"Aya" (stylized in

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) is a song by South Korean

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Mamamoo Mamamoo (, stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote ...

. It was released on November 3, 2020, as the second single from the group's tenth extended play (EP), ''

Travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

''. Released by RBW, was written by Kim Do-hoon, Lee Sang-ho, and

Moonbyul Moon Byul-yi (, born December 22, 1992), better known by her stage name Moonbyul, is a South Korean rapper and singer signed under RBW. She is the rapper of the girl group Mamamoo and its sub-unit Mamamoo+. In May 2018, Moonbyul made her debut ...

and produced by the former two alongside Mingkey. A Japanese-language version of the song was released in January 2021.

Background and release

In October 2020, Mamamoo's record label RBW announced that the group would be making a comeback in November with their tenth mini-album ''

''. On October 6, the EP, its title, the cover, and a release date were announced through Mamamoo's official

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

accounts. The promotional roll-out was announced on October 11, consisting of two singles as well as several picture and video teasers. The EP's first and only pre-release single, "

Dingga "Dingga" () is a song by South Korean girl group Mamamoo. It was released on October 20, 2020, as the lead single from the group's tenth extended play (EP), ''Travel (Mamamoo EP), Travel''. A disco and dance-pop song, "Dingga" was written by Kim ...

", was released on October 20. On October 27, a music video teaser was released via the group's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. "Aya" was released in tandem with its parent EP on November 3, 2020. The Japanese-language version of the song was released by

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ent ...

on January 26, 2021, as the second single from the Japan edition of ''Travel''.

Composition

Musically, "Aya" is a pop and

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

song with influences of

Arabic music Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also man ...

. The song is composed at an average tempo of 90

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

in the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: : Changes ...

. "Aya" follows a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of Am-E-F-C for most of the song followed by Am-E during the outro section.

Promotion

In order to promote "Aya" and its parent EP ''Travel'', Mamamoo performed in their own hour-long comeback show, titled "Monologue," which aired on South Korean music television channel

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

on November 3, 2020. The broadcast featured several Mamamoo performances, interspersed with monologues from the members. The "Monologue" show served as one of the prizes the group has received from winning the competition show ''Queendom'' the year prior. The group first performed it on a music show on November 5, performing the song on

's ''

M Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. Bro ...

''.

Music video

The official music video was released to Mamamoo's official YouTube channel and the 1theK distribution channel on November 3, 2020. Described as a "180-degree flip" from their previous single and music video for "Dingga", the video received positive reception for showing the group's "alluringly fierce side". As of June 2022, the music video has a combined total of 98.75 million views and 2.26 million likes on both channels. A dance-focused performance video was released for the song on November 7 and has over 33 million views as of June 2022. The music video for the Japanese version of the song was released on January 26, 2021, to Mamamoo's official Japan-focused channel.

Commercial performance

Upon release, "Aya" peaked at number one on the

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charts in 12 regions. In South Korea, the song debuted at number 42 on the weekly

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...

, while also placing at number four and 76 on the component download and streaming charts, respectively. The next week, it peaked at number 37 on the Digital Chart. The song also peaked at number 21 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

K-pop Hot 100 The K-pop Hot 100 is a music singles chart in South Korea, launched by ''Billboard'' in conjunction with ''Billboard'' Korea () on August 25, 2011. It is the second Asian ''Billboard'' chart after the Japan Hot 100. The chart used the same multime ...

, remaining on the chart for 15 total weeks. Outside of South Korea, "Aya" peaked at number 27 in Singapore and number 17 on the ''Billboard''

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—with the issue dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-specific s ...

chart.

Accolades

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Release history

References

{{Reflist Mamamoo songs South Korean songs K-pop songs Korean-language songs Korean songs 2020 songs