“Two years have already passed. We want to come out with a variety of songs and performances. I am nervous since it has been a long time, but we came back with the thought that we start over.” (CL)
2NE1 has made a comeback. They announced their comeback through Mnet’s ‘Mcountdown’ on July 11, MBC-TV ‘Music Core’ on 13, and SBS-TV ‘Music Trend’ on 14. It has been two full years. They released ‘I Love You’, but no official promotion took place.
They used a different strategy. They are going to release a new song every month by the end of this year. The first one is ‘Falling in Love’. The new song is a reggae genre, which 2NE1 tries for the first time. They erased a fierce image and turned into reggae girls on beach.
“We focused on femininity for the first time. Is it strange? We are going to release a new song every month. ‘Falling in Love’ is the first step forward. The song is meaningful in that it came out after the two-year absence and opens the door to future promotion. That is why we are especially more excited and nervous than ever.”
What was 2NE1′s comeback like? ‘Dispatch’ hears from 2NE1 on their new song and puts forth its own analysis report.
▶ Music: You tried reggae for the first time since your debut. Upbeat melodies and percussion-like sounds created a cool summer atmosphere.
☞ CL: We did not plan to do reggae. We worked on many songs for the last two years. ‘Falling in Love’ is one of them. I like the song because it goes well with summer and brings a new feel.
☞ Dispatch: The song is most feminine among other 2NE1 songs so far. ‘Falling in Love’ shows a great combination of upbeat melodies and rythmical electronic sounds. The lyrics describe the emotion of a woman in love very well. Their live voice, however, was not quite there. It feels like the sound swallowed up their live voice.
☞ Minji•CL: We had many discussions with Teddy during the recording of the song. We changed our voice tone a little to create a reggae feel. We tried to let the melodies stand out. We made sure to convert it into the 2NE1 style.
☞ Dispatch: Min-ji had a singing style of pushing the end note. She effectively expressed the groove of reggae by inserting improvisations throughout the song. Dara used her clear voice. They pronounced ‘rollercoaster’ as ‘rollercoasta’ and ‘somebody’ as ‘somebari’ to add a carefree and freewheeling feel to the song. CL and Bom added originality with fierce rapping and unique voice color. The balance is good.
▶ Choreography: They expressed the freewheeling feel of reggae with dance moves. They used simple hand motions and basic waves. They created dance moves easy and simple for anyone to copy.
☞ Min-ji: We practiced dancing a lot for a reggae feel. We learned dance moves from Japanese choreographer Sugiwara Koharu and received inspiration. I think that our dance succeded m giving a reggae feel to the song.
☞ Dispatch: 2NE1 started their performance on the stage floor. It was not a synchronized group dacne. They showed motions differing from one another. One crossed her legs. Another closed her legs. And another bent her knees. Then they shook their head a little and saw one another. On Mnet’s ‘Mcountdown’ they perforemd barefoot. It was the meeting of nature and freedom. Their perfromance gave an impression that it was planned in some way but actually was not planned.
☞ Dara: The key point is the Harp Dance. You move your fingers like you play the harp. Another one is to touch and stroke down your body. It is so-called Ttaemiri Dance. I think that the dance will work in a club.
☞ Dispatch: The most impressive dance is ‘Harp Dance.’ They motion like they play the harp with their fingers along with a basic wave. It is simple enough to copy at a glance. They sometimes touch their body during the song. You just stroke their body with the touch. It is not difficult at all. It was the best choice in terms of popularity.
▶ Style: They never repeated the same style on stage. Four of them did not wear same costumes. Their style emphasized upbeat vibes by using various colors, materials, and designs.
☞ CL: We pick different costumes for different stages. We do not wear costumes as planned, of course. We are going to show various styles suitable for our music.
☞ Dispatch: They used various items such as netted knit, dress, shirt, and pants in Mcountdown. Red, blue, and yellow colors were used. They chose bright colors to look cool. They used neo colors in Music Core. It felt like they were in a club. They used only white in Music Trend, pleasing eyes of viewers.
☞ Bom: When 2NE1 comes back, fans first want to know how Dara’s hair changed. This time we thought that being ordinary would be more shocking. That is why she chose blonde. Min-ji tried pink hair.
☞ Dispatch: 2NE1 tried shocking hairstyles such as palm tree hair or half-shaved hair, which were striking but not welcomed by everyone. They focused on femininity this time. The most noticeable is Sandara Park. The blonde hair emphasized her image of goddess. She showed diverse hairstyles such as wavy or straight blonde. The youngest member Min-ji with a neutral image wore a pink wig to boost her fimininity.
▶ Significance: The recent album holds great significance to 2NE1. The album has been out in two years in their fifth anniversary. It is time to keep originality while cementing 2NE1′s own color.
☞ Bom•CL: This year marks the fifth anniversary. Each member of 2NE1 has totally different dispositions. Favorite music, personality, and styles differ, but music is the common ground that drives 2NE1.
☞ Dispatch: 2NE1 has never been the same. They mixed rock, trot, reggae, and other genres with electronic sounds to set them apart. The strategy of ‘always being different’ worked this time again. They swept Korea’s nine music charts upon the release of the song. The strategy of being unpredictable worked in combination with reggae.
☞ CL: It is time to take to another level unlike in 2009 when we debuted. It is a difficult assignment. If it is unavoidable, we will just have fun and enjoy it. Then we will be able to achieve good results.
☞ Dispatch: 2NE1 is an icon of a shock. The recent song pursued change with a different genre, but the overall atmosphere is not very different from that of other girl groups. Something to back up their new attempt is needed. For example, a very shocking stage performance will do. Their barefoot performance drew responses from viewers. After all, being original is the symbol of 2NE1.
Source: Naver Starcast via @ForeverWithDara
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