Fandom Reactions To GOT The Beat’s Comeback Show Just How Much Fans Want Different Content

Recently, SM Entertainment‘s super girl group project GOT the Beat had their first comeback with the mini-album Stamp On It, which released on January 16.

The group comprises of BoA, Girls’ Generation‘s Taeyeon and Hyoyeon, Red Velvet‘s Seulgi and Wendy, and aespa‘s Karina and Winter. Some of the biggest names in K-Pop; however, reactions have been a bit mixed since they first released “Step Back” a year ago. In theory it’s a great idea, to put together so many talented women under the SM Entertainment label, but not every fan from individual groups likes how GOT the Beat is being managed.

With so many talented and powerful vocalists, fans were hoping that this comeback would at least include more ballad-like songs in the album, if not for the title track itself. That doesn’t seem to be the case, however, which has led to some disappointment.

But the type of music that GOT the Beat is releasing doesn’t even seem to be the biggest issue that people have. It’s SM Entertainment’s decision to focus on the group project, rather than comebacks for aespa, Red Velvet, and Taeyeon, that has many people uninterested and distasteful of GOT the Beat. In fact, Stamp On It only made around 55k sales in its first day after release, which is considerably less than any albums that the individual artists released recently on their own.

[HT] GOT the beat (@GirlsOnTop_SM) 1st Mini Album <Stamp On It>

DAY 1: 34,163
DAY 2: 21,438

TOTAL: 55,601 #GirlsOnTop #GOT_the_beat #걸스온탑 #갓더비트

— KOREAN SALES (@koreansales_twt) January 17, 2023

In fact, the issue has become a topic so widespread that a post was created on an online forum discussing how each individual fandom of BoA, Girls’ Generation/Taeyeon, Red Velvet, and aespa are reacting to the Stamp On It comeback.

BoA’s fandom seems to be the most understanding overall, which makes the most sense given that there is the least amount of pressure for a solo comeback from the legendary idol.

Translation: “A legendary unit that only SM can make!

GOT the Beat, congrats on releasing your first album :)

BoA, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon, Wendy, Seulgi, Karina, Winter, fighting!”

Translation: “Hating on BoA? Seriously, there are people hating on Asia’s star BoA?”

Red Velvet’s fans, however, are upset by the fact that GOT the Beat seems to be taking precedence over a full album comeback from the group.

Translation: “What are they doing by not even releasing RV’s long overdue full album, seriously….”

Translation: “Honestly, I wish they’d give our kids a full album…”

Fans of aespa seem to be the most upset, and it’s understandable why. With so many rookie girl groups getting so much attention and popularity over the last year, the fact that aespa hasn’t had a comeback (besides collaboration tracks) since Girls came out last July is an odd choice by their management.

Translation: “As a fan of SM, I hope that this project fails disastrously once and for all.

That’s the only way they can get in their right minds. These people will sell this to us even if they are crossing the line.

Do they think that they are doing something good? Sigh… Is there even anyone who likes this for them to keep on going?”

Translation: “Who wanted to have GOT the Beat made?
Aren’t they doing this because Yoo Young Jin wanted this?
Yoo Young Jin is a culprit who could’ve given aespa anything last year just like TWICE during their heydays but instead, he gave them the worst of the worse songs and ruined them. Let’s self-reflect a bit and keep your hands off them for the next 20 years.”

Finally, fans of Taeyeon are a little less volatile, but they seem to still prefer her solo work over what GOT the Beat has released.

Translation: “Please give Taeyeon her solo concert or solo comeback instead ^^”

Translation: “To be honest, Taeyeon’s remake of The Three Bears would have better results than this…”

Comments on the post discussing the matter seem to share a lot of similar sentiments to those criticizing the timing that SM Entertainment has given their artists lately.

• “Aside from the BoA fans, all the remaining fans are similarly mad at this. They are trying to appeal to the aespa fans who are less experienced with SMㅋㅋ Just try to experience this for another year”
• “Taeyeon’s fans seem depressed over this. Red Velvet’s fans seem to have their own dissatisfactions but they are voicing them out quietly. Aespa’s fans just seem genuinely madㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Of course, they have all the reasons to be this way ㅠ With their level of seniority, they are stuck with only doing collab stages…”
• “I do not understand why SM is not bothering with aespa lately. Like I know there are other powerful 4th gen GGs but that doesn’t mean aespa isn’t powerful too. SM is weird as hell”
• “I’m not a fan of aespa but I do feel like they need to focus on the group more than doing this kind of thing, the industry is very saturated and the trend changes faster than ever before. They should establish themselves first more than anything but SM is too focus on this project. I feel bad for NingNing and Giselle”
• “Seulgi just told us RV aren’t going to SMA where they are likely to actually win something but GOT the Beat is instead. Luvies are at their breaking point I don’t see many actively supporting this unit anymore”
• “The group project just doesn’t do it for me… They don’t mesh well and the music is off. These are well known K-Pop musicians yet they’re offered rubbish songs. Just end the project”

There are certainly still a lot of people that are enjoying anything that these talented women release, but it does seem like they tend to be more successful on their own or in their original groups!

Meanwhile, check out the new drop for yourself below: