Ode To The Artist: MAMAMOO

We’re back with a new Ode To The Artist, this time we’re writing about MAMAMOO and their insane talent. 

If you’ve been listening to K-pop in general for a while, you have definitely heard about MAMAMOO. These four queens; Solar, Hwa Sa, Wheein and Moonbyul pretty much have the entire world in the palm of their hand. Also the group has one of my favorite, if not THE favorite lightsticks around.

Debut 

Before they debuted, they were featured on a couple of singles by other artists such as K.Will, Bumkey and rap duo Geeks.

When they officially debuted under RBW Entertainment in 2014, they were going for more jazzy/retro vibes. Their debut single was ‘Mr. Ambiguous’.

From the start they did pretty well, by 2015 they already had their first Top 3 charting song with ‘Um Oh Ah Yeah’.

Writing and Messages

They have helped with the songwriting and composing of their music pretty much from the start. The members don’t shy away from talking about gender, stereotypes and sexism.

Moonbyul has written practically every single rap she has in their tracks. 

Solar co-wrote ‘Um Oh Ah Yeah’ and for every collab she has done after, she wrote her own part. She also has writing credits for one of their funniest tracks ‘1cm’.

Wheein has co-writing credits for ‘Moderate’ and a handful of others.

Both Solar and Hwa Sa have writing credits on their song ‘Sleep in the car’ which is a dig aimed towards their manager about their heavy schedules.

Thriving solo careers

All of the girls have amazing solo careers that show the diversity in their characters and their personal tastes. I always think it’s interesting to see where members from a group take their solo careers because usually it gives them the opportunity to go with the music style that they actually love the most. 

Moonbyul stays with her rapping, but isn’t afraid to display her vocals. Check out our review for ‘Eclipse‘.

Hwa Sa leans towards the R&B side of the spectrum, especially with ‘Maria‘.

Solar went full pop with ‘Spit it out’, however, she also appreciates the classics in her album where she remade a bunch of pop favorites.

Wheein leans towards ballads for her solo releases. Though she also has a ton of collabs with rappers like Sik-K and Peakboy.

MAMAMOO

All of the members bring their own unique style to the table. I love to see how they all merge when they’re together as a group. I really do believe that MAMAMOO is a perfect example of how things can work out as both a successful soloist and as a member of a group. 

I genuinely hope that they continue doing both their solo work and their group activities. Because otherwise, we’d be missing out on performances like these.

Go ahead and check out their Spotify.

It slightly feels like an incomplete introduction considering the mammoth of work they’ve released. You can discover more by listening to our podcast about the group here.