Battle of the B-Sides:: MAMAMOO: Destiny

 I went back to the roulette wheel for this one because I figure that I can stray again from what I'm familiar with, and instead it gave me the first song I started listening to by MAMAMOO and the reason I continued listening to them. 6000 songs, at least a third of which I've never heard before. And yet, ironically, it's a song called "Destiny" that chaos decided for me. What's even funnier about this is the last song I did was by their younger brothers, who debuted the year this came out. Ah, I'm excited for you to hear this one if you haven't already.

MAMAMOO is a four member girl group that debuted in 2014 under RBW. They're known for industry defying behavior (especially when told not to do something), insane vocals, and a level of chaos that has caused them to be called the female BTOB (and BTOB gets called the male MAMAMOO, which is accurate and funny). Also, Changsub and Solar are besties and she's about two days older. Or a day older. They're very close in age.

Destiny was originally the end-of-show single released for Queendom in 2019 and then included as the first track on their studio album, reality in BLACK, released a couple of weeks later. Which means that they went from concert overseas to Queendom all while preparing their album. They're incredible. Anyway, this song only has two songwriters and they both worked on lyrics and composition. First, the company CEO, Kim Dohoon (BTS, Ailee, VROMANCE, Sistar, Oneus, CNBLUE, Purple Kiss, KARD, G.NA, Gummy, AOA, S.E.S2AM, BTOB, Purple Kiss, N.Flying, SF9, Psy, Cherry Bullet, Baek Jiyoung, WJSN, Isaac Hong, M.I.M, Lyn, DAVICHI, IU, gugudan, Rowoo, K.WIll, Wheesung, S4, T-ARA, ONEWE, Mad Clown, Lee Hyori, Rolling Quartz, Mystic White, SG Wannabe, BAE173, FT Island, SSS, 4Minute, Kangta, Lee Seung Gi, Dal Shabet, Youngji, SE7EN, Seo In Guk, and C-REAL), and second, Park Woosang (Chung Ha, DAY6,Kassy, Jo Yuri, Seungmin (Stray Kids), Nayeon, IU, Kep1er, DAVICHI, IS:SUE, Oneus, ASTRO, Kep1er, BTOB, BVNDIT, Baek A Yeon, Kim Sejeong, Kim Jaehwan, TNX, FIFTY FIFTY, CHEEZE, Minhyun, Park Won, AOA, Wonstein, MeloMance, Goo Hara Hyuk, miss A, ONEWE, Park Woosang, Younha, YuA, MASC, SoYou, and WJSN). One of those has some very big names there and the other has done a lot of OSTs, which is a great combination and explains why this sounds the way it does. Spoilers. Also spoilers in case you haven't seen Queendom, Destiny did very well and also hit number seven on the US World Digital Songs Sales.

I could have called this a Greatest Hits song because it absolutely would deserve that honor and because it was the digital single released for the end of the show. However, with how close to the release of the album it was, and the lack of a music video, which could have been an amazing train heist or stagecoach heist or something along those lines, I'm placing it to shine in the Battle of the B-Sides, because as I said originally, this is the place for the b-sides that shine as greatly as their title tracks, and honestly, if I'd never done this song, it would have been a gaping hole in my collection of songs for you all. 

I'd also like to point out on that track, the "most played" section of the video is almost the entire video. Just something interesting.

I love the beginning of this song with that guitar. I've mentioned before that my first true musical love was country music, and while the entire song hits that with a perfect bullseye, that guitar at the beginning ascends my soul. I don't know about the rest of you, but it's basically a balm. I also love the fact that through a lot of the song, it sounds like the beat is made using spurs. That's such a thematically beautiful addition to the song. 

And then we get that brief transition right before the very end from very country to something militaristic, something that screams that brief period of second gen where we got the marching music. Baba and After School and Girls' Generation are some of the groups that we got that kind of music from, but that's good company to be in. 

I've said it before and I'll certainly say it again, but Hwasa has such a wonderful smoky quality to her voice and with her starting it off, she sets the tone so well. It's the perfect combination with the guitar. It really is. 

Then it goes from maknae to leader and I love that combo in every single group because they almost always have a very special bond.

Because the majority of the song is in Korean, for those of us who don't speak it quite as well, there's one particular part of the song that is pretty beloved and that's Moonbyul's "Destiny makes my cry/Destiny makes me smile". I've been wandering around through a lot of different fandoms and that's a line that I think anyone can relate to for their groups. I know I do. The story of how JR ended up at Pledis alone would be enough for me to believe in it for NU'EST and I know I've cried and laughed over them. 

I love it when a group considers it destiny that they met and came together though, and since I hear that Moonbyul herself may have come up with that line, that's a precious situation, especially considering where this song was coming from and why it was created. 

I'm not starting with the Queendom performance because I'm going to use that for the choreography section.

Instead, we're going to focus on MAMAMOO's vocals for heir 2021 concert. I'm not even going to bother with checking for live vocals because I've seen clips of what happens when they try to lip sync.

It's awful. They can't do it. 

Plus, with how this was rearranged, and with regards to the unbelievably gorgeous dresses that Solar and Hwasa have on that would make the choreography a lot more difficult, there's no reason for them not to be singing live at their own indoor concert. 

Why am I even more in love with this one? Well, we have a piano/violin combination and if you're new here, any time we get a violin, I'm practically swooning over the instrumental. In this case, it's both elegant and melancholy, matching the lyrics pretty well, especially with the difference between Moonbyul's verses and Solar's. 

As just a fun little detail, I love that at :36, for Moonbyul's first part, her background and lighting is cool and watery. Cool lighting, which is reminiscent of the moon as it's often coded with white and silver, and watery like the oceans, and the tides are controlled by the gravity of the moon. Then at :50, we transition to a burst of the warm colors and fire to herald Solar, the leader and guiding light, and stay throughout her part. 

And then, after Solar's part, we have the pair of 95z singing together.

I really love the symbolism here.

And the harmonies! I mean, the instrumental is beautiful, don't get me wrong. But this version gives the song such lovely, stacked, textured and differently textured voices to make a fantastic trifle to savor. 

And we're back with the original choreography with the MAMAMOO Showcase. I think my favorite part of this, which is obviously a fancam but a very well-recorded one, is at 2:06 when we have Solar singing along while she's got her mic very far away from her mouth and doing the choreography  She does it again at 3:33, and she's also got a couple of spots where she's just grinning. Also starting at 3:33, we've got the fun, end-of-song choreography.

As a group, they're simultaneously very sharp with their movements and also very relaxed. It's kind of delightful, actually, and impressive. 

And can we take a minute to talk about Wheein? I mean, look at her. She's got one of her pant legs unzipped to show off the fishnet stockings she's got on underneath, and her hair has a blue sheen to it that reminds me a bit of a crow feather, and it just looks so good against her dark red top. 

This one is from the VLIVE Awards where you get to hear both this song and the title track for the album. This starts off with Destiny, so you don't have to worry about having to find the timestamp for it.

But you know what else we hear with this song and the instrumental? Violin and the spurs!

This is also wonderfully staged, because you've got Solar, Wheein, and Hwasa, who are serving as the vocalists for this song on the front main stage with images meant to evoke a cathedral while wearing the big cream colored robes. 

Moonbyul, off to the side, strolls in with her dancers for her part, and I really love the jeans and knee-high boots combo she's rocking.

And speaking of rock, did you notice the shirts that they're wearing? Hello, 80s hair bands. It's really fitting for the ending choreography. 

Okay, it's finally time to talk abut said choreography with the original performance on Queendom, the performance that clinched their victory.

Everyone looks stunning in white with enough fringe to make me question my typical dislike of fringe like that, but having both things happening at the same times gives them a strong individuality within the matching set of the group. Very well done there, stylists. 

And that same sense is also highlighted in the choreography. Most of the choreography for the song has them highlighted individually for their verses, slip together for the chorus, and then flow back apart, except for the hype section at the end, when we've got powerful, sharp group choreography.

Then, crucially, at the very end, when Wheein gets those last lines, you've got them holding hands and moving together, then Hwasa and Solar hugging into each other, with Wheein leaning on Moonbyul.

That ending choreography so obviously says "We support each other, even when we're not performing as a group. Because we will always be a group."

I love it. I love it so much. 

Now, just as a bonus, here's the yapping part of Queendom to introduce this song, including a little bit of the dance practice, as well as their win where they got very emotional and tucked into each other in just the sweetest way. It's about twenty minutes long and is satisfying and fascinating to see in a very different way to the stages. Hopefully you understand Korean

And just as a fun little bonus, this is a little bit of the very beginning of the yapping part that's dedicated to the set up and recording, but this has English subtitles. They're very funny and loud, and their producer is so funny with his "I don't even know why I'm here." But the energy levels is so high and we get Solar's iconic squeaking laugh. They're very serious and dedicated with what they're doing, but that doesn't stop them from just being this joyful at the end of a very long survival show while readying for a full comeback and doing Immortal Songs. The joyfulness is admirable.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Seriously, their voices are amazing and stunning and I will cry if I ever get to hear them live. Weep like a baby. Vocally, they're top five in my wishlist for K-Pop.

And this song is the reason I listen to them. It's stunning. Mmm. So good.

If you've got a song that you'd like me to cover, feel free to drop a comment or submit it into The Form! I'd love to hear what you've got for me!

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