K-pop group Aespa included in Time’s 2022 Next Generation Leaders

K-pop girl group Aespa, composed of Giselle, Karina, Ningning, and Winter, have been chosen by Time magazine as one of its 2022 Next Generation Leaders.

The list, according to Time, showcases “young people from across fields and around the globe who are working to build a better world.”

This year, Time has chosen 10 for its Next Generation Leaders. They are Olga Rudenko, Ukraine; Maximilian Davis, United Kingdom; Aespa, South Korea; Jonathan Bailey, United Kingdom; Deepica Mutyala, United States; CKay, Nigeria; Jaz Brisack, United States; Bilal Baig, Canada; Rinzin Phunjok Lama, Nepal; and Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, Mongolia.

The Time article about Aespa focused on their metaverse, or virtual reality counterparts.

“Truthfully, we were worried in the beginning, because this concept of ours is something new to our company as well. But our fans really loved it and are even creating memes out of it,” Ningning told Time.

“The result: aespa is learning the concept of metaverse-native artistry at the same time as its fans—each song and video another piece in the puzzle. The goal is to ‘normalize metaverse concepts and have our fans and other people be a little more comfortable with the whole idea of it,’ Giselle says,’” according to the article.

Last month, Aespa performed at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.

“This is actually our very first time performing in such...in front of such a large audience and we are so happy to be here and we are ready to party,” Giselle told the audience.

At Coachella, Aespa performed five songs: “aenergy,” “Black Mamba,” “Savage,” “Next Level” and the brand new unreleased track “Life’s Too Short.”