Lee Soo-man’s First Girl Group A2O May Tops China’s QQ Music Charts… to Take the Stage in Macau Next Month

The return of K-pop’s godfather—and the sudden surge of ‘A2O May’ that swept the continent

A rookie girl group, ‘A2O May,’ planned with ambition by ‘Lee Soo-man,’ the former top executive producer who led K-pop’s globalization, has hit the Chinese-language music market with a debut that has the industry buzzing from the outset. Its first move has been assessed not just as a rookie launch, but as a decisive sign that a veteran’s new producing strategy is still effective.

According to ‘A2O Entertainment,’ on the 20th, ‘A2O May’’s new track ‘Love Got Me Ooh’ (Love Got Me Ooh), released locally in China on the 16th, clinched the top spot on ‘QQ Music,’ China’s largest music platform’s new songs chart on the 18th—two days after launch. The song, which stylishly reinterprets the crisp yet wistful emotions characteristic of the 1990s through a modern pop sound, drove explosive streaming from local listeners immediately after the rollout.

‘A2O May’ drew extraordinary global attention even before its launch, in that it is the first artist produced by an agency newly established by ‘Lee Soo-man.’ Backed by an intensive localization strategy, the group is focusing its firepower on the Greater China stage. After firing off a successful debut signal, the group will take the stage at the ‘Tencent Music Entertainment Awards’ (TMEA), held in Macau on Aug. 16 next month, to make a powerful impression on fans around the world.