In less than two days since aespa Karina released her solo "UP," the idol is already writing history among 4th-gen soloists as well as in the music scene.
On Oct. 9th, aespa unveiled its special digital single, "SYNK: PARALLEL LINE," which contains four solo tracks from each member. This includes "UP" by Karina, "Dopamine" by Giselle, "Spark" by Winter, and "Bored!" by NingNing.
The quartet initially performed these songs during their concert tour, and due to popular demand, they were released as an official single.
Indeed, music fans and MYs (fandom) support was massive, especially for "UP," Karina's first self-written solo song. Before its release, the song became a viral dance challenge on TikTok due to its addictive English chorus.
This fame continued upon its official release as "UP" secured its spot at the top of the biggest South Korean music charts including the Bugs real-time chart and MelOn Hot100 as well as entered the Top 5 of Genie and Flo.
Among these charts, MelOn's Top100 is one of the hardest charts to snag first place, but with Karina's strong power and influence, she rose atop this rankings as well, just a day after its release.
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With this, she became the first-ever 4th-gen soloist to rank No.1 on MelOn's Top100.
Also, Karina became the fifth female idol to secure this spot this 2024 following Jennie, Lee Young Ji, BIBI, and IU. Among girl group members, she and Jennie were the only ones to accomplish it this year.
Furthermore, Karina also proved her status among SM Entertainment artists as the first female act to attain this after SNSD Taeyeon.
As of writing, Karina holds the title of 4th-gen act with the highest unfiltered streams on Spotify Counter, earning 1.07 million listens.
The group's popularity, including Karina's, is expected to explode even more once its fifth mini-album, "Whiplash" is released on Oct. 21st.
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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz