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Article: 2NE1 Invades America – Behind the Scenes With the K-Pop Phenomenon

2NE1 Invades America: Behind the Scenes With the K-Pop Phenomenon 

“I have to kill it. They’ve been waiting so long, I just have to kill it,” says CL, leader of K-pop sensation 2NE1. It’s almost 9:30 p.m. and she and her bandmember’s Prudential Arena show in Newark, NJ was supposed to begin an hour and a half ago.

CL’s bandmembers are in various states of readiness: Minzy continues to receive quick lipstick and hair fixes as she chats quietly with CL in Korean, the adorable and nymph-like Dara shuffles in and out of the dressing room nervously (despite a fierce half-shaved haircut), and Bom is still in the make-up chair having her hair and face re-touched. The dressing room has handlers everywhere (at least two per girl, though none are pressuring them to get a move on), a steaming vaporizer machine, a deli platter no one’s eating, two boxes of American cigarettes, and a lone piece of red velvet cake.

It’s a big night for 2NE1, not to mention K-pop in general. 2NE1’s “New Evolution” tour makes them the genre’s first girl group to have a global tour, as well as the first to hold a solo arena show in the U.S. Perhaps this is the reason for delay; the girls need to be perfect for such a big debut.

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Article: The Fader – “Live: 2NE1”

The Fader – “Live: 2NE1”

A single-file line snaked back and forth just inside Prudential Center in New Jersey, jamming the will call room with predominately Asian but hard-to-typecast fans, some in their twenties coming straight from the office, some in bedazzled surgical masks and holding cardboard cutouts. Behind me in line, a teenager asked his impatient mother if she remembered to buy kitty litter. When the doors to the venue opened 90 minutes late, a security guard inundated with nervous questions told everyone, “This is on 2NE1. We have concerts here all the time and it’s never this late… Never! Ever! We’re just like you: mystified.”

For the overwhelming majority in attendance, this was their first time seeing 2NE1, the four-girl Korean pop group crowned last year by MTV Iggy “Best New Band in the World.” In New Jersey, their two-hour performance worked to both dull some of the shine of being internet stars from across the ocean, and to solidify their position—even without the digital mystique—as powerful, well-rounded artists. When the stage’s enormous scrim finally fell and 2NE1′s 50-million YouTube hitter “I Am the Best” blared, CL, Bom, Dara and Minzy sang and danced inexhaustibly atop individual platforms wheeled by pairs of buff men. CL, the group’s best English speaker, shouted an introduction: “Tonight I’m gonna make the show worth the wait, because I’m about to go craaazaayyy!” Hundreds of feet above the stage, championship banners for the New Jersey Devils hockey team fluttered in time.

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Article: New York Times – Korean Pop’s Singular Mélange

Korean Pop’s Singular Mélange

2NE1, Korean-Pop Group, at Prudential Center in Newark

NEWARK — They waited patiently, several thousand of them, outside the Prudential Center here on Friday night. They were mostly young, a combination of futuristic cool and slightly awkward. The more extravagantly attired were beyond mere extravagance: shiny clothes in bold contrasting prints, hair dyed in colors known to no rainbow.

They were K-pop fans, here for the first American performance of 2NE1, the K-pop — that’s Korean pop — stars. And they were being made to wait, unhappily, for unspecified reasons well past the time that doors were supposed to open, then also past the time that 2NE1 (pronounced “twenty-one” or “to anyone”) had been meant to take the stage. There was at least one report of fangirl tears on the street before the arena’s doors finally relented, and the crowd clogging the sidewalks was slowly herded to seats, just dodging the rain that would have compromised those outfits.

The members of 2NE1 awaited them, taking the stage in track jackets with their names — CL, Dara, Minzy, Bom — spray-painted on the back and, for some of the band, their own faces airbrushed onto the front. (The clothes for the tour were by the fantasist designer Jeremy Scott.)

