SM Entertainment’s annual SMTOWN LIVE event, which features special performances and reveals from the South Korean management company’s roster of artists, is always a must-see for K-pop fans during the holidays, but this year’s edition surprised fans even more with the announcement of a new “supergroup” dubbed Girls on Top.
Girls on Top (or “GOT” for short) will include rotating units made up of SM’s star-studded roster’s top female artists. BoA, Taeyeon and Hyoyeon of Girls’ Generation, Seulgi and Wendy of Red Velvet, and Karina and Winter of Aespa make up the first unit, entitled GOT the Beat.
During SMTOWN LIVE 2022, the group premiered their first track, “Step Back,” with a performance video that had nearly 10 million views on YouTube in less than two days.
With the seven musicians alternating between singing, rapping, and a cheerleader chant-style chorus, the bass-heavy track mixes elements of dubstep, hip-hop, and electro house. Yoo Young Jin of SM and American producer Dem Jointz, who most recently collaborated with Kanye on his Donda LP, wrote and produced the track.
BoA is the veteran of the Girls on Top cast, at 35 years old. The singer and songwriter made her debut at the age of 13 in 2000 and has since gone on to become one of the world’s most popular Asian talents.
Girls’ Generation, on the other hand, debuted in 2007 under SM, and both Taeyeon and Hyoyeon have achieved solo success outside of the group. Red Velvet’s roster was revealed in 2014, and the group’s most recent EP, “Queendom,” was one of the most well-received K-pop records of 2021. Then there’s Aespa, who made her debut in November 2020 with a futuristic appearance and voice. Since Red Velvet debuted six years prior, Aespa was SM Entertainment’s first new girl group.
GOT the Beat’s debut single, “Step Back,” is now available for purchase and streaming digitally. Different sub-units under the Girls on Top banner, according to SM, will be formed from other performers and will focus on specific themes and genres.
The new act follows the path of SM’s all-male “supergroup,” “SuperM,” which emerged in 2019. SuperM, dubbed “the Avengers of K-pop,” has delivered a debut EP and one full-length album since then.
