop they consider "virtual avatars" as something new, being that in Japan they have been having virtual idols for 20 years


    ps: aespa virtual avatars are horrible compared to Japanese virtual/anime idols

    hmmmm.... i don't remember jpop groups having

    groups with virtual and real member

    it's usually only virtual members or real members not both


    and i don't remember too seeing jpop groups creating their own universe with their mv aesthetic and lyrics


    so no as much you want to make it look like it's just a copy and paste to discredit aespa

    what jpop do is very different from what aespa is doing '-'

    ✩We Born with the X-Gene✩

    #aespa from GOMAWO TAEYEON #aespa from GOMAWO TAEYEON #aespa from GOMAWO TAEYEON

  • NYLON also approved :pepe-toast:

    the FIRST group, we love to see it :pepe-tea:

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  • NYLON also approved :pepe-toast:

    the FIRST group, we love to see it :pepe-tea:

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    Kweens of Authentic Features



    They need to hire them next as the Cover for their Magazines


  • anime franchises have been doing it for years lol


    virtual/anime:


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    real:


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    another anime/virtual idols (with a design infinitely better than the horrible designs of aespa):


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    Hololive:


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    Johnny's also has its own virtual idols, played by members of Naniwa


    https://www.youtube.com/channe…8Bs1QPmfF8Cp5HqQhw/videos



    this simply proves kpop steals jpop stuff and then passes it off as his own, kpop has never innovated or created anything

  • it's a different things

    what you are showing is just idols who are voicing virtual idols


    aespa is a groups made of real and virtual idols

    ✩We Born with the X-Gene✩

    #aespa from GOMAWO TAEYEON #aespa from GOMAWO TAEYEON #aespa from GOMAWO TAEYEON

  • it's a different things

    what you are showing is just idols who are voicing virtual idols


    aespa is a groups made of real and virtual idols

    nope, aespa tries to sell virtual avatars / characters as something new, when in fact they have been around for years.


    well, it's sm haha they always steal / take stuff from japan (ahem ahem johnnys ahem ahem morning musume)

  • Nothing's truly new, everyone in every business, industry or entertainment field builds upon the works of others.


    Some people researched it a year or 2 ago, and their results were that a lot of things in jpop was copied and originated from other, older sources as well. And so on and on.


    Like Apple and Steve Jobs used to say, 'it doesn't matter who did it first, but what you do with it and how you improve on it does'.


    K-pop does their stuff better than j-pop does, seeing how K-pop is more widespread and accepted internationally than j-pop.

    And within the K-pop scene, a lot of the stuff that SM people experiment with are often riskier, unconventional and non-standard.


    Personally, I'd love to see more companies taking that kinda risks and experiment like that, but I can also understand why many of them stay on the safer mainstream paths of doing things that are tested and proven.

    'No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk.'


    SWJ1P.gif

  • The truth is that the only thing that kpop does better than jpop is international promotion, because the music ... I mean, Korea only lives on idol groups, and I think that only one group represents 40% of the value of the Korean industry , what a mess

  • The truth is that the only thing that kpop does better than jpop is international promotion, because the music ... I mean, Korea only lives on idol groups, and I think that only one group represents 40% of the value of the Korean industry , what a mess

    I'm familiar with jpop, personally I liked jrock more (but older jrock).


    At first, before I really knew K-pop, I thought it was as uninteresting (to me) as jpop, but then I got to learn more about K-pop, and I found it a hell of a lot more entertaining and appealing to me than j-pop.

    And from its worldwide appeal, I can see I'm not the only one.


    It's not for nothing that j-pop has nowhere near the global appeal that other Japanese entertainment genres like games, anime and manga: it's simply because jpop fails to live up to the high quality and entertainment standards that those other Japanese entertainment fields have to offer.

    Basically it's a huge, structural failure on the side of jpop as an entertainment field, and it's not because a lack of promotion.


