2NE1 (Korean: 투애니원) is a four-memberSouth Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment in 2009. The band consists of CL, Minzy, Dara, and Park Bom.
First appearing in "Lollipop", a commercial campaign with Big Bang forLG Electronics, 2NE1's debut single "Fire" was released on May 6, 2009. Since then, the group has released two eponymous extended plays, 2NE1(2009) and 2NE1 (2011), and two studio albums, To Anyone and Crush. Their first EP spawned the number-one single "I Don't Care", which won them the "Song of the Year" award at the 2009Mnet Asian Music Awards. Their follow-up singles, such as "Go Away", "Lonely" and "I Am the Best" were similarly successful, with "I Am the Best" winning 2NE1 their second "Song of the Year" award in 2011.
2NE1 officially debuted in Japan in September 2011 with a Japanese version of their second extended play titled Nolza. Since then, the group has released one studio album, Collection, and two physical singles in Japan. In 2012, The New York Times named 2NE1's performance at the Prudential Center in New Jersey as one of the "Best Concerts of 2012".[1] In October 2012, Zack Greenburg of Forbesmagazine noted that 2NE1 has sold 27 million digital downloads.[2]
Pre-debutEdit
2NE1 was first mentioned by South Korean press in late 2004. Both Spica's Bohyung and Fiestar's Linzy were trainees alongside the 2NE1 members. However, they were eliminated before debut.[3] YG Entertainment formally announced in early 2009 that the group would consist of four members and debut sometime in May of that year.[4]The company stated that the group had trained for four years, and that their debut album would contain songs produced by 1TYM's leader Teddy Park.[4][5][6] 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".[7] The name, pronounced in Korean to approximate English as "To Anyone" or (US) "Twenty One", combines the phrases "21st century" and "New Evolution".
2009-10: 2NE1 1st Mini Album and To Anyone
In collaboration with Big Bang, 2NE1's first CF song, "Lollipop", was digitally released on March 27, 2009.[4] The song was created for LG to promote their Cyon phone. The music video was released on March 28.[9] Although it was not a promoted single because it was an advertisement (there were problems with network chart eligibility[10]), "Lollipop" topped the online chart of music television network Mnet for four weeks in a row.[11]
2NE1's debut song, "Fire", was released on May 6. The song was written and produced by 1TYM's Teddy Park,[12] and contained elements of hip-hop andreggae.[13] Its music video had two versions - a "space" version and a "street" version.[14] Within the first 24 hours of release, the videos each received over one million views.[15] The group held their first performance of "Fire" on May 17 on SBS's Inkigayo,[16]marking the start of the group's activities. 2NE1 also launched their first reality show, 2NE1TV to assist the group in their debut promotions. Both the song "Fire" and the group became popular online search terms.[17] The group was awarded three CyworldDigital Music Awards; "Lollipop" and "Fire" both won "Song of the Month" award and the group won "Rookie of the Month" for May 2009[18] 2NE1 received their first Mutizen award after their fourth stage performance in SBS'sInkigayo on June 14. They received their second Mutizen award on the same show the week after. In the same month, 2NE1 signed a deal with Fila to become the models for their new commercial campaign.[19]
"I Don't Care" was released as the group's second single on July 1, along with the group's first extended play,2NE1.[20] Promotions for their new release officially commenced in early July.[21] Yang Hyun Suk stated that the song would demonstrate a softer, more feminine image of the group in contrast to "Fire".[20] The single topped various music charts in Korea, and became the most downloaded song of that month. 2NE1 ended promotions for the song by performing a reggae version of "I Don't Care" on Inkigayo in September.[22] Due to the remix's popularity, it was released to digital outlets on September 3 as their next digital single.[22]
