María (Hwasa Song)
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"María" () is a song recorded by South Korean singer
Hwasa Ahn Hye-jin (; born July 23, 1995), known professionally by her stage name Hwasa (; sometimes stylized as Hwa Sa), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Mamamoo in ...
. It was released as the
lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...
of her first
extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
of the same name on June 29, 2020. It is primarily a
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
song that incorporates heavy elements of trap,
synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
, and
Latin pop Latin pop () is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. It originates with List of countries where Spanish is an official language, Spanish-speaking ...
, with lyrics revolving around the struggles that come with fame, "the emotions that need to be suppressed and the effect being in the public eye has on one’s
mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...
." It was written and produced by Park Woosang and Hwasa. “Maria” was an instant hit upon release, debuting at number two on the Gaon Charts and managing to stay within the top ten for multiple weeks on the said chart. It won Best Digital Song at the
Golden Disc Awards The Golden Disc Awards (, formerly spelled the Golden Disk Awards before 2015) is an annual South Korean major music awards ceremony that honors achievements in the local music industry. The awards ceremony was founded with the purpose to prom ...
, Song of the Year at the Asian Pop Music Awards, and Best Dance Performance at the
Mnet Asian Music Awards The MAMA Awards (, formerly Mnet Asian Music Awards) is a major Music award, music awards ceremony presented annually by entertainment company CJ ENM. First held in South Korea, the majority of prizes have been won by K-pop artists, although ...
. In addition, the song was certified platinum by the
Korea Music Content Association The Korea Music Content Association (KMCA; ) is a non‐profit organization representing major music content producers and distributors in South Korea. History The KMCA was established on December 9, 2008, and registered with the Ministry of ...
for surpassing 100 million streams in the country. To promote the song, Hwasa performed on multiple South Korean music programs, including ''
Music Bank ''Music Bank'' () is a South Korean music program which airs every Friday at 17:15 KST on KBS2. the show is also broadcast in more than a hundred countries through KBS World. Episodes are filmed at the KBS New Wing Open Hall in Yeouido-dong, Ye ...
'', and ''
M Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leeteuk ...
''. Additionally, the song won the triple crown on ''
Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' (; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform on stage. ...
'' without Hwasa appearing to perform.


Composition

“Maria” was written and produced by Park Woo-sang and Hwasa. It is a
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
track that combines elements of trap,
synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
, and upbeat
Latin pop Latin pop () is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. It originates with List of countries where Spanish is an official language, Spanish-speaking ...
section over the bridge, "which makes a slightly strange segue into a ballad-y string section." In terms of
musical notation Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a piece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The proce ...
, the song was written in the key of
A Minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...
with a
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
of 129 beats per minute. Lyrically, it "describe the struggles that come with fame, outlining the emotions that need to be suppressed and the effect being in the public eye has on one’s mental health. Hwasa sings, “I’m so lonely/I swallowed my hatred/I don’t even have the strength to be angry/I don’t have time.” She encourages herself to stand up and keep fighting, quite literally instructing herself to not to bow to public criticism, inline with the lyrics “Why do you keep struggling/You are already beautiful… I’ll change the way I go/I’ll turn crisis into opportunity/If you really want to see me cry/Tears in your eyes.”


Critical reception

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
's Kat Moon described the track as "sleek and sultry" praising the singer's "distinct charisma" as well as the usage of the singer's low tone over syncopated drum beats.


Accolades


Credits and personnel

Song credits *
Hwasa Ahn Hye-jin (; born July 23, 1995), known professionally by her stage name Hwasa (; sometimes stylized as Hwa Sa), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Mamamoo in ...
– vocals,
lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...
,
composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...
,
record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
, director,
chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...
* Park Woo-sang – lyricist, composition,
arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...
,
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
, record producer, director, chorus,
drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mu ...
,
recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...
* Jiyong Park –
keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...
* Eunkyung Jung – recording *Minhee Kim – recording * Kim Do-hoon –
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
* Kim Jin-woo – executive producer * Lim In-yong –
supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position and role that is primarily based on authority over la ...
* Shin Su-jin – supervisor * Namwoo Kwon – mastering *
Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey. Gehringer is known for having mastered recordings by popular artists such as AJR, Dua Lipa, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Harry Styles, ...
– mastering Visual credits * VM Project Architecture – music video director * Lee Seokjun – music video director * Jeon Hyo-jeong – performance director *Lia Kim – choreographer * Tina Boo – choreographer * Yeji Kim – choreographer


Charts


Weekly charts


Monthly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


See also

* List of ''Inkigayo'' Chart winners (2020) * List of ''Music Bank'' Chart winners (2020)


Notes


References

{{Hwasa 2020 singles 2020 songs