Aespa Talks New Mini Album ‘Girls,’ Fanbase & More: Watch – Billboard

Aespsa is getting ready to release their second mini album, Girls, on Friday (July 8), but before the collection drops, members Winter, NingNing, Karina and Giselle chatted with Billboard News to discuss what their dedicated MY fanbase can expect ahead of its arrival.

Speaking with host Tetris Kelly, Winter explained that Girls has a different energy from any of their previous releases (which includes their first mini album Savage, singles “Black Mamba,” “Next Level” and more). “I think our mini album ‘Girls’ is the most powerful among all our previously released tracks,” she said. “Both our performance and vocals showcase a dynamic charm, so we hope many people look forward to it.”

The past year has allowed aespa to travel to the United States and meet their MYs face to face, most recently performing during pair of dates at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, Calif., in June. The experience was a surprising one for the aespa members, and according to Giselle, the MYs had “a lot of energy, way more than we expected.”

Giselle continued, “They were super loud, and whenever we would say something, they would scream ‘Karina!’ That was also very new to us and it was really exciting and it gave us the realization that our fans are energetic and supportive of us and we’re so thankful for it.”

While having such a dedicated fanbase — despite their pandemic debut in 2020 — has come as a surprise for the K-pop group, aespa believes a large part of its success comes from the group’s technological concept, which blends the real world with a virtual one (known as “FLAT”).

“Due to the pandemic, we didn’t have many opportunities to meet our fans in person, but ever since the COVID restrictions have loosened up, each and every opportunity spent with our fans and on stage is very precious to us. We have our own metaverse worldview which was able to gain a lot of attention since we were spending more time at home during the pandemic, “Karina explained. “Many people learned about through online and gained a better understanding of our metaverse origin story and because we’ve made our debut during the pandemic, we cherish each and every opportunity more.”

Watch aespa full interview with Billboard News in the video above.