aespa are officially welcoming us to the MY World era with a stunning pre-release single, ‘Welcome To MY World,’ featuring the one and only Nævis! Since it’s such a different sound and the lyrics don’t directly reference KWANGYA or their ae lore, you might assume the song is taking a step away from aespa’s sci-fi storyline. But that couldn’t be further from the truth, and we’re gonna break it down for you!
So first off, let’s recap what happened in the last SMCU episode of aespa’s Girls era. The girls officially confronted Black Mamba and learned more about its powers, all with some pretty epic fight scenes. They needed a little help, though, so Nævis broke her rules and left the digital FLAT to meet aespa in the world of KWANGYA. Ningning figured out how to stop Black Mamba through computer data in the real world while the rest of the girls, Nævis, and their ae avatars fought off Black Mamba in the digital world.
Naevis used her powers for the final blow and Black Mamba faded away, but Nævis collapsed and MYs believed she might’ve been gone for good. Since Nævis broke her promise to stay in the FLAT, the overlords (as we like to call them) interrogated her and asked why she went to KWANGYA. Nævis explained that she wanted to help, then said “I found a place I would like to go after saving them… Real World.” The end of the episode also hints at BoA becoming the next villain, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens!
Something we love about aespa is how their music and these SMCU episodes work together to tell the story, and there are some things in the music that won’t necessarily make full sense until we get some clarity through the SMCU. For example, we already technically knew that Nævis would come out of the FLAT – on ‘Girls,’ Winter sang, “we will probably meet Nævis on the real MY world.”
They were also hinting at this back in ‘Savage,’ which makes sense since the episode is named after a ‘Savage’ lyric. On the bridge, Ningning sings to Nævis, “I know your sacrifices,” referencing how she sacrificed herself and her powers to help them, and Winter urges, “let’s meet surely after the resurrection.” We saw her sacrifices, and now she’ll be resurrected so we can meet her again!
So what happens when Nævis enters the real world? We’ll have to see when aespa releases the rest of MY World on May 8th, but we’ve gotten a little glimpse of it on ‘Welcome To MY World!’ The song opens with a mysterious “da-ra-ra-ra-da-da” from a voice we don’t quite know yet, and we’re assuming that’s Nævis herself. At that point in the music video, we see aespa exploring a forest at night, not realizing that Nævis is in the same forest.
Then we get to see a bit of what life was like for aespa before Black Mamba showed up and they had to jump into KWANGYA! It’s surprisingly calm and they hang out around an airy apartment… but come on, it’s aespa, it can’t stay like that forever. The first sign that something is up comes as Karina and Ningning sing, “here’s the invitation, come to me, hey baby, welcome to my world” – Winter looks up into the sky and sees that a section of it is distorted. Later, we see similar distortion in front of trees, following them in the sky as they drive, over Karina’s phone, and floating around aespa like fireflies towards the end. Then finally, they walk further into the forest and find Nævis!
‘Welcome To MY World’ sounds nothing like anything aespa have given us before, and it’s absolutely magical. As the girls return to the real world storywise, they’re showing us a new side of their sound to reflect that shift and really bring us into a new universe. Even while straying from their dark-pop sound, it feels more aespa than ever, showcasing their storytelling talent and their ability to create a world around their music that fans can explore. Not to mention that it’s literally welcoming us to the MY World era!
What’s your favorite part of ‘Welcome To MY World?’ Have you pre-ordered MY World yet? If not, do that right here then tell us which track you’re claiming on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! Check out more aespa content right here if you wanna stay busy while we wait for the mini-album!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AESPA:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE
