2NE1
2NE1 (pronounced “to anyone” or “twenty-one”) is a South Korean girl group created by YG Entertainment. First appearing in a Cyon commercial campaign with Big Bang for LG Telecom, their debut single “Fire” was released on May 6, 2009. The group was first mentioned by the press in late 2008, when rumours were spreading that YG was creating a female version of Big Bang named Sista. In response to those rumours, YG Entertainment President Yang Hyun Suk stated that the name was not chosen yet. In January 2009, it was announced that the “Female Big Bang” would debut around July 2009 with three members — CL, Minzy, and Bom. Later that month, YG stated that Sandara Park joined the group, with one more member to follow.vIn the end, YG Entertainment announced that the group would consist of four members and debut sometime in May 2009. The company stated that the group had trained for 4 years, and that their debut album would contain songs produced by Teddy Park. The group’s name was initially announced as “21″; however, due to the discovery of a singer with the same name, the group was quickly renamed “2NE1″ which stands for “New Evolution of the 21st Century”. “NE” meaning “New Evolution” and “21” standing for the “21st Century”.
Early 2009- Mid 2009: Introduction and debut
2NE1′s first song was “Lollipop”, digitally released on March 27, 2009. The song was created for LG to promote their Cyon phone, and it was a joint release with Big Bang; the commercial/music video debuted on March 28, 2009. Although it was not a promoted single (as it was an advertisement song, there were problems with network chart eligibility), “Lollipop” proved to be a strong chart hit, going to #1 on various online charts and topping music television network M.Net’s online chart for four weeks in a row. However, questions were raised about the group’s future, as the song’s success was attributed to the popularity of Big Bang.
On April 30, Yang Hyun-suk revealed that 2NE1′s debut song would be a hip-hop/reggae song, and that it would be digitally released on May 6, 2009. Titled “Fire”, the song was fully written and produced by 1TYM’s Teddy Park. Teasers of the song were released on their official website at the beginning of May, with a 20-second clip released on May 1.
“Fire” was released as planned on May 6, with two versions of the music video — a “space” version and a “street” version — released the same day. The videos received over one million views in a day; the viewcount then increased to two million. The video was also profiled on Perez Hilton’s blog.
The group’s first performance of the song was on May 17, 2009, on SBS’s Inki Gayo. beginning the group’s activities. Their first performance was also included in Perez Hilton’s blog once again, showing his interest towards the group.
Both the song and the group have been very popular online, with the song topping M.Net’s online chart and the group’s name becoming a top search term. The group was also rewarded with three Cyworld Digital Music Awards, with both “Lollipop” and “Fire” winning “Song of the Month” awards and the group winning “Rookie of the Month” for May 2009. They received their first Mutizen award during their fourth stage performance in SBS Inkigayo (Popular Song) on June 14, 2009. They received their second Mutizen award on SBS Inkiagyo (Popular Song) on June 21, 2009.
Along with their awards successes, 2NE1 signed a deal with Fila to become the new models for their commercial campaign 2 days after 2NE1′s Mutizen win.
It was announced that 2NE1 would be heading over to the United States to work on their album, as Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine showed interest in the group; however, they have no plans to debut in North America.
1st Mini-Album
2NE1 ended their promotions for their debut single “Fire” on June 28, 2009 in SBS Inkigayo. On July 1st, the group released the title of a song out of their first mini-album called “I Don’t Care”, online. It is a totally different side and image of 2NE1, since “I Don’t Care” is a reggae R&B ballad, co-produced by YG’s rising producer Teddy and Kush. Kush is from a reggae group called “Stony Skunk”. After its digital release, interest in the song rose greatly, topping Cyworld’s hourly music chart after an hour of its release. On July 9th, they released a music video of “I Don’t Care”. Besides “I Don’t Care”, there are 4 other new songs featured on the mini album to form a total of 7 tracks. On its first day, it recorded 50,000 sales in pre-orders. Aside from “I Don’t Care”, In The Club, Stay Together, Let’s Go Party and Pretty Boy has already started invading various online K-pop charts.
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