2016–2019: Pre-debut activities Ningning was introduced as a member of pre-debut training team
SM Rookies on September 19, 2016. As part of the team, she appeared on the ''Rookies Princess: Who's the Best?
segment of the program My SMT
that year and recorded several covers for the Korean animated TV program Shining Star'' in 2017. Karina appeared in labelmate
Taemin's music video for the song "
Want" in February 2019 and performed with him on several
music programs in the following weeks. Karina also appeared alongside labelmate
Kai for a performance in
Hyundai and SM Entertainment's collaboration virtual showcase —
The All-New Tucson, Beyond DRIVE. Aespa's logo was also teased at the end of
SuperM's "One (Monster & Infinity)" music video.
2020–2021: Introduction, debut, "Next Level", and Savage in 2020 On October 26, 2020,
SM Entertainment announced that it would debut a new girl group, its first since
Red Velvet in 2014 and its first overall idol group since
NCT in 2016. The group's name and members were revealed individually starting on October 27 (in order: Winter, Karina, Ningning, and Giselle). SM Entertainment founder
Lee Soo-man explained the group's concept at the 2020 World Cultural Industry Forum on October 28. A video trailer featuring all four members was revealed on November 2, alongside the announcement of the release of Aespa's debut single, "
Black Mamba", on November 17. Upon release, the song's music video achieved the highest number of views for a K-pop group's debut video in 24 hours, with 21.4 million views. The group made their broadcast debut on
KBS2's
Music Bank on November 20 to perform "Black Mamba", and earned their first music show win on
SBS's
Inkigayo on January 17, 2021. On January 29, 2021, SM Entertainment announced Aespa would release a remake of "
Forever", the single originally by
Yoo Young-jin for SM Entertainment's 2000 holiday album
Winter Vacation in SMTOWN.com. Aespa's version of the song, a "mid-tempo
ballad characterized by
acoustic guitar sound" with "warm lyrics about promising forever to a loved one", was released on February 5. On May 4, SM Entertainment announced Aespa would release a new single titled "
Next Level", a
dance and
hip-hop track with a "groovy" rap, "energetic" bass, and "powerful vocals". It was released on May 17. It debuted at number nine on the
Gaon Digital Chart and peaked at number two, becoming their first top five hit in South Korea. It also peaked at number two on the
Billboard K-pop Hot 100 chart. "Next Level" became Aespa's third song to chart on the
Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, peaking at number three. On July 22, it was announced that Aespa had signed with
Creative Artists Agency for their future activities in the United States. On September 10, it was announced that remix versions of "Next Level" will be released on September 14, along with a music video and a visualizer video for "Next Level (IMLAY Remix)". On September 14, SM Entertainment announced Aespa would release their first extended play,
Savage. The extended play contains six tracks, including the
lead single of the same name. It was released on October 5 to critical acclaim and commercial success, with media outlets praising "Savage" for its "addictive" hooks, refrains, and "masterfully layered" production. The song was included in multiple year-end lists such as
NME and
Time magazine's top 10 best K-pop songs of 2021, calling "Savage" an "explosive" track. Commercially, the song peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart and became their second top-five single in South Korea. On October 15, ten days after release, at 1:30 p.m. KST,
Instiz's
iChart, announced Aespa's first
perfect all-kill, as "Savage" had reached number one on the real-time, daily, and weekly components of the domestic charts —
iChart,
Melon,
Genie,
FLO,
Bugs!, and
Vibe — becoming the first "fourth generation" K-pop act to do so. The song won eight
music show awards including three non-consecutive wins on
Inkigayo that led to receiving the "triple crown" award.
Savage debuted atop the
Gaon Album Chart and also marked Aespa's first entry on the US
Billboard 200 at number 20, making Aespa the highest charting K-pop rookie girl group to appear on the latter chart.
Savage has sold a total of 788,959 copies and held the record for the highest-selling debut album by an SM Entertainment act, until it was surpassed by
NCT DoJaeJung's
Perfume in May 2023. '' On October 13, Aespa was included in
People magazine's Ones to Watch 2021 list as a "Rising Star". On November 25, the group performed on a float, celebrating
women in STEM, at the 95th
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, making them the first Korean girl group to perform at the parade. On December 2, they won their first
Daesang (Stage of the Year) at the
Asia Artist Awards. Two days later, on December 4, the group won their second Daesang (Record of the Year) at the
2021 Melon Music Awards. On November 4, it was announced that Aespa would be releasing a remake of
S.E.S.'s "
Dreams Come True" on December 20 for SM's
Remastering Project and as the
lead single of the
SM Town album,
2021 Winter SM Town: SMCU Express. The music video for the song was directed by Lucid Colour and choreographed and visually directed by
BoA. The song peaked at number eight on the Gaon Digital Chart and at number seven on the
Billboard World Digital Songs chart. On December 26, Karina and Winter were revealed as members of the supergroup
Got the Beat. The supergroup debuted with the single "
Step Back" on January 3, 2022.
