After leaving the agency he founded, SM Entertainment’s Lee Soo-man quickly began planning his next moves. This resulted in the founding of a new agency, A2O Entertainment, and some loosey singles from various A2O artists aimed toward global markets. Now, it’s time for him to throw his hat back in the K-pop ring with the double debut of A2O Lite and A2O Soul — female and male counterparts seeming to exist in an NCT-style universe.
A2O Soul is the male group under this umbrella, and from what I can tell Superstar is considered a pre-release. They have quite a few members to their name, but Superstar is sleek and smooth rather than overbearing. It’s not completely unlike something you’d hear from RIIZE, but its dynamic arrangement has the benefit of being overseen by legendary producer Yoo Young-Jin. He ensures every vocal is smooth and buttressed by just enough harmony and interplay to stand out.
It’s so nice to hear a new group (pre)debut with an entirely vocal-focused song. There’s no shouting, no talking, no puffing up their chests to impress. Instead, we have a series of strong voices building on each other to accentuate Superstar‘s charm. A bright synthline acts as their anchor, imbuing the track with a celestial texture that makes it feel stately and grabs your ear immediately. Though there’s nothing “experimental” about Superstar, its sheer existence in 2026 K-pop feels surprising and that’s enough to instantly steal my attention. I can’t wait to hear what they have up their sleeves next.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
Grade: B+
It sounds pretty generic, like if I asked AI to generate me a synthpop song, this is what I’d prolly get. It’s fine.
8 (8, 8, 8, 8) for me.
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Wow….I haven’t enjoyed a synthpop song this much in years, especially the vocals. I’d give it a 9 for the vocals and hook alone. This is a song I can play from the moment I wake up until I fall asleep and not get tired of.
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i might be too young to comment on a song like this but it sounds like a generic ai song fr, like ‘write me a nostalgic melancholic synthpop track’…
as a new kpop fan i think i first got interested in kpop bcs the songs could be slightly gimmicky- by that i mean the songwriters and producers could throw in a bunch of lyrics to focus on creating a unique but pleasing sound, whether through combining harmonies, edm/hyperpop percussion/sfx, unique samples, unlikely instruments combined in one track, and putting energy into their songs in different ways (experimenting with grooves/rhythms), even if many times they miss. I think this song is missing the recent kpop nuance of individuality by being a bit tacky; but for people who joined kpop because of the effortless (but imo generic) sound during the 2nd generation; this is VERY kpop for them, and I can see it too, just not the kpop i’m familiar with 😉
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yo why did it become a winking emoji i did not type that 😭
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