    These are flaws that K-pop doesn't have. Which is why K-pop is doing as great internationally as other Japanese entertainment aside from J-pop are doing.


    Even before and without BTS, the K-pop industry has been thriving a lot more on an international scale than j-pop ever did.


    Like said, the failure lies with j-pop itself, it just isn't on the quality entertainment level that K-pop, anime, manga and Japanese games industry are, and which make those other entertainment genres more appealing to the rest of the world.

    'No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk.'


    SWJ1P.gif

  • the only reason jpop is not popular is because it was never promoted outside of Japan, the best example is Johnny's, they are the most important agency in the history of Asia, and just in 2021 they created a twitter account ...


    That "it is not of quality" is a clearly subjective thing, kpop currently apart from imitating things that Japan does, it also imitates the West. Jpop does not imitate the West, that is why it is more "curious", but it is also much more unique.

  • It makes me laugh that in kpop they consider "virtual avatars" as something new, being that in Japan they have been having virtual idols for 20 years


    ps: aespa virtual avatars are horrible compared to Japanese virtual/anime idols

    I think they were ~~lowkey inspired~~ by K/DA in terms of character designs :eyes:

  • It's not for nothing that j-pop has nowhere near the global appeal that other Japanese entertainment genres like games, anime and manga: it's simply because jpop fails to live up to the high quality and entertainment standards that those other Japanese entertainment fields have to offer.

    Basically it's a huge, structural failure on the side of jpop as an entertainment field, and it's not because a lack of promotion.

    I kinda disagree. Unlike k-pop, the Japanese entertainment industry never really tried to cater to international audiences. They always did things their way. For some things, like manga, or video games (and even in that department they lost a lot of their prestige), they succeeded at converting international audiences while staying true to their roots. But it just didn't work for J-Pop as it was just too Japanese I guess. Independantly of the quality (that I agree is lesser) idol J-Pop music and the way it works are just too weird. And when they have a success, like Babymetal, it's more by accident than anything.

  • nope, aespa tries to sell virtual avatars / characters as something new, when in fact they have been around for years.


    well, it's sm haha they always steal / take stuff from japan (ahem ahem johnnys ahem ahem morning musume)

    They sell the whole concept of a Human Idol Group with their own Avatar counterparts, it's two in one.



    No Jpop Idols have ever tried that kind of concept unless their voicing anime characters. I don't know where did you get the impression SM announcing they owned them where in fact, all they did is bring this existing concept and combine them with Kpop. Something that is new to KPop and that has been the main point of this thread.



    You sounds butthurt that you have to brought up that it's japanese who did this first yada yada when that's not the point here. You are in a Kpop forum so what do you expect people to discuss?



    Get off your high horse.



  • the only reason jpop is not popular is because it was never promoted outside of Japan, the best example is Johnny's, they are the most important agency in the history of Asia, and just in 2021 they created a twitter account ...


    That "it is not of quality" is a clearly subjective thing, kpop currently apart from imitating things that Japan does, it also imitates the West. Jpop does not imitate the West, that is why it is more "curious", but it is also much more unique.

    We won't know until they up their game, but up till now j-pop as a whole is underachieving.


    Also, it doesn't really help that a majority of the j-pop scene is in the hands of 1 man/company: that comes very close to a monopoly, and isn't exactly a sound environment for healthy, thriving competition. It's strong competition that breeds innovation and higher, improved quality standards.


    Anyway, this thread is about how well Aespa are doing internationally and how they're getting lots of acclaim, like from Rolling Stone. So I don't want to derail too much with discussions that have little to do with that topic.

    'No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk.'


    SWJ1P.gif

  • "Jpop Idols have ever tried that kind of concept", and Japan invented virtual idols, so ...

  • "Jpop Idols have ever tried that kind of concept", and Japan invented virtual idols, so ...

    Did they invent an Actual Human Pop Group with their own Personalized Virtual Characters IN KPOP? Nope.



    You're not making any valid points as you think you are.

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