aespa, StayC, Weeekly, and Purple Kiss are drawing attention as this year's leading girl groups, as the fourth-gen K-pop era finally began.
After debuting last year, these K-pop girl groups showed strong popularity both domestically and internationally. On March 12, the Korean media outlet Seoul Economy wrote an article commemorating the beginning of K-pop's fourth generation era, as well as those girl groups who are heralding to showcase new trends.
K-pop Official Announces Start of K-pop fourth generation era + Girl groups who are Drawing Attention this 2021
In particular, a K-pop official via the media said, "It seems like a generation change has begun. It is true that new girl groups, which are united with passion and spirit, have recently been strong."
Additionally, they conveyed that, "It is expected that newcomers who have debuted for more than a year or are about to debut will create a new trend to lead the music industry in the future."
Due to the sudden surge of coronavirus patients in 2020 around the world, the K-pop industry is one of the most affected in terms of the entertainment field as offline concerts, and fan meetings were temporarily banned to comply with the social distancing policy.
Seoul Economy then stated that the decrease in girl group's debut more than ever last year moved the "competition" among the fourth-gen K-pop girl group this 2021.
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aespa, StayC, Weeekly, Purple Kiss: Who Will Be Fourth-generation's Leading Girl Group?
Despite the pandemic, there are still K-pop groups who risked launching amidst the non-contact promotions and successfully entered the music scene.
Some of the new girl groups that are getting attention from the music industry are aespa, StayC, Weekly, and Purple Kiss.
What the four groups have in common is that they are gaining huge popularity not only in Korea but also abroad. They are loved for their different charms and concepts.
Starting with Weeekly, which debuted in June last year, proved skyrocketing popularity when they took home six rookie awards from major music awards ceremonies.
Five months after making their speedy comeback in October, they are then again set to flaunt new charms and performances this March!
According to Play M Entertainment, the junior group of Apink, Weeekly will release its third mini-album, "We Play," on March 17, and the music industry is paying keen attention to what other results it will make.
As for SM Entertainment's new girl group aespa, which debuted in November last year, the quartet comprised of Karina, Winter, Giselle, and NingNing made a powerful entry in the K-pop scene as they successfully charted on Billboard with their debut single, "Black Mamba." In February, they then proved their versatility after releasing a remake of You Young Jin's "Forever."
From showcasing their strong vocals and dance choreography in "Black Mamba," they then flaunted their warm vocals and pure visuals in "Forever"--- worthy of their title "global super rookie."
Furthermore, StayC, who debuted on the same month as aespa, also made an active debut with their title track "SO BAD" of their first single, "Star To A Young Culture."
"So Bad," which is produced by top-notch duo Black Eyed Pilseung dominated the top of the real-time charts on major music sites, recording good results, raising expectations for its next album.
Lastly, the girl group Purple Kiss which will be released at RBW for the first time in six years, will release their first mini-album "INTO VIOLET" in March and start their debut with the title song "Ponzona."
In particular, even before their official debut, Purple Kiss, which released two pre-debut singles starting in November last year, is already gaining attention, particularly for their covers of other K-pop group's tracks. The septet amazed K-pop enthusiasts with their incredible vocals and dancing skills.
You Can Also Read: Korean Journalist Reveals The Top K-pop Groups From Each Generation
Which K-pop girl group do you think will be the next leading girl group?
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Written by Eunice Dawson
