Aespa Admits They Were Not “Completely Happy” When They Debuted—Here’s Why

The members of aespa opened up about their true feelings regarding their debut period. The SM Entertainment girl group made a long-awaited debut in 2020 with “BLACK MAMBA,” becoming a hot topic in online communities and winning first place on music shows.

Two years later, in an interview with the Zach Sang Show, they revealed the negative side of their debut.

To be honest, it wasn’t just happiness [that we felt].

— Karina

From left to right: Giselle, Winter, Karina, and Ningning

The main reason why they felt this way was because they could not meet their fans face-to-face. It felt empty to go from performing in front of one camera to the next.

I mean, of course we were happy to finally make our debut, but because we debuted in the middle of the pandemic, we couldn’t meet our fans in person as we had always hoped. Sadly, we were facing and performing in front of cameras.

— Karina

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They were also under immense pressure as the newest girl group of SM Entertainment, one of the “Big 3” K-Pop companies. They were their first girl group since Red Velvet debuted in 2014 with “Happiness.”

Netizens were highly critical of everything about them, from their concept to their skills and personalities.

We received a lot of positive feedback after our debut, but since we were SM’s newest girl group, there were negative reactions as well.

— Karina

Aespa (Left) and Red Velvet (Right) | SM Entertainment

According to Karina, each of the four members were going through tough times behind the scenes. She admitted, “We did have a hard time back then as well.”

Aespa acknowledged that behind their immediate success, not everything was sunshine and rainbows.

Now, we have many fans and receive a lot of support and love. But in our debut days, it was hard.

— Karina

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Fortunately, they were able to climb past the hardships they faced with the help of their fans.

I mean, of course we were very happy. There were many people giving their love and support and that made us realize we should have more faith in ourselves.

— Karina

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Check out the full video below to learn more about their journey so far.