MOMOLAND

**MOMOLAND** (모모랜드) was a South Korean girl group formed by MLD Entertainment through the 2016 reality show *Finding Momoland*. The group originally consisted of 7 members: JooE, Hyebin, Nayun, Nancy, Ahin, Jane and Yeonwoo. They debuted on November 10, 2016 with their mini album Welcome to Momoland.

Two new members, Taeha and Daisy, were added in 2017 and both left, along with Yeonwoo, officially in 2020.

On February 14, 2023, it was announced by the company that the group had officially disbanded.

## **History**

### **2016-2017: Debut**

In June 2016, Mnet's survival program *Finding Momoland* began, a reality show where a group of seven members were selected from 10 trainees. It was decided that the members were going to make their debut, but the Final Mission could not collect 3,000 spectators, so the official debut was delayed for a while to prepare for their debut, promotional events, fan meetings, and the street. On October 26, 2016, the group was appointed as ambassadors for the International Relief Development NGO Plan Korea. The group's debut showcase was held on November 9 of the same year. On November 10, they released their debut extended play Welcome To Momoland and made their debut through M! Countdown. On December 27, six members except Yeonwoo, who stopped working due to lower back pain, attended SBS Gayo Daejeon. In October 2016, Momoland, appointed as the PR ambassador for the International Relief Development NGO Plan Korea, volunteered at the Pak Luong Village in Taipei, Vietnam from January 12 to 16, 2017, to encourage Happy Mov students to participate in Kindergarten construction service.

On March 28, it was announced that Daisy and Taeha would be joining the group, increasing the group to nine members. On April 25, the group had a comeback through The Show. On January 26, their digital single "Wonderful Love" was released. 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. On July 22, the group performed the EDM version of "Wonderful Love" on The Show. On August 22, 2017, they released their second EP, Freeze!, debuting the title track "Freeze" through The Show on the same day.

### **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.

### **2018-present: Breakthrough**

On January 3, 2018, they made a comeback with their third EP, Great! with the title track "BBoom BBoom". The same month, Serebro accused Momoland of plagiarizing their song "Mi Mi Mi" with "Bboom Bboom". The composer of "Bboom Bboom", 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." On January 11, they performed and won on Mnet's M! Countdown. They also won Show Champion on January 31 and The Show on February 6.

Momoland held promotional events in Tokyo and Osaka from February 28 until March 4, 2018. The group garnered 25,000 spectators at an event held in Japan over four days. Approximately 100 media also participated in the showcase held at Tower Records in Shibuya. Momoland also performed songs such as "Jjan! Koong! Kwang!", "Freeze", "Wonderful Love" (EDM version), and "Bboom Bboom". Momoland also signed with King Records to release their upcoming debut in Japan on June 13, 2018, as well as a Japanese version of their single "Bboom Bboom". On June 26, 2018 their 4th mini album Fun to The World was released with the title track BAAM. Momoland became the first girl group to earn a Platinum cetrification for over 100 million streams with their song Bboom Bboom.

On March 20, 2019 their 5th mini album Show Me was released with the lead title track I'm So Hot which marked the first release without Taeha and Daisy. On Sept 4, 2019 their first Japanese studio album Chiri Chiri was released with the title track Pinky Love and Yeonwoo, Taeha and Daisy were all apcent from promotions. In late 2019 MLD Entertainment announced Yeonwoo and Taeha's leaving through their fancafe.

On Dec 30, 2019 Momoland released their first single album Thumbs Up. In Janurary of 2020 Daisy gave an interview exposing MLD Entertainment and saying that Finding Momoland was "rigged". She alledged the company blocked her from promotions with the group after recovering from her health problems and would only let her terminate her contract if she paid $942,866 or 1.1 billion won. In response MLD denied the claims and would be taking legal action against Daisy and her mother.

On May 13, 2020, it was announced Daisy had officially left the group and would not currently be under MLD. On May 15, 2020, it was announced that sometime in June, Momoland would release a non-promoted special album titled "Starry Night". It was later released on June 11.

On November 17, 2020, Momoland made their comeback with their third single album, "Ready or Not".

On February 5, 2021, a special collaboration single called "Wrap Me In Plastic" with CHROMANCE was released.

On January 14, 2022, "Yummy Yummy Love" with Natti Natasha was released.

## **Discography**

Mini albums* Welcome To Momoland (2016)
* Freeze! (2017)
* Great! (2018)
* Fun to The World (2018)
* Show Me (2019)

Special albums* Starry Night (2020)

Single albums* Wonderful Love (2017)
* Thumbs Up (2019)
* Ready or Not (2020)

Digital singles* Wonderful Love (EDM Ver.) (2017)

Collaborations* Banana Chacha (2019)
* Love Is Only You (MOMOLA) (with Erik) (2019)
* Tiki Taka (2020)

OSTs* Hug Me (from "Tempted OST Part.1") (2018)
* Dream Song (from "The All-Round Wife OST Part.2") (2021)
Studio albums* Chiri Chiri (2019)

Best albums* MOMOLAND The Best ~Korean Ver.~ (2018)

Singles* BBoom BBoom (2018)
* Baam (2018)
* I'm So Hot (2019)

English
Collaborations* Wrap Me In Plastic (with CHROMANCE) (2021)
* Yummy Yummy Love (with Natti Natasha) (2022)