aespa get to live out their rogue warrior dreams in the shoot-em-up video for the K-pop quartet’s new single, “Dark Arts.” The follow-up to their recently released single Billboard Global 200 No. 5 hit “Dirty Work” finds KARINA, WINTER, GISELLE and NINGNING dropping into the battle zone world of KRAFTON’s PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS battle royale video game as they wield long guns and sharp-shoot enemies from the back of motorcycles.
“Ain’t no stoppin’ no, ain’t no stoppin’ no, ain’t no stoppin the show/ Got you movin’ now, got you movin’ now, got you movin’ now slow/ I go savage when I pull up, I’m a classic you can’t get enough,” they sing over the spare track’s jittery R&B beat before dropping into the alluring chorus, “Dark arts, black magic/ Can’t handle it?/ Can’t have it/ Feel the power, feel the force/ We a-ta-ta-tackin’/ Dark arts, black magic/ One show go maximum damage.”
In the visual, the women enter a warehouse filled with enemies who they dispatch with pinpoint rifle shots from their band logo’d weapons when they’re not sitting in wait on hilltops and sniping at waves of bad guys in tactical gear. After securing their objective — a shiny silver rune — they hop into their convertible and enter a galactic portal to another dimension.
The group will perform the song live for the first time at the eSports PNC 2025 Grand Finals on July 27 at the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea. The women are also slated to perform at KCON LA 2025 (Aug. 1-3) alongside fellow K-pop superstars including NCT 127, RIIZE, KISS OF LIFE, MEOVV, NOWADAYS, MONSTA X, KEY, HWASA, YUQI and CHOIHOJUNG.
Listen to “Dark Arts” below.
