Girl group aespa sweeps 19th Korean Music Awards

K-pop

Published: 02 Mar. 2022, 10:56 Updated: 02 Mar. 2022, 16:18

Girl group aespa sweeps 19th Korean Music Awards

Girl group aespa [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

SM Entertainment’s latest girl group aespa took home the most awards at the 19th Korean Music Awards held Tuesday evening at the Nodeul Live House, a performing arts center on Nodeul Island in the Han River.

The girl group snagged three award — Rookie Artist of the Year and Song of the Year – which are two of the four major categories — and the Best K-pop Song of the Year.

aespa’s single “Next Level,” which was released last May, saw immense popularity. The single is a remake of “Next Level,” which featured on the soundtrack of Hollywood film “Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw.” The lyrics tell the story of how the four members are taking a trip together to reconnect with their avatars.

The Korean Music Awards offers have a total of 19 prizes in four major categories; Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Artist of the Year and Rookie Artist of the Year.

BTS won Artist of the Year for the third consecutive year. The Album of the Year award went to folk rock singer and songwriter Lang Lee for her third regular album “There is a Wolf,” which dropped last August.

The annual Korean Music Awards is often referred to as the Korean version of the Grammys for focusing on musical achievement as its primary criterion unlike many other Korean music awards that typically use sales figures to determine each year’s winners.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]