SM Entertainment’s new group has arrived. GOT the beat, the first iteration of the new K-Pop project Girls On Top (GOT), debuted at SMTOWN 2022: SMCU EXPRESS@KWANGYA, a free online concert held on New Year’s Eve.
A record number of viewers tuned into the free show, peaking at 51 million streams from 161 regions worldwide. The show eclipsed the label’s previous record of 35.83 million streams from last year’s SMTOWN Live “Culture Humanity,” setting a new record as the highest number of views for a Korean-based online concert.
The supergroup of young women pulls from pre-existing acts, featuring BoA, Girls’ Generation’s TAEYEON and HYOYEON, Red Velvet’s SEULGI and WENDY, and aespa’s KARINA and WINTER. The group’s first single is titled “Step Back,” and was unveiled with a live performance of the track.
While the group is composed of women who have already proven themselves as performers, the track itself leaves quite a bit to be desired. “Step Back” is less of an empowerment anthem, instead making the arguably outdated choice of indulging in the narrative of a young woman telling another woman to “step back” from her man.
It’s a curious choice from a group that was marketed with a focus on women’s empowerment, and the debut track has seemingly left many excited fans disappointed. Lyrics putting down “silly girls” have irked fans who tuned in to the debut, previously excited by a concept that quite literally brought women from different groups together.
The track is not yet available on streaming platforms, and, according to AsiaOne, South Korean music critic Jung Min-jae even suggested the group take this time to re-write the lyrics before an official release.
You can check out GOT the beat’s first single below.
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