REACTION to AESPA 에스파 - FOREVER (약속) MV 

"SM's biggest mistake" people says this Everytime SM debutes a new group but at the end every SM groups are successful.

I remember when EXO, Red Velvet, and NCT debuted. They blew nobody's mind out. People always said they are a flop. And where they are now? Some of the biggest and most unique groups in the industry with so much impact on k-pop in general. I believe in SM, I think they know what they doing.

I think people seem to misunderstand what this song actually is. It's not their comeback song but a remake of a song from Yoo Young Jin which came out in SM Town winter album in 2001. This reminds me of SM's first generation group S.E.S and a bit of Finkle. Aespa have been active for 80 days only, and just released two songs so far. This song is something very familiar to either Koreans that were young during Hot and SES time, or Kpop fans that followed them. About the choreo that they're doing, it's an 90's rnb thing that you could see 90's kpop groups do. People always hypes up most big 3 new groups, and that hype can be very hard to live up to for anyone, and also can't expect to enjoy everything music wise. The best thing to do is not to expect anything, and wait and see what a new group is about after an album release, because it's not really fair to SM or Aespa to base it on two songs.

They definitely have a huge potential, and have such a versatility that's expected from SM. I kind of agree with the cautious optimism, SM set the stage for them to do be expansive with their concept, but also that they can fumble it easily. I'm sooo excited since I'm biased towards SM ggs, but I just think "don't f*ck this up SM." SM can do wild things, which is a huge strength, but also hinderance.

That the problem with the new kpop Stan! This is a Remake! No comeback! Everybody need to understand SM did always this! Watch Red velvet, SNSD! First debut, then show skill or talent then give a comeback! So relax people and enjoy! ✌🏻❤️

I think SM purposely give them a laid-back kind of song for the remake because there's so many songs under SM(upbeat, rnb, ballad, and etc.) but they prefer to give this to aespa. This is like the exact opposite feels of Black Mamba and they able to pull it off.

Winter confirmed that the next comeback would be "NEXT LEVEL" or a great step up from Black Mamba. We have seen Choreo skills in BM, Vocals in Forever so maybe Rap Based song in this next comeback

this song is an old song so it has a nolstalgic feel for sure, i like it a lot

After watching other reactions I think the choreo was a good thing, because it makes the watcher want to dance along.

SM remakes are a debut comeback thing. SNSD with Girls' Generation and Red Velvet with Be Natural. It's something they do to introduce their groups vocally with a song that is already familiar from the market.

Feels like SM is easing Aespa in because how much potential they have and their versatility. Give a little teaser of this and that. This song was such a 90s and early 2000s kpop RnB vibe. And let’s not forget these girls are being vocally trained by Taeyeon and Wendy and conceptually directed by BoA.

forever is not exactly a comeback it's a remake of yoo youngjin's song forever that was released in 2000 just like how red velvet also had a remake of S.E.S's be natural after their debut with happiness

I completely get what u mean. It’s like SM keeps holding back on them. Black mamba was almost ground breaking, the MV, the choreo HOWEVER the song was lacking complexity I don’t know the verses could have switched up. But as you said the girls are so mind blowingly talented so no fault on their part

For sure the next comeback is the one that is going to be their make it or break it song. SM is definitely making them follow the red velvet path in which they had a big and original debut followed by a completely different remake song (which snsd also did as their second song), and then they'll have their big breakthrough (hopefully)

I didn’t really have a problem with the choreography but I think it could’ve done without it. I’m okay with ballad + choreo though. I really liked Red Velvet’s One of These Nights.

and that's on SM WATER! AESPA 4TH GEN VOCAL QUEENS 🙌

This was just a cover which was only announced 7 days ago before the release it's like a filler before our first official cb

At first i kinda also feel awkward on the moves/gestures, i was like 'that's unnecessary'. But when they appear with mic w/ stand i was also like 'now that make sense'. If u know what i mean. ☺️

Serving us vocals from an SM artists ✨ It's just a sin to question a vocalist from SM you know 🤷🏻‍♀️ that's just how it is 🤷🏻‍♀️ Nothing more to say 👌🏻

SM are trying to show us their hidden talent little by little so that we need more and more. I would say SM are being stingy.

sm sometimes tend to make their girlgroups release a remake of an older song as a 2nd release. they did that with red velvet (be natural) & snsd (girlgeneration) & now aespa with (forever). forever is a remake of a song by yoo youngjin, the song was initially released in 2001

Love SM's family so much

The dance moves and the song itself is from an old song and they kept the 90s kpop choreo and moves

I keep reminding myself Giselle (my early bias) is supposed to be the rapper. Who sings like a lead, and who hasn't really gotten a rap part yet. :p

i think some parts felt awkward because they're still pretty new, they don't have much experience yet. their debut definitely peaked my interest personally and i'm interested to see where they go!

