''WAW'' (an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for ''Where Are We'') is the eleventh

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 ...

by South Korean

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

Mamamoo Mamamoo (; commonly stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed and managed by RBW (company), RBW. The group is composed of four members: Solar (singer), Solar, Moonbyul, Wheein, and Hwasa. Known for their strong live vocals, Harm ...

. The EP was released on June 2, 2021 by RBW and distributed by

Kakao Entertainment Kakao Entertainment Corp. () is a South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company founded in 2021. A subsidiary of the Internet company Kakao, it was established subsequent to the merger of the latter's two subsidiaries KakaoPa ...

. ''WAW'' follows their 2020 Korean top-five EP ''

Travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical Location (geography), locations. Travel can be done by Pedestrian, foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without Baggage, luggage, a ...

'' and is the first part of the group's 'WAW (Where Are We)' project, set to consist of the new album, concert, and documentary about the group. It contains four new songs, including the lead single "Where Are We Now".

Background and release

In 2020, Mamamoo had one group comeback, with the ''

'' EP in November, and focused mainly on the four members' solo activities for the majority of the year. The group announced their comeback with the 'Where Are We' project in May 2021, with the first teaser trailer posted on May 13, 2021. The EP was to be the first release since most of the members renewed their contracts with their label RBW and was promoted with the release of several more teaser videos and concept photos. ''WAW'' was released in full on June 2, 2021. The Japanese edition of the EP was released on September 29, featuring the new song "Strange Day" and Japanese-language versions of their two 2021 singles "Where Are We Now" and "Mumumumuch".

Commercial performance

''WAW'' debuted at number five on the

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Koreabased on their Record sales, physical sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, ...

, with nearly 40,000 copies sold on the Hanteo platform in its first day. The EP went on to debut at number six on the monthly chart for June 2021, with 130,680 copies sold. ''WAW'' ended the year as the Gaon Album Chart's 76th best-selling physical release, with 135,000 copies sold in that year. In Japan, the EP peaked at number 17 on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...

and 13 on the ''Billboard Japan'' Hot Albums chart following the release of the Japanese edition in September.* It has since sold upwards of 5,200 copies in the region.Cumulative sales of ''WAW'' on the Oricon Album Chart: * *

Critical reception

Year-end lists

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Mamamoo 2021 EPs Kakao M EPs Korean-language EPs 2020s Korean-language albums Mamamoo EPs