Girl group aespa has been named one of the Financial Times’s 25 most influential women this year as the only K-pop artist to make the list.

aespa made the list under the creator category of the British business newspaper’s list released on Friday, along with American pop star Beyoncé and Australian actor and producer Margot Robbie.

“In the two years since they released their first album, aespa have set and then broken a series of records for K-pop girl groups, becoming the first to pass one million first-week sales with three consecutive albums, as well as playing Coachella and launching a world tour,” Choi Yoo-jin, the co-curator of “Hallyu! The Korean Wave” exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, told the Financial Times.

“With their experimentally layered instrumentation and fiery vocals accompanied by their sci-fi punk AI avatar counterparts, aespa have pushed the boundaries of K-pop,” Choi was quoted as saying.

aespa debuted in 2020 under SM Entertainment. It consists of four members: Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning. The group is known for songs such as “Next Level” (2021), “Savage” (2021) and “Spicy.” Its latest EP “Drama” was released on Nov. 10.

The group is also set to perform at the Melon Music Awards 2023 on Saturday at Inspire Arena in Incheon, which is a newly built indoor multipurpose performance hall that can seat 15,000 people.

To find out more about aespa, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]