MOMOLAND Comeback 2018: K-Pop Group Breaks Silence About Chart Manipulation Accusation; Finds Silver Lining In Sajaegi Controversy
MOMOLAND has finally spoken about the accusation of chart manipulation, commonly called "sajaegi" in South Korea. The K-pop girl group stressed their innocence based on the authority's statement that they did not influence the chart.
Earlier this year, the group has been the center of bulk buying controversy after their album Great! sold over 8000 copies in just one day. Suspicions emerged that the group's agency, Duble Kick Company, could have bought albums to help MOMOLAND's standing on the charts.
Duble Kick denied the accusation and released an invoice showing the Great! album sales. The sajaegi accusation, however, continues as some netizens believed that the invoice was manipulated, too.
After months of investigation, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has finally released its official findings and cleared MOMOLAND of any wrongdoing. The government agency found that the bulk purchase cannot be considered as sajaegi.
The "BBoom BBoom" hitmakers shared their thoughts about the issue. During a showcase for their fourth mini-album Fun to the World, MOMOLAND said the result of MCST's investigation only proves that they are really innocent. The girls added that they found a silver lining to what happened. MOMOLAND said instead of being upset about it, they view the event as an opportunity to work harder and improve themselves.
"We have prepared the new album [Fun to the World] with the thoughts to show improvement from the last album," the nine-member group added (via AllKPop).
This is not the first controversy that MOMOLAND had been into this year. In January, a Russian girl group called Serebro also accused MOMOLAND of plagiarizing their song "Mi Mi Mi" with "Bboom Bboom." The K-pop group's song composer, Shinsadong Tiger, denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, MOMOLAND made their comeback with Fun to the World album along with its title song "BAAM." The new album was released Tuesday, and it consists of five tracks including an instrumental version of "BAAM." Hyebin, Yeonwoo, Jane, Taeha, Nayun, Daisy, JooE, Ahin, and Nancy also released the music video of "BAAM," and it is nearing to four million views on YouTube.
Korea-based music chart Genie has also declared MOMOLAND along with iKON as the two top K-pop groups of the first half of 2018. MOMOLAND took the No. 3 spot on Genie's chart for the first two quarters of the year with their hit song "Bboom Bboom." This also makes them the leading Korean girl band so far.