On November 14, 2019, MAMAMOO released reality in BLACK, their second full-length Korean album and their third album overall, and the music video for title track “HIP.” During the lead-up to the album’s release, it was revealed that “BLACK” was an acronym for “Bless Life and Carry Knowledge.” reality in BLACK features 11 new tracks, including their single “Destiny,” which they originally performed on Queendom, with MAMAMOO announced as the winners on October 31, 2019. 

The Music Video

The music video for “HIP” features the girls in four different universes, also referred to by “#MMM_Multiverse” on their official Twitter account, where they each fill different roles and professions. The first universe shows the members as their authentic selves in MAMAMOO. This is the universe we normally see the girls in. In the other three universes, Solar is a princess, boxer, and rockstar; Moonbyul is a music video director, choreographer, and entertainment CEO; Wheein is an environmentalist, painter, and indie artist; and Hwasa is a mother, musical actor, and president.

In the video, the girls perform the choreography with scenes of them in the different universes interspersed. As they’re showing themselves in all of these different roles, MAMAMOO sings about how they can and should still be themselves first and foremost instead of trying to bend to what society tells them they should be. Instead of listening to people who say they should dress or act a certain way, MAMAMOO are their authentic selves all of the time. This is especially noticeable in the scene where Hwasa is the president and is giving a press conference with the breaking news headline “PRESIDENT HWASA DRESSED RIDICULOUS AT THE AIRPORT.” Even though she is filling this role as the president, she doesn’t care what people judge her for. It’s a nice reminder that it’s okay to be yourself instead of trying to be somebody else, especially for younger females who are constantly told they should be a certain body shape in mainstream media.

MAMAMOO also released a performance version of the music video four days later, giving their energetic and fierce choreography the attention it deserved. 

The Comeback Performances

MAMAMOO had their comeback on Music Bank on November 15, 2019, where they performed “Ten Nights” and “HIP.” For their performance of “Ten Nights,” MAMAMOO wore beautiful all-white outfits and stood in front of screens displaying a beautiful sunset over the ocean scene, at times showing glitter sparkling down and fading from pinks and oranges to blues and whites. While Solar wore a beautiful white dress, the other three members wore blazers and white pants.  

For this comeback, the girl group stated they focused on making sure that the choreography for “HIP” was their most powerful yet, exchanging their trademark handheld microphones for headsets during their performances. Before the actual performance of the title track, a clip played of the girls showing off their third universe personas. The first to be shown was Wheein as a painter followed by Solar as a boxer, Moonbyul’s choreographer persona, and then Hwasa as a musical actor. Rather than perform as the main MAMAMOO universe, they performed in the third universe costumes in front of the mini sets for their personas.

The  Legacy

reality in BLACK and “HIP” did really well on the charts, with the album peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard U.S. World Albums Chart  and debuting at No. 1 on the Gaon Weekly Albums Chart and No. 4 on the Gaon Monthly Albums Chart. All 11 tracks also charted on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart, with “HIP” peaking at No. 2, “Destiny” at No. 6 during the Queendom run, “Ten Nights” at No. 47, “4x4ever” at No. 64, “Universe” at No. 66, “Better” at No. 69, “High Tension” at No. 76, “ZzZz” at No. 80, “I’m Your Fan” at No. 81, “Hello Mama” at No. 83, and “rEALITY” at No. 85.

On the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart, “HIP” peaked at No. 4 and “Destiny” peaked at No. 68. Both songs also appeared on the Gaon Weekly Streaming Chart, with “HIP” peaking at No. 4 and “Destiny” peaking at No. 73. They also charted on the Billboard U.S. World Digital Song Sales Chart and the Billboard K-pop Hot 100 Chart, with “HIP” peaking at No. 1 and No. 2 and “Destiny” peaking at No. 7 and No. 36 respectively.

During promotions, “HIP” took home seven music show wins: one win on Music Bank on November 22, 2019; two wins on M!COUNTDOWN on November 21, 2019 and November 28, 2019; three wins on Inkigayo on November 24, 2019, December 22, 2019, and December 29, 2019; and one win from Show Champion on December 4, 2019.

At the end-of-year awards shows, “HIP” was nominated for “Best Vocal Performance - Group” and “Song of the Year” at the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards and “Digital Song Division - Bonsang” at the 2021 Golden Disc Awards, with the song taking home the trophies for “Best Vocal Performance - Group” and “Digital Song Division - Bonsang.” MAMAMOO was nominated for “Artist of the Year - Digital Music (November)” at the 2020 Gaon Chart Music Awards but did not win.