Aespa’s Karina Talks Waterbomb Festival, Sprite Campaign: Interview

It’s been six years since Karina burst onto the scene as the leader of aespa, the K-pop group known for their hyperpop sound and futuristic style. Since then, she’s been consistently in the limelight, fronting countless magazine covers and campaigns, while landing award nominations for everything from her singing and rapping, to brand cache. In 2024, Karina released her first solo endeavor, with the hip-hop track “Up,” taken from aespa’s digital single album, SYNK: Parallel Line. The song debuted at number 27 on the Billboard Global 200 chart in its first week — no small feat considering other artists on the chart that week included Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter. “Up” has since accumulated almost 200 million streams on Spotify to date.

Waterbomb was only the singer’s “second solo stage,” as she explains, and Karina says she’s eager to showcase more of what she can do on her own, though she knows it will take time to find her individual sound apart from the group (for what it’s worth, the medley of aespa songs that she performed on stage at Waterbomb drew some of the loudest cheers of her set, and she would reunite with her group mates days later at Lollapalooza 2026).

She’s also been busy on aespa’s SYNK : COMPLæXITY trek, the group’s fourth world tour, while fulfilling her brand partnership obligations with everyone from Sprite and Prada, to Converse and Chanel. As the face of the the former’s “It’s That Fresh” campaign, Karina joins Spanish singer Omar Montes to promote Sprite’s commitment to championing music and community, while celebrating “fresh takes, street culture and authentic self-expression,” per a release. Go anywhere in Seoul and you’re bound to see billboards of the singer with a can of Sprite in hand (though she sheepishly admits that coffee is her go-to drink these days: “I can’t eat a lot before a performance, but honestly, I drink a lot of iced coffee,” she says).

Despite her busy schedule, the artist says she’s been enjoying some downtime too, catching up on books (“I’m reading ‘The Alchemist’ in Korean,” she shares), relaxing with a face mask, and keeping a notepad-style journal to record her thoughts. What kinds of things does she write down? “I write down favorite lines from my books and memories from my travels,” she says. “And I’m always writing lyrics.”

While Karina can’t share too much about what she’s working on, she says she’s always excited to travel and tour to “see the fans.” It’s a sentiment shared by Sprite, who tapped Karina as a brand ambassador back in 2025, and calls her one of the “most culturally resonant voices in the world.”

“Sprite’s role in music has always been to serve as a platform for the freshest voices and freshest experiences,” offers Oana Vlad, VP Sprite Global Brand. “You see it through the partnerships that we have now with artists like Karina, who we’ve been partnering with for several years. I think she’s much more well-known than when we started our partnership.”

“Music has always been a core part of Sprite’s cultural DNA and one of the ways we connect with culture around the world,” Vlad adds. “We’re championing the people and communities shaping what’s next, from festival experiences to original music collaborations.”

As Vlad explains, “If I could summarize the Sprite brand for you in one sentence, we refer to it as ‘ultimate refreshment with cultural edge.’”

Why sponsor Waterbomb? “We always say that for Sprite live experiences, refreshment has to be tasted, seen, felt and heard,” she says.

Back at the festival, Karina is approaching the end of her set when she finally steps behind the massive yellow water canons on stage, which performers ranging from Kiss of Life to Shownu and Hyungwon from Monsta X have been using to soak the crowd throughout the three-day outdoor event. “Thank you Waterbomb!” Karina shouts from the stage, as she aims the super soakers towards fans who have been lapping up every second of her set.

The cameras zoom in on the K-pop superstar as she smiles and waves goodbye. Her hair is now a little wetter, yet still perfectly in place, and her outfit has held up to her energetic stage performance, which saw her dancing, jumping and even running into the crowd at one point. As Karina’s face is beamed onto the big screen, you can’t help but feel caught up in the same excitement she had gushed about just before she stepped foot on that stage.

And there’s one more thing you notice.

With the sun beginning to set, sweaty fans raucously chanting her name, and droplets of water still hanging in the air, the singer is literally glowing. And her makeup is perfectly in place.