I am a Rich Man

i just came to my computer to get some work done. I’ve been loafing all afternoon and when I got the energy to finally stop running my 90th uma I was determined to get down to business. But despite Adderall’s best attempts today we’re going to go off on aespa.

My interest with Aespa is half and half. Part of me loves the concept and the other can’t stand it. I hate sci fi, space, technology, but somehow because you’ve involved pretty kpop idols I’m super into it. Part of their story always implies that there’s a villian working against them and it gives their performances more meaning. I really feel like the performance art is committed to and it feels uniquely idol. But the execution sometimes can be such a swing and miss that it doesn’t land enough for me to really put it up there with groups like New Jeans. I normally like any space or future based idols to feel more magical and etherial - a la sailor moon. I typically am not into the more future and technology focus themes. I’ve got anxiety, if I think about the future anymore I’ll get committed. Space is just less pretty ocean. Equally terrifying.

Anyways so kpop. I did some reading on Married to the Music Review’s Aespa Deep Dive which helped me sort through my aespa thoughts and contextualize their eras. Be sure to check it out next if you liked this post!

quick facts

• artist: aespa (에스파)
• released: Sep 5 2025
• booking charm point: instantly transported

Marketing

The trailer idk man maybe I haven’t watched enough trailers recently. But you tell me how it is at all related to the concept. I got 4 girls holding a man in a freezer/bowling alley in the back of a truck to throw bowling balls at him. Once you’ve got him begging for his life it’s revealed that they’re all kidnapped. They all speak in their native languages but happen to understand him. We’ve got a whole separated marriage subplot, we’re collecting a man’s tears in a glass jar. It’s been a minute since I’ve follow up on the aespa storyline but like…where’s naevis? where’s the tech? what happened?

I watched the behind the scenes to try to see if I could pick up any more details about the story. Giselle mentions how the other man is supposed to juxapose the girls who demonstrate a cool demeanor of a “rich man”. The direction seemed to want the girls to balance a threatening aura with a very playful and sweet delivery. Karina said in a side interview that she thinks it’s a very open to interpretation video and song… pretty safe answer for a pretty safe and unremarkable trailer.

The energy promotion set on the other hand - a whole nother story. My rocker angels devoured this concept and looked so good.

Music

The “i am a richman” chorus has a nice rhythm to the melody. I like the reptition. Just like her outfit, Ning Ning’s parts dont transition nicely in this song. Her vocals sound lovely - again it’s not her that’s the problem. She just stands out and breaks the experience. Classic Kpop is known for that rough style transition mid song and I do like that. See Girls Generation I got a Boy. But her parts don’t add to the scene for me. They’re necessary… but they didn’t hit the nail quite right for me.

If I haven’t mentioned yet I did in fact have a sad gay poetry phase. So please bear with me on this tangent. But this is exactly 12 beats and each triple follows the same exact three notes and same stress pattern. When I say this scratches the poetic technique and execution section of brain I am being so literal. I truly feel my brain happily pulsating and no it’s not just the THC slushie. This may be the best part of the chorus here.

Overall the song feels familiar - I can tell this is an aespa song. It fits into the collection, it’s memorable.

Lyrics

Giselle’s opening monologue performance eats. Her tone is beautiful and like one of my favorite sounds. The timing and delivery was fluent. It had character but also sounded clean. No notes…for her.

Lyricist on the other hand - you really did not effectively water down that Cher quote. The phrase “I am a rich man” only works the way it does because she’s responding to a direct sentence using the phrase “rich man”. They tried to parallel this with the beginning two lines. But it’s too generic. it’s performed wonderfully, but it is woefully disjointed. ==Theme of this post==

I wish they would have just sampled that audio clip as like an homage to cher… but that’s probably a huge legal copyright la la la for both sides so I understand for practical reasons.

This part feels so happy and joyful. Like self-empowerment that feels optimistic. Maybe I’ve just been too jaded listening to anti-capitalism anthems lately but I think this is the breath of fresh air i need in the woeful hellscape that is the USA at the moment.

It’s lines like this that remind me of one of my biggest bones to pick with g4 idols. With this “fuck you” energy of the girl group era they had to always had to have something that was tasteful enough for the kpop scene but would convince us that they were worthy of being able to call themselves rappers. The go to answer for “why are you the baddest/hottest/coolest/most impressive person” is just “look at my outfit”. Like there’s sometimes the implication that they’re making money, but some won’t even discuss the crude subject of dollars. Like when I hear other rapers I’m convinced of their superiority by hearing their impressive rapping speed, or the cleverness of a pun, or even just vulnerability of their lyrics. And yeah I’ll agree - for most idol rappers that is their most impressive attribute - their visuals and styling. It’s not the worst concept - it just is overdone.

