K-pop girl group aespa — who go by the names of Ningning, Giselle, Winter, and Karina — might only be three songs deep into their career, but they’ve already broken records.
Their debut single, Black Mamba, was released in November 2020 and became the fastest debut music video to surpass 100 million views in K-pop history. To date, the video has been watched more than 147 million times on YouTube.
aespa have returned with their second release of 2021, Next Level, and it’s quite the banger. According to AllKPop, the song is a remake of Australian artist A$ton Wyld’s single for the Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw original soundtrack.
aespa can’t wait to show off the performances they have planned for Next Level
During a press conference, aespa expressed how excited they were to promote the new single with performances.
“We received lots of love with our debut song Black Mamba, and in return, we wanted to showcase even better music and performances. With Next Level, we’re excited to bring another powerful performance, even more so than before, and can’t wait to promote it,” Ningning said.
“The first thought that came to my mind when I listened to Next Level is that the song is so good and I couldn’t wait to show the performance to our fans. I hope everyone looks forward to it!” Giselle continued.
The music video is already making waves
In just a matter of hours, the official music video for Next Level has already racked up more than 2.6 million views on YouTube.
Its futuristic aesthetic matches the songs energy sonically and sees aespa performing full choreography in various different scenes.
“We tried to show the story that comes after Black Mamba with Next Level,” Ningning revealed, per Soompi.
“We worked hard to show a performance that’s cooler and more relaxed than Black Mamba,” Karina shared.
“The choreography is made in a way that’s fun and easy for everyone to follow along. It’d be great if many people followed along.” Winter added.
Watch the video in full below:
aespa reflect on their career highlights so far
“There are several moments that cross my mind, but I’d have to say when we received the “Rookie of the Year” award last year and earlier this year. It’s an award you can only receive once after debut so it’s very meaningful to us. Every time we think back to that moment, we get a lot of energy,” Winter explained during their press conference.
“For me, the most memorable moment is when we filmed the first episode of SM Culture Universe (SMCU). It was my first time filming underwater, so I was a bit scared and excited at the same time. When I watched the final clip, I was very satisfied with the result and how it came out, so I felt very proud,” Karina said.