K-Pop Girl Group Aespa Debuts At No. 20 In BillBoard Top 200

Girl Group Aespa joined the roster of K-pop musicians who have placed hits in the Billboard chart as their latest single “Savage” debuted at No. 20 in Billboard 200.

This could be the year of K-pop acts as more South Korean musicians are successfully breaking into the international scene with certified hits at the Billboard chart.

Aespa’s latest single “Savage” debuted at No. 20 at Billboard’s top 200 albums chart which lists the weekly ranking of the most popular albums in the United States.

"Debuts on this week's #Billboard200 (1/2): #2 @DonToliver Life of a DON #19, @codyjohnson Human: The Double Album #20 @aespa_official Savage (EP) #27, @OldDominion Time, Tequila & Therapy #41, @aaliyah Ultimate Aaliyah #71, @TriviumOfficial In The Court of the Dragon," the tweet from Billboard read.

Billboard also announced this week’s top selling albums with Don Toliver at No. 1 for “Life Of A Don” followed by Aespa’s “Savage.” Coming in third is Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s “Love For Sale” followed by Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour,” and heavy metal band Trivium for “In The Court Of The Dragon.”

“Savage” is the first physical album released by the female quartet following their debut in Nov. 2020.

The album “Savage” contains six tunes including the title track “Savage,” a trap genre (sub-genre of hiphop music) led by aggressive drum beats and notable bass lines, as per Soompi. The track is currently at No. 6 in the list of top music videos on YouTube since it premiered on Oct. 5.

The song is composed by Kirsten Collins, Jia Lih, Yoo Young Jin, and Hautboi Rich, with Korean lyrics penned by Yoo Young Jin.

Aespa is managed by one of the top K-pop entertainment companies, SM Entertainment. The all-female group is composed of Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning, who is the only Chinese member of the group.

Meanwhile, heated discussions among loyal followers of Blackpink and Aespa peaked on Monday as fans continue to compare one girl group over the other.

Netizens at online fan community Pann said the rivalry came about because Blackpink fans, known as Blinks, accused Aespa of “copying” Blackpink. Not to be outdone, Aespa fans known as My, called out Blinks for being “sensitive.”

“The fact is, Blackpink is already at the top at the most popular female group. They are sweeping the advertisements as ambassadors. Aespa’s atmosphere [sic] is really good right now because they are sweeping the music charts and winning #1s. They are really on the rise as a rookie girl group. There is absolutely no reason for the two fandoms to be angry or sensitive,” a netizen posted on Pann as an attempt to quell the conflict between the two fandoms.