Reality in Black (stylized as reality in BLACK) is the second Koreanstudio album (third overall) by South Korean girl group Mamamoo. It was released by RBW on November 14, 2019, and distributed by Kakao M. Mamamoo collaborated with several producers and songwriters for the album, including longtime partners Kim Do-hoon and Park Woo-sang, who co-wrote the single "Hip" alongside Mamamoo member Hwasa. Musically a K-pop album with R&B, dance, and hip hop influences, Reality in Black features eleven songs in total, including lead single "Hip" and their Queendom finale song "Destiny."
The album debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart in South Korea, becoming Mamamoo's third number-one album in their home country. It also charted in the United States, reaching number 11 on the Billboard World Albums chart.
In March 2019, Mamamoo released their ninth EP, White Wind, which served as the fourth and final installment of their "Four Seasons, Four Colors" series of albums. Shortly after, they embarked on their fifth concert tour 4Seasons F/W, which saw them visit Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in addition to their native South Korea. In July 2019, it was announced that Mamamoo would join the cast of Queendom, a competitive reality television show, in which six trending female K-pop acts competed for their own comeback showcase to air on South Korean pay TV channel Mnet.[1] The song "Destiny" was released within the frame of the competition and later included on the album. On October 31, during the last episode of Queendom, Mamamoo were declared the winners of the competition.[2]
On November 1, the impending release of the group's second full studio album was announced through Mamamoo's official social media accounts. The next day, the title, album cover and release date were revealed through the group's official Twitter account.[3][4]BLACK was also revealed to partially be an acronym for "Bless Life and Carry Knowledge."[5] Multiple concept pictures of the individual members and video teasers led up to the release of the album on November 14, showing the members in several alternate universe settings in which they were not part of Mamamoo.[6]
Reality in Black was released in full to digital and physical retailers on November 14, 2019.[7][8][9] The Japanese edition of the album, featuring the Japanese-language version of "Hip" and the original Japanese song "Shampoo," was released on March 11, 2020.[10]
"Hip" was released as the lead single from Reality in Black on November 14, 2019, coinciding with the release of the album itself. An uptempo dance-pop track with both jazz and hip hop influences, "Hip" saw worldwide commercial success. In the group's native South Korea, it debuted at number 20 on the Gaon Digital Chart,[11] number two on the component Gaon Download Chart,[12] and number 38 on the component Gaon Streaming Chart[13] for the 46th issued week of 2019. It would go on to peak at number four on the Gaon Digital Chart in its third week on the chart.[14] "Hip" would later go on to be certified platinum by the Korea Music & Content Association (KMCA) for surpassing 100 million streams in November 2020,[15] earning the group their second certification after "Starry Night" in 2018. Following a top-five debut, "Hip" peaked at number one on the Billboard World Digital Songs Sales chart, making it the group's first number-one on the chart.[16]
The album also includes the song "Destiny," which was released on October 25, 2019, as their final song from the Queendom TV series. It reached number 68 in South Korea and peaked at number seven on the US World Digital Songs Sales chart.[17][16]
Reality in Black experienced commercial success upon its release. It debuted and peaked at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart in South Korea, becoming their third number-one album after Yellow Flower (2018) and White Wind (2019).[16] The album became their best-selling to date, with 102,171 copies sold in November 2019[18] and over 120,000 copies sold as of October 2020.[19] The album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard World Albums chart, peaking at number 11 the next week, with over 1,000 copies sold.[20] Following the 2020 release of the Japanese edition, Reality in Black peaked at number 27 on the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan.[21]
