aespa’s Startling Chart Performance Amid Boycott Becomes A Hot Topic

Ahead of their album Lemonade, aespa recently released “WDA (Whole Different Animal).

aespa | SM Entertainment

The track features G-Dragon and has been met with vastly mixed reactions, ranging from G-Dragon’s contributions to the song’s sound compared to previous releases.

G-Dragon’s Lyrics In aespa’s New Single Slammed As “Worst Ever”

Now, days after the release, the chart performance of the track has become a topic of discussion.

On Melon, the group’s track debuted at #63, which is not a that would initially alarm as many songs begin lower and rise. The track did so on the following day, hitting #23 on the chart, though it has dropped in rank since this peak.

The group showed what looked to be a high amount of streams for the track’s first day on Spotify, debuting with 1,463,218 streams, which increased to 1,598,665 the second day.

| Spotify

Both of these figures some criticism towards the group for their performance, with some even claiming the feature “ruined” G-Dragon’s own chart performance record.

latest g-dragon debuts on melon daily:

power: #2. (0%)
home sweet home: #3. (-50%)
too bad: #1. (+50%)
drama (b-side): #6. (-200%)
take me (b-side): #9. (-350%)
good day (promo song): #13. (-550%)

——HELL——

wda: #61. (-2950%)

this is so embarrassing… DISBAND NOW! https://t.co/sK4jWEuGeJ pic.twitter.com/6SoZbQR11Z

— 🪡 (@cuzinho2cuzinho) May 12, 2026

imagine giving both g-dragon AND demjointz a flop… aespa you‘re over https://t.co/wQ2UUj8hh0

— vava (@vavawonyoung) May 12, 2026

However, a larger majority expressed pride in the group’s chart performance, especially considering the boycotts that aespa was facing over the collaboration.

people calling this bad just proving how high aespa sets the bar https://t.co/C5qn3PFKIR

— ☆ (@khiawings) May 11, 2026

did that with k-mys boycotting, experimental sounding song, right after hate train, AI accusations, music video being posted with 1 minute delay. AESPA WILL RISE pic.twitter.com/2crSKpohKP https://t.co/clsS9Tai2b

— ؘ (@ouricado) May 11, 2026

1.4M with 15hrs tracking, no payola, 2 fandoms k1lling each other. Just pure fan love. Oh that’s aespa and gdragon for u https://t.co/tvVhQ0AF06 pic.twitter.com/JwLFHcMJWC

— 🍋🪽 (@nyz1023) May 12, 2026

You can listen to the track below and share your own thoughts!