Girl group aespa has made the list of Most Influential Women of 2023 by Financial Times. This list features trailblazers who have earned prestigious accolades and have made notable contributions. Kpop powerhouse aespa is listed in this year’s list, alongside other extraordinary figures, including singer and businesswoman Beyonce, and actor Margot Robbie.
The Most Influential Women of 2023 fall into three categories: Leaders, Heroes and Creators, and include artists, athletes, chief executives, entrepreneurs, scientists and policymakers, across all continents and of every age.
In celebration of these women, notable peers have written about the impact of their outstanding achievements. Below is Yoojin Choi’s piece on aespa’s astounding achievements. Choi is the co-curator of “Hallyu! The Korean Wave” exhibition at the V&A.
Growing up in the late 1990s in South Korea, I would spend hours listening to SES, part of the first generation of Korean pop music. When I moved to the UK, my classmates barely knew Korea existed. Little did I expect that by 2023, K-pop would have blazed into the mainstream, becoming one of the most popular musical genres in the world. While the top tiers of the Korean charts have been dominated by boy bands, a new wave of girl groups has been climbing the ranks. In the two years since they released their first album, aespa have set and then broken a series of records for K-pop girl groups, becoming the first to pass one million first-week sales with three consecutive albums, as well as playing Coachella and launching a world tour. With their experimentally layered instrumentation and fiery vocals accompanied by their sci-fi punk AI avatar counterparts (the “ae” in aespa refers to “avatar” and “experience”), aespa have pushed the boundaries of K-pop.
See the full list and article here. The list was compiled by FT Weekend editors, who considered nominations from FT readers, industry experts and the FT’s global network of journalists.
Congratulations to aespa! What do you think? Let us know @KpopWise