230720 Rolling Stone: The 100 Best Korean Pop Songs Of All Time (Next Level at #89)

• > In 2020, Aespa became the first K-pop group with their own AI avatars — meaning, the quartet is actually an octet, with half of its lineup composed of digital “ae” performers. All of that ambition comes to a head on “Next Level,” an addictive sci-fi pop smash that is exemplary of an industry always looking to expand performance through transmedia storytelling. A remake of a B side from the 2019 Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw soundtrack, the track’s wobbly bass is the backdrop for Aespa’s steely-eyed raps about confronting a villain called Black Mamba and heading off to an imagined land called Kwangya. It set the tone for the singular group and a music industry looking toward the future. —M.S.

• Deserved

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