SM Entertainment debut their girl group equivalent of SuperM, GOT The Beat

Well, there’s something I didn't expect to see, but something which makes complete sense; an SM girl  equivalent of SuperM. But because SM have taste, or are poor at managing their girl groups (both are true), the line up is a lot more interesting than SuperM’s. Mainly because it has BoA in it. But largely because of what this group could potentially represent and what it will do for not only BoA, but the legacy of some of SM’s acts.

The biggest edge that GOT The Beat has over SuperM, is that it features members from every single one of SM's girl groups. Aespa, Red Velvet and the remnants of Girls’ Generation. And with BoA in the mix, GOT The Beat features members from near enough each generation of K-Pop. That's a lotta history and ground covered in just one group.

SuperM could have been something similar had it featured a member of TVXQ or Super Junior, and I genuinely wonder if SM entertained the idea. But I think SuperM was about taking their younger acts who were part of the group to the next level, and then spring-boarding greater solo and group successes off of that, which worked. Because NCT and its members' popularities jumped massively in the wake of SuperM's debut.

GOT The Beat seems to be more of a case of showcasing SM's girl group legacy and mining the potency of it to deliver a girl group who will hopefully hit with an impact that no SM girl group has managed to do since Girls’ Generation; a void of which SM has been trying to fill for some time. It's a shame that SM fucked up with f(x), because Luna woulda looked real good in this line-up. But that's what SM formed Red Velvet for. Revolving doored those hoes.

BoA’s relevancy is often a topic of conversation which is had by K-Pop fans who had only logged into K-Pop over the past 5 years, and refuse to look back and acknowledge the impacts made by those who came long before. BoA often gets called all sorts of old and washed up; with complete deniability being made at just how influential BoA was and still is. BoA is still a standard. BoA isn’t just a blueprint for SM Entertainment, but many other companies. YG and JYP wish they had a BoA. She was the first female solo K-Pop star to have success at such an incredible magnitude which could rival a US act, and then saw a mirrored success in the Japanese market too. Even when I wasn’t really fucking with BoA, I couldn’t deny the impact and the hustle.

BoA being a part of this group is more about SM showing that they can do something with their roster that YG and JYP at present can’t do. BoA's inclusion in GOT The Beat is more of a statement for SM than it is BoA. BoA is front and centre in the group photo, and the group is even named after one of her songs (GOT stands for Girls on Top), but she's not the main attraction for the masses. BoA's place in the group is one that oldies like myself will appreciate. But this is why GOT The Beat works, because it's going to pull in fans from across generations of K-Pop. It’s another way to introduce BoA to audiences who perhaps don’t know much about her. And the same goes for Girls’ Generation. Their song “Gee” was essentially the kickstart of the hallyu, and yet they’re constantly omitted from discussions concerning K-Pop’s global popularity, and many have forgotten just how big Girls’ Generation was. K-Pop moves on really quickly, which is why I think GOT The Beat is kinda genius. The group is a representation of K-Pop history; and it’s past, present and future. There's so much SM could do with the current line-up, such as have them perform BoA classics, BoA and Seulgi performing “Naughty” or popular Girls’ Generation songs. It'd be nice to see a Girls’ Generation song performed by a group who can dance in time with the music and one another.

I can’t stand Girls’ On Top’s debut song “Step Back” though. Shit is terrible.

This is trash. But everybody looks great.