MOVE OVER people, the new ladies of Kpop had just arrived! With their colorful concept, killer moves and LSS worth song, AESPA is here to stay!
Recently debuted last November 17, 2020, Aespa is the newest South Korean girl group handled by one of South Korea’s top agency – SM Entertainment. This all girl quartet features Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning with their debut single “Black Mamba”.
Aespa is actually a combination of the words “avatar” and “experience”. Their concept is something never seen before in music, and perhaps anywhere in the world. Being the 1st Half virtual group, they are composed of actual living breathing members and their virtual counterparts, or avatars.
Karina
She was born Yoo Ji Min in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea on April 11, 2020. She has been a trainee with SM Entertainment for four years, the member which has the most trainee time with the agency. Prior to her debut with AESPA, she already has been making waves by appearing in several music videos such as “Want” by Taenim and in the SM Entertainment and Hyundai Motor Company collaboration (which she appeared with Kai from EXO).
Music has been a part of Karina’s life ever since she was a child – she had attended a piano academy prior. She also loves covering songs from her favorite artists such as Blackpink and HyunA. Also her favorite Kpop performers are f(x), Taeyeon and IU. When not working, she prefers to watch her favorite movies which are Frozen and Tangled and enjoy her favorite dishes such as tonkatsu, pineapple pizza.
Giselle
Uchinaga Aeri, or also known by her stage name as Giselle is the Japanese Korean member of the group. Although she only trained under SM Entertainment for 11 months, which is quite short for an idol, she already had a lot of experience under her belt. She has been a part of the choir for years, been playing the guitar and has been a fan of musical theatre. She speaks English, Japanese and Korea.
People has been pointing out her similarities with Krystal Jung of the group f(x). Among her musical idols are Blackpink and GOT7. Unlike Karina, she is not into Disney films, but prefers action such as Deadpool. Among her favorites are the color black, the season fall and of course, all things dogs!
Winter
Born Kim Min Jeong in 2001, Winter trained as an idol for about four years. Although at first she wanted to become an actress, her talents in singing and dancing made her rethink about her dreams, and had decided to pursue being an idol instead. She looks up to the Girls’ Generation, specifically to Taeyeon.
Just like Giselle, Winter loves action films. Among her favorite films are “Tenet” and “American Sniper”. She has great passion for food and enjoys drinking milk and eating chocolates and practically anything sweet. As for savory dishes, she loves bean noodles and lasagna.
NingNing
Born Ning Yizhuo in 2002 in Harbin, China, NingNing is the maknae (youngest) of the group. Just like Winter and Karina, she trained as an idol with SM Entertainment for four years. She looks up to NCT and Blackpink, particularly Jennie. She loves singing and can plat the piano. As for her languages, she is fluent in Mandarin and Korean.
Prior to her debut as a member of Aespa, she had appeared in Chinese television before. She participated in the program “Music Honors Student” and “Shining Star” in MBC. When not working, she specifically loves to cook, watch horror films (except Titanic, which is her favorite film), and eat rich food like stew and hotpot.
Although they only have one single yet, as they had just debuted, following the career trajectory of this group is highly exciting. Not only due to its unique set-up, the group image of Aespa is also intriguing and attention worthy. So now, we only have to wait for more songs and continuously stream “Black Mamba”.
