Travel (Mamamoo EP)

''Travel'' (stylized in all caps) is the tenth extended play by South Korean girl group Mamamoo. It was released by RBW on November 3, 2020, and distributed by Kakao M. It contains six songs, including pre-released single "Dingga" and the second single " Aya".

Background and release

On November 13, 2019, Mamamoo released their second Korean full-length studio album ''Reality in Black''. The album became the group's best selling effort to date, peaking atop the Circle Album Chart and becoming their first album to surpass 100,000 physical copies sold. The album's lead single "Hip" also became a commercial success, peaking at number four on the Circle Digital Chart and staying in the top ten for 13 weeks. After the promotions for the album concluded, RBW CEO Kim Do-hoon announced in January 2020 that the group would mainly focus on solo activities for the upcoming year. These activities included the release of Moonbyul's debut EP ''Dark Side of the Moon'' on February 14 (and its subsequent reissue, ''Moon'', on May 29), Solar's debut single album '' Spit It Out'' on April 23, and Hwasa's debut EP '' María'' on June 29. Hwasa later joined the cast of Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation show ''Hangout with Yoo'' in August 2020. On the show, she became a member of the supergroup Refund Sisters along with Uhm Jung-hwa, Lee Hyori and Jessi. Their debut single, "Don't Touch Me," released in October, reached the peak position of the Circle Digital Chart.

On October 6, 2020, the EP, its title, the cover, and a release date were announced through Mamamoo's official social media accounts. The promotional roll-out was announced on October 11, consisting of two singles as well as several picture and video teasers. On October 20, pre-release single "Dingga" was released to digital retailers & streaming platforms, and a music video premiered on YouTube. The full EP was released to both physical and digital retailers and streaming platforms on November 3, 2020. A music video for the second single, "Aya", was released simultaneously.

The Japanese edition of ''Travel'' was announced on November 25, 2020, and was released on February 3, 2021. It includes the Japanese versions of singles "Dingga" and "Aya" as well as an original Japanese song, "Just Believe in Love."

Promotion

In order to promote ''Travel'', Mamamoo starred in their own hour-long comeback show, titled ''Monologue'', which aired on South Korean music television channel Mnet 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. Additionally, the group performed the EP's two singles on several South Korean music shows, including ''M Countdown'', ''Music Bank'', ''Show! Music Core'', ''Inkigayo'', and ''You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook''.

Singles

"Dingga" (Korean: ) was released as the EP's lead single on October 20, 2020. The single has peaked at number seven on the Circle Digital Chart, five on the ''Billboard'' Korea K-Pop Hot 100, and eight on the ''Billboard'' World Digital Songs Sales chart. The music video for the single has 78 million views on YouTube .

" Aya" was released as the second single from ''Travel'' on November 3, 2020, in conjunction with the release of the full EP. The single peaked at number 37 on the Circle Digital Chart, number 21 on the ''Billboard'' Korea K-Pop Hot 100, and 17 on the ''Billboard'' World Digital Songs Sales chart. On November 19, "Aya" earned its first and only music show win on Mnet's ''M Countdown.'' As of July 2021, the music video for "Aya," posted simultaneously to Mamamoo's official channel and the 1theK distribution channel, has a combined total of 70 million views.

Commercial performance

''Travel'' debuted at number two on the Circle Album Chart for the 45th issued week of 2020, behind only Monsta X's album ''Fatal Love''. According to the Hanteo sales chart, the EP sold just over 101,000 copies in its first day of release, a personal record for the group. On the monthly edition of the Circle Album chart, ''Travel'' placed at number six and sold 164,000 copies, breaking the group's personal record that they set with ''Reality in Black'' the previous year. , the album has sold 174,000 copies in South Korea and 14,500 copies in Japan.

On music streaming platform Spotify, ''Travel'' has generated over 120 million streams , with the most-streamed tracks being "Dingga" (47 million) and "Aya" (39 million). The EP has accumulated approximately 197.5 million streams on YouTube, when audio and video streams from official sources are combined.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Accolades

Release history

Notes

References

{{Mamamoo

2020 EPs
Mamamoo EPs
Korean-language EPs
Kakao M EPs