2022: Coachella, international expansion, and Girls On January 8, 2022, Aespa became the inaugural winner of the Artist of the Year award at the
36th Golden Disc Awards. On March 1, they won the Song of the Year award for "Next Level" at the
19th Korean Music Awards. On April 19, it was announced that Aespa would be performing at
Coachella on April 23, becoming the third K-pop girl group to perform at the festival. They performed as part of
88rising's Head in the Clouds Forever set for the second week. Their setlist included "Savage", "Next Level", "Black Mamba", and an English version of a then-unreleased song titled "
Life's Too Short", which was revealed to be from their then-upcoming EP. On May 12, the group was included in
Time magazine's
Next Generation Leaders list. The magazine noted Aespa as an "experimental but essential player in the music industry, acting as a bridge between the reality and virtual". On May 27, the group was included on
Forbes'
30 Under 30 Asia list. On June 1, SM Entertainment announced that Aespa had signed with
Warner Records. They also announced that Aespa would release their second extended play,
Girls, on July 8. The extended play contains nine tracks, including the
lead single of the same name, their first two singles, "Black Mamba" and "Forever," and "Dreams Come True," which they previously released as part of the
2021 Winter SM Town: SMCU Express album in December 2021. Two other tracks on
Girls, "
Illusion" and the English version of "Life's Too Short", preceded the EP and were released on June 1 and 24, respectively. Pre-orders for
Girls exceeded 1,610,000 copies prior to its release, the highest figure for a girl group album in K-pop at the time. Upon release, the album became the first by a girl group to sell more than one million copies in one week on the Hanteo Chart, exceeding the mark set by
Blackpink's
The Album in October 2020. It went on to debut at number one on the
Circle Album Chart with 1,426,487 copies sold, leading to their first
Million certification by the
Korea Music Content Association. It also topped the monthly Circle Album Chart for July with 1,645,255 copies sold, which marked the largest monthly and total album sales by any K-pop girl group album in history; the record was broken in September by Blackpink's album
Born Pink. On the U.S.
Billboard 200 chart,
Girls debuted at number three with 56,000
album-equivalent units, 53,000
pure album sales, becoming the top-selling album of the week. pop-up store opening SM Entertainment also announced the group's first Japanese showcase, titled:
aespa Japan Premium Showcase 2022 ~SYNK~, which was held on August 6 and 7 at the
Pia Arena MM in Yokohama. On June 7, it was announced that Aespa would be holding their second showcase, their first in the United States, titled:
aespa Showcase SYNK in LA! on June 26 at the
YouTube Theater. On June 14, an additional show was announced, for June 27, after the tickets for June 26 sold out. The group was also named the
Apple Music Up Next artist for June. On July 5, Aespa delivered a speech and performed at the United Nations
High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. On July 8, Aespa performed at
Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series in
Central Park, which featured the first performance of "Girls". On October 23, Aespa performed virtually for
Crocs to celebrate their 20th Anniversary on the video game
Roblox. It drew the second-highest attendance at a one-time Roblox concert, with 2.5 million visits. The show also drove over 2.3 million recorded visits to the
Crocs World in
Roblox. On December 14, the group released a collaborative single, "
Beautiful Christmas", with labelmates
Red Velvet for
SM Town's album,
2022 Winter SM Town: SMCU Palace. On December 28, Aespa released the first episode of their first reality show, ''
aespa's Synk Road,'' which documented their trip to
Pyeongchang in the
Gangwon Province. Throughout the show, the members were tasked to find hidden 'ae-key' cards, won from various missions and games, in order to 'complete' the eponymous
Synk Road.
2023: First concert tour, My World, and Drama On February 25 and 26, they held their first concert,
Synk: Hyper Line, at the
Jamsil Arena in Seoul, South Korea. On March 7, the group was announced as a performer at the
Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in
San Francisco,
California, on August 11, making them the first K-pop group to perform at the festival. From March to April, Aespa continued their Synk: Hyper Line concert tour in Japan, garnering a total of 110,000 spectators from 10 sold-out shows across
Osaka,
Tokyo,
Saitama, and
Aichi. During their concert at the
Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, it was announced that the group would return on August 5 and 6 for a two-day special concert at the
Tokyo Dome, making them the fastest K-pop artist and the first "fourth generation" K-pop act to hold a solo concert at the stadium. On March 29, SM Entertainment announced that Aespa would release a new single titled "
Hold on Tight", an "addictive"
techno-genre track that sampled the melody of the iconic
Tetris theme song, "
Korobeiniki", for the
soundtrack of the
Apple Original Film Tetris. The single officially released on March 31. On May 8, Aespa released their third extended play
My World. The extended play contains six tracks, with the single "
Welcome to My World" pre-released on May 2 and the lead single "
Spicy" released alongside the EP.
My World debuted at number one on the Circle Album Chart with 1,420,178 copies sold. Two weeks after its release, the album became "a double million-seller" selling 2,011,388 copies and became the second album by a female Korean act to sell over two million copies. The album was then certified
2× Million by the
Korea Music Content Association on July 6. On the U.S.
