Mamamoo - Mit starken Stimmen an die Spitze der Charts!
K-Pop Blog > Artists > Mamamoo
The members of Mamamoo were older at the time of their debut than most other idols, who often debut very young, often between the ages of 16 and 18. The oldest member of a K-pop group is usually 20 or less at the time of debut, and the maknae is often as young as 15 or even 14. In addition, most begin training with their agencies at the age of 12 or 13, so even at a young age they have already spent two years or more as trainees.
Solar, who would later find fame as a member of Mamamoo, began her path to debut a little later than most. She was originally preparing for a future as a flight attendant when her singing talent was discovered by RBW Entertainment at the age of 20. She debuted in 2014 at the age of 23 with Moonbyul, Wheein and Hwasa; the latter being the youngest member of the group at 18 at the time.
| Stage name | Real name | Birthday |
|---|---|---|
| Solar | Kim Jongsun | 21.02.1991 |
| Moonbyul | Moon Byulyi | 22.12.1992 |
| Wheein | Jung Wheein | 17.04.1995 |
| Hwasa | Ahn Hyejin | 23.06.1995 |
Wheein and Hwasa have known each other since their school days, when they were close friends, and moved together from their hometown of Jeonju to Seoul to pursue their dream of making their debut. After they both trained at different agencies for a while, they met again at RBW Entertainment. Hwasa and Wheein were the first two members of Mamamoo to join RBW; Solar and Moonbyul followed shortly after.
Debut
On January 9, 2014, Mamamoo released "Don`t Be Happy", their first single in collaboration with R&B singer Bumkey. Perhaps precisely because the members of the group were older on average than most of the other Idols on their debut, Mamamoo had a mature and perhaps even sensual appeal from the start.
On February 11, 2014, the group released their second single "Peppermint Chocolate", featuring K.Will, who is known for his ballads, feat R&B singer Wheesung.
On May 30, Mamamoo released a third single "Heeheehaheho", featuring rap duo Geeks. This was the last release before the girl group's official debut on June 18, 2014.
The first album "Hello" features the three pre-released collaboration singles, a solo by Hwasa, and three additional songs, including the title track "Mr. Ambiguous."
Like the pre-debut singles, Mr.Ambiguous follows a retro, jazz and R&B concept. The music video is mostly in black and white and looks like a behind-the-scenes video. The photographer, guitarist and other staff are played by familiar faces like K.Will, Bumkey and Rhymer. Towards the end of the music video, we see a scene where producer Baek Ji Young asks the members of Mamamoo why they don't sing live during the recording. In response, they sing the song live, but Baek Ji Young criticizes their performance and says that she is disappointed. The members' shocked reaction is completely genuine, because they don't know that it's a hidden camera prank and that Baek Ji Young is just acting in the scene. Of course, the relief is all the greater when they realize what's going on and the music video can go on. ;)
Mr. Ambiguous has been called one of the best K-pop debuts in 2014; especially the members' strong voices and vocal performance as a group is quickly gaining recognition. "Hello" enters the Gaon album charts again in both November 2015 and March 2020, showing how well the first album is still received by fans today. A month later, Mamamoo already records their first soundtrack for the K-drama "Marriage, Not Dating": "Love Lane"
From Piano Man to We Got Married & Immortal Songs to Purple:
In November, the second album "Piano Man" is released with the title song of the same name. At the end of the year, Mamamoo ranked tenth among all girl groups in sales, according to Gaon's year-end rankings.
April 2015 sees the release of the pre-release single "Ahh Oop" with fellow agency member eSNA, which is included on the new album "Pink Funky", which Mamamoo presents to her fans on June 19. The title track "Um Oh Ah Yeah" reaches number three in the Gaon charts; the highest ranking of the girl group so far.
This is followed by the first fan meeting, which was sold out in under a minute and was therefore even supplemented by another date.
For the rest of the year, Mamamoo attracts attention mainly with their performances in the music competition "Immortal Songs". After competing for the first time in January with a cover of Joo Hyunmi`s "Wait a Minute," they returned to the show several times. However, their biggest success came in October with their performance to "Backwoods" by Bae Ho, which earned them their first win on the show, a feat few idol groups have ever achieved.
Mamamoo starts 2016 with the release of the R&B ballad "I Miss You" in January and the song "1cm Taller than You" on February 12. Both singles are part of the new album "Melting", which will be released together with the music video for the title track "You`re the Best" on February 26.You`re the Best" reaches number one on the Gaon charts, making it Mamamoo`s first number one single. The song also brings the girl group their first music show win on March 6. As if a dam had been broken, a whole seven more wins in other music shows follow in the coming days and weeks.
