B-Side Quest: woo!ah! & Moonbyul

It’s time to check out more b-sides, k-dreamers! This time, we won’t go too far back in time. At the beginning of 2022, we got some pretty great hits. One of them stood the test of time and made it to my personal top ten of that year. Without further ado, let’s check out “Joy” by woo!ah! and “6equence” by Moonbyul of MAMAMOO.

woo!ah! – Joy

Released: 2022
Standout Single: Catch the Stars (#15)
After listening to “Catch the Stars,” I assumed that woo!ah!’s concept was on the cute and innocent side. After all, their voices really suit this type of music. To my surprise, there were a lot of fierce songs on this album. I was not in love with their title track, “Danger.” The siren sounds were a bit too much. In fact, a lot of songs on this album had at least one element that I found over the top. “Joyride” and “Switch Up” felt like they went on for too long. Although “Straight Up” attempts to pump the brakes on this hype train of an album, I still find the percussion a little heavy-handed. My favourite b-side from “Joy” has to be “Go Away.” Again, I wasn’t expecting them to have a song with this much attitude in their discography. The “Boy, I’m not your mommy” line from Nana is iconic.

Moonbyul – 6equence

Released: 2022
Standout Singles: Lunatic (#9), ddu ddu ddu (#63), Shutdown (#103 in 2021)
Your eyes are not failing you. As stated above, I’ve already listened to three singles off of this album and added them to my playlist. “Lunatic” really shows off Moonbyul’s skills as an entertainer. This song is catchy, unique, and has fun lyrics. Next, you have “ddu ddu ddu,” which I’ve been obsessed with since revisiting it. Moonbyul never misses when it comes to ballads. I guess she’s been through some nasty heartbreak in her life. Then you have “Shutdown” featuring Seori, who I already love listening to. It’s really cool how they made a song especially for the lady lovers out there.

Let’s talk about a single that I initially passed on, “G999” featuring Mirani. I honestly regret doing that. The song contains even more fun lyrics and I can’t believe I missed that the title refers to the word “Earth” in Korean. You can always count on Moonbyul to find innovative ways to describe love. There are two other sad songs on this album: “Intro: Synopsis” and “For Me.” It was weird that they chose to have two ballads side by side because I ended up only remembering “ddu ddu ddu.” I guess if you intersperse them throughout a short album, you risk giving the listener whiplash. I also listened to the English version of “Lunatic.” It was pretty impressive how they directly translated every lyric, even the rap! As further notes for improvement, I would have liked if the rhyme scheme was stronger.