Maps of Music

Drama (2023)

Where the lyrics of Drama take you, and where it was really made.

This six-track EP ranked among the world's top 20 best-selling albums of 2023 in IFPI's report, with 1.5 million units sold.

Key places

Seoul Studio, recording of track 6 (2023)

Recording site Big Hit Studios, Seoul — Seoul Studio is credited with recording track 6 of Drama. The credit gives only a city-level location, so the pin marks central Seoul rather than the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Private company studio, not open to visitors.

Album story

Overview

• Drama: fourth extended play by South Korean girl group aespa
• Released by SM Entertainment on November 10, 2023
• Six tracks, including the lead single of the same name
• Digital edition adds the English single Better Things as a bonus track

Background

• At the February 2023 inaugural concert Synk: Hyper Line, the group performed then-unreleased songs Hot Air Balloon, YOLO and Don't Blink
• On October 10, 2023, SM announced the EP title and the November 10 release; an introduction teaser came out the same day
• Six days later the promotional schedule was released
• October 30: mood sample teaser; November 3: highlight medley teaser
• November 6: teasers inspired by the concept of television drama for Winter and Giselle; Karina and Ningning followed the next day
• November 9: music video teaser for Drama
• SM said the EP shows aespa's evolving personalities with fresh music while continuing the SMCU storyline, with the group breaking out from the trauma of the events in Synk Out and Hallucination Quest

Recording

• Recorded at several studios: SM Yellow Tail Studio, SM Big Shot Studio, SM SSAM Studio, SM LVYIN Studio, Golden Bell Tree Sound, SM Blue Cup Studio, SM Starlight Studio and Seoul Studio
• Mixing for tracks 1 and 6 at SM Blue Ocean Studio
• Mastering for all tracks by 821 Sound

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Aespa is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment.
• The group is known for popularizing the metaverse concept and hyperpop music in K-pop.

Members

• Karina (leader, dancer, rapper, vocalist), Giselle (rapper, vocalist), Winter (vocalist, dancer), Ningning (vocalist, dancer).

Career

• Debuted on November 17, 2020 with the single "Black Mamba", which set the record for the most 24-hour views of a K-pop group's debut video.
• "Next Level" (2021) won Song of the Year at the 19th Korean Music Awards.
• The EP Savage (2021) was the highest-charting debut album by a K-pop girl group on the US Billboard 200 at number 20.
• The EP Girls (2022) became the best-selling album by a K-pop girl group in history and the first to sell one million copies in its first week.
• Performed at Coachella in 2022 and held the Synk: Hyper Line tour (2023) and the Synk: Parallel Line tour (2024–2025).
• Released the first studio album Armageddon in 2024; "Supernova" topped the Circle Digital Chart for eleven weeks.
• Released the second studio album Lemonade in 2026.

Reception

At release

• Clash critic Abbie Aitken praised Drama as an expansion of the aespa universe that highlights the group's vocal ability and versatile musicality
• The same review said the narrative got slightly muddled by the overall energy, especially from the lead single, while the listener was left eager for more

Records

• South Korea Circle Album Chart: number 3 (chart issue November 19–25, 2023)
• Japan Billboard Japan Hot Albums: number 27 (chart issue November 15, 2023)
• Japan Top Download Albums (component chart): number 11
• Oricon Albums Chart: number 11; Oricon Combined Albums Chart: number 10 (chart issue November 27, 2023)
• United States Billboard 200: number 33; Billboard World Albums: number 2 (chart issue November 25, 2023)
• UK OCC Album Downloads Chart: number 10; UK Albums Sales: number 33; UK Physical Albums: number 45 (chart issue November 17–23, 2023)
• Australia ARIA Top 20 Hitseekers Albums Chart: number 4 (chart issue November 20, 2023)
• France SNEP Top Albums: number 30 (chart issue November 17, 2023)
• Hungary MAHASZ Top Albums 40: number 19
• Poland ZPAV OLiS: number 28
• Scotland Albums Chart: number 43
• Spain PROMUSICAE Top 100 Albums: number 79
• IFPI Global Music Report 2023: 20th best-selling album worldwide, 1.5 million units sold

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Before release, the group held the live event Aespa Drama Countdown Live on November 10 across YouTube, TikTok, Weverse and Idol Plus, aimed at introducing the EP and connecting with fans
• A pop-up store called Aespa Week? Drama City? ran in Seoul from November 10 to 26 to commemorate the release
• Three songs from the EP, Hot Air Balloon, YOLO and Don't Blink, were performed live at the February 2023 concert before the album existed
• The standard edition has six tracks of various genres, including hip hop, dance and acoustic pop
• The credits come from the physical edition's liner notes, which left out the track Better Things

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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