| “ |
Get your ticket. Hello, we are MOMOLAND! |
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| —MOMOLAND | ||
MOMOLAND (Korean: 모모랜드; Japanese: モモランド) is a six-member girl group under MLD Entertainment. Originally consisting of seven, they were formed through the survival reality show Finding Momoland and officially debuted on November 10, 2016 with the mini album Welcome to Momoland.
In 2017, two new members were added to the group, being Daisy on March 28, and Taeha on April 9. Taeha and Yeonwoo departed from the group on November 30, 2019.
History
Pre-debut
In June 2016, Mnet's survival program Finding Momoland began, a reality show where a group of seven members (Yeonwoo, Hyebin, Jane, Nayun, Joo E, Ahin and Nancy) were selected from 10 trainees (including Daisy, Shinsia and Heejae). It was decided that the members were going to make their debut, but the Final Mission could not collect the target 3,000 spectators and there were about 2,300 citizens at the scene. So the official debut was delayed for a while to prepare for their debut, promotional events, fan meetings, and the street.[1]
On October 26, 2016, the group was appointed as ambassadors for the International Relief Development NGO Plan Korea, volunteered at the Pak Luong Village in Taipei, Vietnam from December 12 to 16, 2017, to encourage Happy Mov students to participate in Kindergarten construction service. In addition, the group had a cultural exchange event to villagers and Korean-Vietnamese culture and showed good response to the villagers by showing their songs on their debut album.[2]
Meaning behind the name
According to the group interview by Celuv.TV, the first part of their name, MOMO, came from the 1973 German novel titled Momo by Michael Ende, which the main character named Momo gives hope and dreams to many people, while "Land" means a place where people can go to, play to, and rest at times just like in an amusement park, there are various rides, specifically "Merry-Go-Round" (the official fandom name). Therefore, their name is like an amusement park theme and its goal is to provide hope that people of all ages and gender could enjoy their music and show their various sides.[3]
2016: Debut with Welcome to Momoland
The group's debut showcase was held on November 9. On November 10, they released their mini album Welcome to Momoland with the title track "Jjan Koong Kwang" and made their debut through M! Countdown.[4]
2017: New members Daisy and Taeha, "Wonderful Love", Freeze!
The group had a cameo on the April 4 episode of the tvN drama The Liar And His Lover, where they played female trainees preparing for their debut through the drama’s fictional entertainment agency Soul Music and even had in-character performance of their debut title track "Jjan Koong Kwang".[5]
On March 13, it was announced that Daisy (originally a contestant in Finding Momoland but was eliminated) and Taeha (former Produce 101 contestant) would be joining the group, increasing the group to nine members. On April 25, the group had a comeback through The Show and their first single album "Wonderful Love" was released.[6] In the same year, on June 3, KBS 2TV Music Bank played the EDM version of "Wonderful Love", which was released as a digital single on June 16.[7]
On July 22, the group performed the EDM version of "Wonderful Love" on The Show.[8] On August 22, 2017, they released their second mini album, Freeze!, debuting the title track "Freeze" through The Show on the same day.[9]
2018: Great!, breakthrough success, Japanese debut, Fun to The World
On January 3, they made a comeback with their third mini album, Great! with the title track "BBoom BBoom". The same month, Russian girl group Serebro accused MOMOLAND of plagiarizing their song "Mi Mi Mi" with "BBoom BBoom".[10] The composer of the song, Shinsadong Tiger, denied the allegations by pointing out that "the bass line [is] commonly heard in retro house or swing electronic genres, as well as the 4-stanza chord."[11] On January 11, they won their first music show award on Mnet's M! Countdown.[12]
On February 28, the group released their first best album MOMOLAND The Best ~Korean Ver.~ in Japan consisting of Japanese versions of their songs including "JJan! Koong! Kwong", "Freeze", "Wonderful Love", and "BBoom BBoom". They then held promotional events in Tokyo and Osaka from February 28 until March 4, 2018, garnering 25,000 spectators over four days. Approximately 100 media also participated in the showcase held at Tower Records in Shibuya.[13] The group also signed with King Records to release their upcoming debut single "BBoom BBoom" in Japan on June 13.
In June, MOMOLAND starred in their first reality show called MOMOLAND’s Saipan Land. The group filmed for the show in May while they were in Saipan for their music video of their Japanese version of "BBoom BBoom." The members were given 48 hours of free time, and they set off to enjoy various activities and cuisine. They also confided in each other and will reveal things they have not been able to through this reality show. The rshow consisted of 5 episodes only.[14]
On June 26, MOMOLAND made their comeback releasing its fourth mini album entitled Fun to The World with a fun dance track produced by Shinsadong Tiger, who also made "BBoom BBoom" from the mini album Great!.[15]
2019: Show Me, Chiri Chiri, departures of Taeha and Yeonwoo, "Thumbs Up"
On March 20, the group came back with their fifth mini album Show Me with "I'm So Hot" as the title track. Taeha and Daisy did not participate in the comeback due to health and personal reasons.[16]
On November 30, MLD announced the departures of Taeha and Yeonwoo, with Daisy still under discussions.[17]
On December 10, their agency announced that MOMOLAND will be releasing a single at the end of the month with six members. They later confirmed the single's title "Thumbs Up" to be released on the 30th.[18][19]
Members
| Name | Position(s) | Year(s) active |
|---|---|---|
| Hyebin (해빈) | Leader, Lead Rapper, Vocalist | 2016–present |
| Jane (제인) | Main Vocalist, Main Dancer, Rapper | 2016–present |
| Nayun (나윤) | Vocalist, Rapper | 2016–present |
| Joo E (주이) | Main Rapper, Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Center, Face Of The Group | 2016–present |
| Ahin (아인) | Main Vocalist | 2016–present |
| Nancy (낸시) | Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Visual, Center, Maknae | 2016–present |
| Inactive | ||
| Daisy (데이지) | Main Dancer, Main Rapper, Vocalist | 2017–present |
| Former | ||
| Yeonwoo (연우) | Main Rapper, Vocalist, Visual, Face of the Group | 2016–2019 |
| Taeha (태하) | Main Vocalist | 2017–2019 |
Discography
KoreanMini albums
Single albums
Digital singles
Collaborations
OSTs
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JapaneseStudio albums
Best albumsSingles
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Filmography
Television dramas
- The Liar And His Lover (tvN, 2014) - cameo
Reality shows
- Finding Momoland (Mnet, 2016)
- MOMOLAND's Saipan Land (MBC Every 1, 2018)
Variety shows
- It's Showtime (ABS-CBN, 2018) - ep. 121018
Awards and nominations
- Main article: List of awards and nominations received by MOMOLAND
Gallery
- Main article: MOMOLAND/Gallery
References
Official links
- Japan
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