Who will be the ‘summer queen’ in music scene?

Top-class girl groups of major entertainment companies, such as SM, YG, and JYP, are coming back this summer. Aespa of SM and ITZY of JYP released new songs this month, and Blackpink of YG will make a comeback in August. Girls' Generation who led the K-pop trend will meet fans again with their 15th-anniversary album next month.

Aespa was the first to make a comeback. Its second mini album ‘Girls’ is setting new records day after day after its release on July 8. The sales of ‘Girls’ recorded 1,426,487 in the first week, which is the highest first-week sales record for girl groups. While the first week after album release is when fandom has the biggest impact, Aespa is the first girl group to sell more than one million copies in the first week. The number of preorders for the album recorded 1.61 million copies, which is the highest among K-pop girl groups. The album is also doing well in overseas markets. It was ranked third place on the Billboard 200.

Following Aespa, ITZY released a new mini album titled ‘CHECKMATE’ with the title track ‘SNEAKERS.’ The music video of ‘SNEAKERS’ has been viewed 38.6 million times in just three days since its release, garnering much attention. The group is also preparing for its first world tour with shows scheduled in eight cities in the U.S., starting from Los Angeles on Oct. 26 to Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, and New York. Tickets for all shows in the U.S. are sold out.

Blackpink will be back next month with all of its members after its members, especially Rose and Lisa, focused on solo performances. It has been one year and ten months since the group sold 1.4 million copies of its first studio album titled ‘THE ALBUM’ in 2020 and joined the ranks of million sellers as the first K-pop girl group. “Songs embracing Blackpink’s style are ready to be released after a long period of preparation,” said YG.

Girls' Generation of SM will release an album to celebrate its 15th anniversary since its debut. It’s the first time in five years that the group is coming back with all of its members since its sixth studio album, ‘Holiday Night,’ released in August 2017.


Jae-Hee Kim jetti@donga.com