aespa's 'Girls' sets record by topping Circle Chart's monthly album chart

aespa [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

aespa’s second EP “Girls” set a new record for K-pop girl groups, according to SM Entertainment Thursday.

“Girls,” which was released on July 8, sold over 1.64 million copies last month and ranked No. 1 on the monthly albums chart of the albums sales tracker Circle Chart, formerly known as Gaon Chart.

In its first week of CD sales, it sold 1.42 million copies and set a new career high by becoming a chodong million-seller, a first among K-pop girl groups.

First-week CD sales, also known as chodong, is a major indicator of an artist’s popularity and fandom’s loyalty in the K-pop scene.

aespa also ranked No. 3 on the Billboard 200, the highest ranking among K-pop girl groups this year. In Artist 100, which ranks artists based on their album and track sales across Billboard’s Hot 100, Billboard 200 and Social 50 chart, aespa ranked No. 3.

"Girls" contains seven tracks including title track "Girls," "Lingo," "Dreams Come True" and "Illusion."

aespa debuted in November 2020 with four members: Giselle, Karina, Ningning and Winter. It is known for its metaverse concept which centers around the story of the members' alter-ego avatars that exist in the virtual world and can communicate with the members in real life. The group has released hits “Black Mamba” (2020), “Next Level” and "Savage" (2021).

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]