Formed in greater Los Angeles, Momma took seed early on in high school, when Etta Friedman named the project while in another band. She became fast friends with schoolmate Allegra Weingarten after they eventually met through extracurricular activities. Both self-taught guitarists, and sharing common influences, including Liz Phair, they started writing songs together while still in their mid-teens. Their debut EP, thanks come again, appeared in August 2016. Mixed and engineered by Sebastian Jones and Aron Kobayashi-Ritch, it featured both members on vocals, guitar, and bass, with Weingarten also contributing drums. Their full-length debut, 2018’s Interloper, featured guests on drums and mixing/engineering by Robert Tilden. Increasing their buzz and fan base with each recording, they opened a show for Gang of Four in L.A. in 2019, and they were interviewed by Rolling Stone following the release of their second album, Two of Me, on Danger Collective in June 2020. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Kobayashi-Ritch, it was a concept album set in small town in an alternate reality. By that time, Weingarten had graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans and Friedman was attending college in New York City.

Newly based in Brooklyn, Momma signed with Polyvinyl in 2021 and recorded their third long-player with Kobayashi-Ritch in a proper studio for the first time. The resulting Household Name saw release in July 2022.