Billboard 200 chart,
My World debuted at number nine with 40,000
album-equivalent units, 1.33 million on-demand streams and 39,000
pure album sales, becoming their second top 10 entry. On May 10, SM Entertainment announced that Aespa's Synk: Hyper Line tour would continue with a show in
Jakarta, Indonesia on June 24. On May 19, an additional 14 shows were announced, extending the tour to North America, South America, and Europe. On May 23, Aespa attended the
2023 Cannes Film Festival as ambassadors for the
Swiss jewelry brand
Chopard. They attended Chopard's
Annual Dinner and Love Party which showcased Chopard's co-president and artistic director
Caroline Scheufele's first
Haute couture collection. The next day, Aespa attended the red carpet for the screening of
La Passion de Dodin Bouffant and showcased the brand's new jewelry collection,
Red Carpet Collection. On June 8, Aespa threw the
first pitch for the
New York Yankees against the
Chicago White Sox at the
Yankee Stadium. On June 10, Aespa performed at the annual
Governors Ball Music Festival in
New York City, making them the first K-pop act to perform at the festival. Giselle was unable to perform with the group due to health issues. The group's set was well received by both fans and critics alike, with Simon Vozick-Levinson of
Rolling Stone calling the show a "spectacle" and Starr Bowenbank of
Billboard noting that Aespa's "stage presence and catalog has the strength to carry the main stage at a music festival". On July 27, Aespa began teasing their English digital single "
Better Things", a "minimal up-tempo dance" song, which was released on August 18. Promotions included a 3 episode long
web series sitcom show,
Better Things, with the first episode uploaded on August 7. Ningning only appeared in limited parts of the sitcom, due to her health conditions at the time of filming. Aespa first performed the single on August 13, at the
Crypto.com Arena in
Los Angeles, for the first show in the US leg of their Synk: Hyper Line tour. On August 23, Aespa released the single "We Go". The single served as the inaugural opening theme song for the Korean edition of the ''
Pokémon: Liko and Roy's Departure'' anime, which began airing on the same day. The single contains lyrics about the new protagonists,
Liko and Roy, discovering 'precious' things and growing through adventure. On October 6, Aespa released the single "Zoom Zoom", which was served as the ending theme song for
Beyblade X anime. On October 10, Aespa announced they would be releasing their fourth extended play
Drama on November 10. The extended play contains six tracks, including the
lead single of the same name.
2024–2025: Second concert tour, Armageddon, and subsequent releases On January 9, 2024, SM Entertainment announced that Aespa would be releasing a remake of "Regret of the Times", a single originally by
Seo Taiji and Boys. The remake was released on January 15. On February 19, it was announced that Aespa would be embarking on their second world tour,
Synk: Parallel Line, kicking off in Seoul on June 29 and 30. On April 21, it was announced that Aespa would be releasing their first studio album
Armageddon on May 27. The album is led by two title tracks "
Supernova", which was pre-released on May 13, and "
Armageddon", which was released together with the entire album. "Supernova" was a commercial success in South Korea and achieved
perfect all-kill status, as it simultaneously reached number one on the real-time, daily, and weekly components of
iChart. It became the group's first song to top the
Circle Digital Chart, and their first top-ten hit on the
Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, peaking at number six. On June 3, it was announced that Aespa would be releasing their first Japanese single "
Hot Mess" on July 3. The single marked the group's Japanese debut and includes two other songs "Sun and Moon" and "Zoom Zoom", the latter previously released on October 6, 2023, as the ending theme song to the anime series and franchise
Beyblade X. Later on June 29 and 30, when kicking off their second world tour at
Jamsil Indoor Stadium, Aespa revealed four solo tracks, one from each member. The solo tracks were later released in
Synk: Parallel Line, their first digital
single album, on October 9. Despite not having officially debuted as a soloist,
Karina went on to win a solo music show award for the first time at
Show! Music Core for her solo track, "
Up", on October 19. On September 23, it was announced that Aespa would be releasing their fifth extended play
Whiplash on October 21, containing six tracks including the lead single of the
same name. On November 15, the group won the Artist of the Year award at the inaugural
TikTok Awards Korea event. On June 5, 2025, it was announced that Aespa's second single album
Dirty Work would be released on June 27, with the lead single of the same name. On August 4, it was announced that Aespa's sixth extended play
Rich Man would be released on September 5, with the lead single of the
same name. The EP is the group's first release in association with
Capitol Music Group, in a partnership established with SM Entertainment. The group performed "Rich Man" on
The Jennifer Hudson Show broadcast on September 24.
2026–present: Lemonade On March 13, 2026, SM Entertainment officially announced that Aespa is preparing its second studio album with the goal of a comeback in May. On March 18,
Lollapalooza announced that Aespa will perform at the Chicago festival in August. On April 20, it was announced that Aespa would be releasing their second studio album
Lemonade on May 29, featuring eleven tracks. ==Other ventures==