When aespa debuted with “Black Mamba,” the music video set a record as the fastest K-pop debut music video to surpass 100 million views. Their new single, “Next Level,” is a re-imagined take on a track from 2019’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw in the song’s music video, aespa travels to a lawless virtual realm called “KWANGYA” to fight the Black Mamba and reunite with their æs. But there’s trouble afoot… a Black Mamba (also the name of the group’s smash debut single) is disturbing this connection. (Port of Soul) to allow aespa and their æs to “SYNK,” or hang out together in the real world. The æ live in a virtual realm called the FLAT, and an AI called NÆVIS opens a P.O.S. The Cliffnotes version is that the four members-Karina, Giselle, Winter, and NingNing-live in a world alongside their æ-aespa, digital versions of themselves created from the personal data they’ve uploaded to a virtual plane. On Friday, the rookie K-pop group finally cracked open their concept in a 10-minute video epic detailing their origin story.

When aespa dropped their otherworldly, video game-inspired photo teasers for their latest comeback, it was clear they were gearing up for a major evolution.

Who made black mamba song