From April to November - episodes 316 to 348 - Solar is featured on "We Got Married," a show in which celebrities pretended to be married to see what life would be like as a married couple. Solar formed a couple with host and singer Eric Nam and hosted a "wedding party" with him in June for the show:
Nine months after "Melting" follows "Memory" with eight new songs. These include three pre-released singles: two unit songs - "Angel" sung by vocals Solar and Wheein & "Dab Dab" sung by rappers Moonbyul and Hwasa - and the single "New York" sung by the whole group.
In early 2017, Mamamoo records the soundtrack "Love" for the hit drama "Goblin" and in June they release their sixth album "Purple" with the title track "Yes I Am" topping the Billboard World Album Chart and the Melon Real Time Chart.
Four Seasons
On January 4, 2018, Mamamoo announced their " Four Seasons, Four Colours" project with the pre-release single "Paint Me."
Four mini-albums will be released as part of the project, each designed to represent one of the four members. All four albums are assigned a season and color that matches the member. The albums will contain six to seven songs, including a solo by the member in question. To give you an overview, we have summarized the "Four Seasons" series here:
| Album | Member | Release date | Solo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow Flower | Hwasa | Mr. Ambiguous | "Be Calm" by Hwasa |
| Red Moon | Moonbyul | Piano Man | "Selfish" by Moonbyul ft. Seulgi (Red Velvet) |
| Blue;s | Solar | Um Oh Ah Yeah | "Hello" by Solar |
| White Wind | Wheein | You`re the Best | "25" by Wheein |
From May 19 to 21, Mamamoo hosts a concert titled "2019 Mamamoo Concert 4Seasons F/W" as the conclusion of the "Four Seasons, Four Colors" project.
Since June 2018, Hwasa has been a permanent member of the reality show "I Live Alone," in which celebrities who live alone show viewers their everyday lives. There, she is not afraid to show herself without the heavy makeup she is known for on stage and impresses her fans by doing so.
Queendom
From August to October 2019, Mamamoo participated in the reality show "Queendom," where six girl groups compete against each other to determine the "true number 1." During the show, Mamamoo released the new song "Destiny" and eventually won the show against the other contestants AOA, Lovelyz, Oh My Girl, (G)I-DLE, and Park Bom.
A month after winning Queendom, Mamamoo`s eleventh album "Reality in Black" is released with the title song "Hip" topping the Gaon album charts. "Hip" even reaches the first place in Billboard`s "World Digital Songs Sales Charts", a new record for the girl group. In September, the single "Wanna Be Myself" is released and after the members of Mamamoo focused on their solo activities for a while, the group releases their new album "Travel" with the title track "Aya" in November 2020. Prior to that, the pre-release single "Dingga".
Contract extension with RBW Entertainment
As with many idol groups, Mamamoo's contract with their agency expired seven years after their debut. In January 2021, RBW Entertainment announced that Solar and Moonbyul had renewed their contract; followed by Hwasa in March. While Wheein is still negotiating with the agency, they announced that Mamamoo will celebrate its seventh anniversary with the "WAW (Where Are We) Project," during which a new album, concert and documentary will be released. June 2 will see the release of the girl group's thirteenth album, which, like the project, is called "WAW". The album topped the album charts in 21 countries worldwide and sold over 40,000 copies in its first day, according to the Hanteo charts!
The album topped the album charts in 21 countries worldwide and sold over 40,000 copies in its first day, according to the Hanteo charts!
Fans didn't have to wonder for long what exactly will happen next, because in September Mamamoo announced the Best Of album "I SAY MAMAMOO: THE BEST", which will be released in the middle of the month. Find out more about the album here!
Solo
The members of Mamamoo have already released their own songs before their official solo debut. For example, the debut album "Hello" already contains a solo by "Hwasa" and the albums of the "Four Seasons" series also feature solo songs by all members.
Wheein debuted as a solo singer on April 17, 2018 with her single "Easy". She released her first single album "Good Bye" in September 2019 and in April 2021 her first extended play "Redd".
On April 24, 2018, Solar presented her first solo album "Solar`s Emotion", which includes covers and a solo version of Mamamoo`s song "Starry Wind Flower Sun". However, Solar will officially make her solo debut in April 2020 with the single album "Spit it Out".
Hwasa released her first digital single "Twit", which she co-wrote and composed, in February 2019. After other solo projects, including collaborating with Dua Lipe on a remix of "Physical", Hwasa`s first solo album "Maria" with the title song of the same name is released on June 29, 2020.
In February 2020, Moonbyul makes her solo debut with her first album "Dark Side of the Moon". In May, the singer released a repackage called "Moon".
We assume that the solo careers of Solar, Moonbyul, Wheein and Hwasa have just begun and we are very much looking forward to everything that is yet to come!
Bonus
As you may know, Mamamoo's Lightstick looks like a radish, because "Moo" is the Korean word for radish. Did you know that before the first Lightstick was released in January 2016, fans actually brought real radishes to the group's performances to cheer them on? XD
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