I almost reads like kids bop when they have to censor non curse words because they’re not kid friendly. Like “oops! Take away whatever of substance was going to be said here and throw in a fashion reference.” I also feel like the overuse of english played a part in this as well.

I’m not in the mentally protected state right now to do the math… but like over 70% of this song is repetition correct? And that’s lazy. And that’s boring. And honestly while it’s enjoyable I wish I could have gotten more. Impress me next time lyric team.

Choreography

I’m honestly underwhelmed, this choreo feel slike it was built to entertain on the camera not the stage. There’s a lot of posing but not a lot of dancing. The final chorus picked up a little bit more for me. I’m sorry I watched it 3 times already and I have next to nothing else to add here.

Music Video

Overall this video felt fresher than most of the things I’ve seen lately. There’s more clear world building within the video and I feel like we’re getting to see a very under-represented area in future focused entertainment. I like that we’re attacking masculinity in an area typically known for it’s dominance - athletics. Men sports are always more marketed, funded, televised etc. than women’s sports. I like this being cut between shots of them at the farm - showing the symbolic nature of their hard work and self-reliance. I love the punk atttitude and literal destruction of the patriarchal infrastructure without being too on the nose about it. I thought the concept was clever and well thought.

winter is so wonderful but I dont buy the idea that chicken arms could lift that car for a second

I did notice around the time of the second chorus in the farm scene their face filters started looking REALLY uncanny. Like the skin filter is so strong, the eyes are too big, the the features feel like they’ve been painted over the actual faces. It reminds me of that pixar filter that makes you look like you’re animated almost. If they were using this effect in this scene I wish that it could be more consistent. I think aespa especially does well with an uncanny look, but I don’t understand it’s usage nor was it dramatic enough to fully commit to anything to do with their avatar selves.

Styling

I want to mostly talk about this outfit since it seems to be the main visual - I will admit however it’s not my favorite, that title definitely goes to the black press conference fits. But i felt more compelled to talk about the red for whatever reason. I’ll put a few tidbits at the end about the black ones.

Okay Karina is really owning this look for me. It's gender fuckiety mixed with her uncanny beauty that just makes this so successful for me. It feels noestalgia and I'm a sucker for grunge. It's got such boyish purity while also being femme. It speaks to me - spiritually.

Honestly Ning Ning's is the worst fit out of the bunch. And it's not even completely tragic. I LOVE the shoes. It's spunky and soft which plays well to her. However this spencers gifts meets home depot skirt aint it. I dont understand why her materials are so synthetic and shiny when the rest of the girls are wearing such softer fabrics. Even Giselle's wool works in the group because grunge thrives in muted colors. The fabrics are too shiny for me and the whole fit looks out of place. And that doesn't mean it's a bad fit by any means. It's a good look and I think in the music video with different lighting you can see how well it works. But the cohesion is so off that I dislike the outfit itself. Which is a shame because I see what they were going for in the MV ... it just couldn't deliver in the live venues.

I can see why Winter is a bias wrecker. Like I fully validate whatever crimes she has planned. Hall pass for Winter. The look is so sporty, sexy, punky, confident. She really feels like the coolest girl in my school and if she asked me to hang out I would just die. Very normal opinions about this look.

Giselle is at least cohesive and I admire the artistic direction even if it's not my style. She looks very angelic but with a bratz doll energy. Like I could straight up see her in a Bratz Rock Angels concept. I may in fact build this one day. Writing this down for a future idea. my original kpop fan edit - dont steal or else. The octofurry boots are killing me. I can't stand them yet I accept them. Honestly they've confused me into submission.

This is the winner for my favorite costume. Just on personal taste it's beautiful. It's elegant. It's masculine. It's murderous mixed with fashion. I'm HERE for it. It's a real shame that Ning Ning didn't get this for her main look in the MV because she eats this.

Overall

While I didn’t have a lot of great things to say about this comeback - I can’t say it’s necessarily bad. After all - it interested me enough to want to write an entire post on it. SO It worked, attention got. But I’ve walked away unfulfilled and wanting more. I am sadly - not a rich man.

GRAPHICS SOURCED FROM

• originalvisual
• yeris
• d4myeon