Completly agree on the awkward dance bits. Made me wish someone realized they don't need choreo for a ballad like this. I think SM is in a complicated position in terms of directing aespa musically. There is a sound that is clearly on trend now, and many popular girl groups are following that trend, but if SM does that with aespa, it could be problematic. For one thing all the haters would call them out saying they are copying. For another, the long time SM fans wouldn't like, cause we expect something more innovative from SM music. So for now SM seems to be trying to compromise and work out some middle ground. Hopefully they will figure out a good direction for them soon.

Yes, this is a cover.

This isn’t exactly a comeback though. The girls have been teasing about the new song for the next comeback and I’m 100% sure they are going to do girl crush again. The girls said that the new song is a lot better than previous songs so don’t worry, let’s trust them! This is just a side track, I’m sure their main concept will be girl crush.

4:55 yeah, i felt that too. There were some parts that i feel kinda awkward for some reason. Maybe because of the gesture that they made and the way the camera shots it in such an interesting way. It's not bad tho, since maybe only few people felt that. Still a great cover. As expected from aespa!😭

Yow, waiting for your next RV A Mess reaction.

As much as I liked Black Mamba as a song, the previews and video itself almost reminded me of a TV pilot with all the universe building SM put into it all. Then to come back with this song and to hardly have any link to the first song makes me wonder if SM have backpedaled somewhat after all the criticism and decided to focus on the girls themselves rather than all the fancy visuals and funky camera moves. As for the awkwardness, it kind of fits the song TBH, it sounds like an old christmas track I'd hear played ad nausium at work over the the festive period sandwiched between "Little Drummer Boy" & "Dominic the Donkey". As for this song, I love their voices, they are phenominal but I just don't really like the song that much. Maybe because it's an older track or it could be that it sounds like a Chrismas song released in Feburary I'm really not sure. Hopefully SM can figure out who they want Aespa to be for the next comeback as they certainly deserve to be successfull.

Uhm nice song very chilled and sweet but maybe it's just my jet black soul that doesn't connect with it but yes there were some awkwardness within the video it was overly smiley and nice 😂

SM is pushing the ae much less these days, so I don't they'll pigeonhole them into that. As for Black Mamba, it's almost like Dalla Dalla, people really didn't vibe with it at first but it ended up breaking all sort of records and catching on. Only negative I have on Black Mamba is a lack of a rap verse and the very ad like lyrics. SMGGs never really have a set sound of concept, so they always have hits and misses and weird stuff, so that doesn't bother me. Black Mamba is better as cultural impact than a song tbf. So I see your point. Also the awkwardness thing, those kinda sit and look at eachother scenes are always kinda cringe to me, so I totally agree. Also, the girls are super shy and meek irl, from all of the behind and original content SM has put out. Like they're funny but they're not super loud. They're like those weird quite kids who are lowkey chaotic. So I can imagine filming this being kinda weird for them. Personal take tho. People are free to disagree.

For me personally this isn’t the concept change I wanted. Don’t get me wrong I wanted them to switch up but I personally wanted them to go darker. That is where the end of the black mamba mv was heading. I feel like this concept change cannot be compared to those red velvet or SNSD have done in the past as their debuts did not establish a certain look or sound. Whereas with aespa, the teaser photos, the massive emphasis on the virtual members being shoved down our throats, SM was basically saying “Look we wanna commit to something here”. There is ALWAYS a way to establish a sound whilst maintaining diversity. Take Loona as an example all 4 title tracks have large differences but you can tell even just by music video direction they are still cohesive. Black mamba already left so many people on the fence, in my opinion I feel as though they should have let us settle into the whole techno digital virtual concept before feeding us a whole 5 minute ballad. Maybe I’m just salty because I wanted a Giselle rap haha.