Aespa: Representatives of the Metaverse Era
Aespa has now become the first girl group to speak at the United Nations High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development.
SM Entertainment has a history of creating complicated concepts. EXO is a group of super-powerful beings from another planet, NCT members are connected through a series of dreamscapes, and SuperM, known as the "Avengers of K-pop", travel through a dangerous matrix on a mission to destroy a virtual world. However, all of these stories converge in SMCU, a world that shares the artists' fictional stories. It is also an ambitious vision associated with Aespa.
Aespa delivers Digital Culture, SM Universe and more
Aespa is a K-pop girl group that debuted at the end of 2020 consisting of 4 members, in futuristic style from fashion to music and promotional content. However, right from their debut, the number of members in the group made fans extremely confused when both the management company and the group members confirmed that Aespa is an 8-member group, consisting of 4 singers and their 4 avatars in another universe.
Since Red Velvet in 2016, this is the first SM Entertainment girl group to have the single "Next Level" create a global fever and make a name for the group. Speaking of achievements, the group's music video 'Black Mamba' reached 100 million views on YouTube in just 51 days, which is quite remarkable for a rookie group.
The source of the focus came from when the group debuted with a never-before-seen concept related to the digital self. The group consists of four members: Karina, Winter, Giselle and NingNing. But here's where things get interesting - each member has a virtual representation that exists in a different dimension called FLAT: æ-Karina, æ-Winter, æ-Giselle, and æ-NingNing. These are called "æs" (pronounced like "eye"), and they are essentially Aespa's online avatars created from all the data members have uploaded to the internet.
Æs is a reflection of Aespa, but it is important to note that they're not an exact replica of their real-life personas. In one of the band's songs, it's explained that "All my actions increase your power." And it's true: The more active we are online, the more our virtual footprints. we become stronger.
At first, this new concept was confusing for everyone, with many questions raised about the identities of the members. “We are a team of eight,” team leader Karina announced at an event. Considering digital entities as part of Aespa, “Members have been working for a long time to fully understand the concept and universe of the group. We know who we are. Since avatars are created based on each member's personal data, it's easy for all of us to keep up with our digital versions." Giselle added, "We are planning to introduce diverse content with representative characters."
“We will try to make our voices stronger,” said Karina.
Affirming the "Next Level" in the field of fashion
Although newly debuted, the "half-real and half-virtual" group Aespa has received many criticisms for its deviance such as raising concerns about unrealistic body images or facing the risk of being used for images – deepfake into pornographic content and risk perverting the values of K-pop.
However, surpassing seniors like BLACKPINK, just a few months after their debut, K-pop's rookie group had their first big fashion contract. The quartet has been named global brand ambassadors for French luxury fashion house Givenchy.
All four members: Karina, Winter, Ningning and Giselle - will be the new faces of the fashion House from 2021, similar to the case of BTS as ambassadors of Louis Vuitton. Before that, a common precedent for fashion Houses and brands was to choose individual members from groups to be ambassadors, such as Chanyeol (EXO) for Prada, Lisa (BLACKPINK) for Celine, Jennie (BLACKPINK) for Chanel, and more.
“The first time I saw Aespa, I felt the overwhelming energy each member brings,” Givenchy creative director Matthew M. Williams said of the brand's new global representative, in a press release shared by SM Entertainment. “Both the group and with individuals like Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning, I can sense a strong personality and style, so of course, they would be a good fit for Givenchy. Aespa fashion has its own colour.”
Aespa, the first girl group to speak at the United Nations High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development
Recently, "metaverse girl group" Aespa appeared at the High Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development (HLPE) of the United Nations (HLPE) 2022 as a global speaker. represent future generations. This is the second honor for a K-pop group after BTS. Here, the group gave a speech on the topic of "Next Generation to the Next Level" and conveyed a positive message about sustainable development goals.
In particular, Aespa has attracted attention not only as the representative of the MZ generation (Millenial and Gen Z), the girl group possessing the Metaverse worldview and the avatar members 'ae' but also through bringing up the topic of sustainable development. Aespa stated: "As an infinite field that transcends all boundaries between reality and fantasy, space and time, genre, generation, etc. Metaverse opens up diverse and increasingly diverse possibilities for more attention, research and development. Everyone is trying to build the most perfect metaverse world possible. As interest in the Metaverse grows as it is today, we need to ask the question: Are we trying so hard to build for the real world?"
Next, Aespa emphasized the importance of sustainable development goals when saying: "The Metaverse world reflects the real world, so if the real world is exhausted and unsustainable, it will be difficult to maintain the limitless possibilities of the virtual world. Where there is no equality of opportunity for Earth's sustainable ecosystem and high quality of life, there will be no real world where the Metaverse world can reflect."
The group also shared: "Therefore, we think the topic of sustainable development being discussed here is very important. Moreover, it is also very important for the next generation to fully support the sustainable development goals."
