On October 24, 2016, SM Entertainment announced that Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin would debut as Exo's first official sub-unit Exo-CBX with an extended play titled Hey Mama!. On October 25, a teaser for the music video of the title track "Hey Mama!" was revealed. On October 27, a highlight medley, featuring previews of the album's tracks, premiered on Apple Music's Beats 1. The album and the title track's music video were released on October 31. On November 7, 2016, SM Entertainment released the music video for the second single "The One" in their official YouTube account.
Single
The main track is titled "Hey Mama!" and talks about enjoying parties to make it a special day. The song reached the top of six South Korean real-time music charts shortly after its release, with the other songs following behind. It also reached number one on the iTunes charts in 7 countries, including South Korea, Peru, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Brunei, as well as number two in Taiwan and Indonesia. "Hey Mama!" was choreographed by Kyle Hanagami, who had previously choreographed for Girls' Generation, After School, Red Velvet, and Black Pink.
Promotions
A promotional event for Hey Mama! was held at 8PM on October 31 on a special stage located at the east side of Samseong-dong COEX in Seoul. The event was live streamed on Exo's V App channel. Exo-CBX made their debut performance on M Countdown on November 3, later on KBS's Music Bank and MBC's Show! Music Core. On November 5, 2016, Exo-CBX performed "Hey Mama!" at You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook. On November 18, 2016, the group performed "Hey Mama!", "The One", and "Cherish" at the OGN World Championship N-Pop Showcase. On February 18, 2017, Exo-CBX performed "Hey Mama!", and "The One" at the K-Drama Fest in Pyeongchang. The group performed the Japanese version of "Hey Mama!" as well as "The One" and "Cherish" at the 2017 Girls Awards on May 3, 2017. Exo-CBX performed "Hey Mama!" on Music Bank on May 19, 2017 in Jeonju in honor of FIFA U-20 World Cup. On August 26, 2017, Exo-CBX performed the Japanese version of "Hey Mama!", "Cherish", on a-nation concert in Japan.
Critical reception
Hey Mama! debuted atop the BillboardWorld Albums Chart and the South Korean Gaon weekly album chart.
Commercial performance
The album sold 275,000 copies in 2016. Hey Mama! became the highest selling album by a sub-unit in 2016 in Gaon Chart with 275,191 copies and in Hanteo with 202,281 copies sold.