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News: Korean Music Report: 2NE1 To Launch “New Evolution” In NY Area

Korean Music Report: 2NE1 To Launch “New Evolution” In NY Area

We’ve heard a lot about the Korean music acts trying to make it big in America. The latest comes from the last of that country’s big three entertainment companies and promises a “new evolution.” 2NE1 will start its quest in the New York area. NY1’s Lewis Dodley filed the following report.

Meet CL, Dara, Bom, and Minzy. The group 2NE1 burst onto the Asian music scene with the hit “Fire” in 2009 and have been red hot ever since. Now they’re headed to New York. But what sets them apart from the other Korean groups tryng to find success in the United States?

“I think it’s our music and our loving fans that give us energy on stage,” said 2NE1’s CL.

“I feel that with 2NE1 and with YG, which is the big record label that they’re under, they really want to distance themselves from K-pop,” said entertainment writer David Yi. “So when you talk to any YG artists, they tell you ‘oh, we’re not K-pop, that’s not our genre.’ They would say that they’re more hip-hop or more electronic music.”

2NE1 caught the attention of the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am. He’s been working with the group, fueling speculation that 2NE1 will have an English offering soon. Without confirming that, the girls told us in a pre-recorded video from Korea that America had better watch out.

“Yeah, we’re ready to see our fans from all around the world,” CL said. “We’re ready to have fun with our fans. I hope they’re ready.”

“2NE1 has this buzz around them because they kind of are the Lady Gaga/Nicki Minajes of South Korea,” Yi said. “They do have such sick style that even that alone has people going ‘oh my gosh, they are insane.'”

Of course, he means insanely talented. 2NE1 comes to the New York area for one stop in their global tour as they take the stage at Newark’s Prudential Center on August 17.

Source: NY1

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News: 2NE1 Plans a Michael Jackson Tribute for ‘New Evolution’ Concerts in US

2NE1 Plans a Michael Jackson Tribute for ‘New Evolution’ Concerts in US 

2NE1 the popular girl group flew into New York today arriving at JFK Airport this morning in preparation for their first global tour, “New Evolution,” that includes the group’s debut stops in U.S.

Travis Payne, the renowned choreographer of Michael Jackson’s “THIS IS IT” concert, was revealed by YG last month to be joining Beyonce’s tour band’s leader Divinity Roxx for the first solo tour as an all-female K-Pop group.

Travis Payne mentioned 2NE1 stating, “They are the most amazing girl group that I’ve worked with, there isn’t any that compare (to them), and I’ve never thought that Korean musicians would be this amazing. There are a lot of times that their talent and dedication would move you; working with them, to a certain extent is also another affirmation of my abilities.”

According to Travis Payne, 2NE1 expressed their reverence for Michael Jackson and is helping them complete a tribute to Michael Jackson on stage as part of their performance. He stated it was brave of them to include it as part of their lineup for their performance in America.

The quartet gained momentum last year being crowned “Best New Band in the World” by MTV Iggy based on international fan votes. The group’s smashing hit includes “I Am The Best,” “Ugly” and “I Love You,” the latter of which gained a lot of attention for their bold, stylish transformation.

2NE1 working with a word class team have successfully completed their “New Evolution” concert in Seoul last month, and is now heading to Asia, America and Europe to meet their fans all over the world.

Source: KpopStarz

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Article: 2NE1 Holds Special Meet and Greet with Fans During Last Broadcast

2NE1 Holds Special Meet and Greet with Fans During Last Broadcast 

Almost ready to start its New Evolution global tour, 2NE1 wrapped up Korean promotions for I Love You, but made sure to thank fans before doing so.

On August 12, Sandara Park posted on her me2day saying, “The end of the last broadcast for I Love You!! TT Everyone worked hard! We had a special time with all the Blackjacks who came out to cheer us on even though it was raining~ A handshake event! +.+ It was short, but really warm and touching, and fun, right?!? Ke. We’ll keep our third promise, so don’t worry ^_^ When will we see each other again…? T_T We’ll return after putting on a fantastic global tour! Thank you! I love you!”

The attached photo showed the 2NE1 members sitting side by side with a large group of fans, who held up banners as support.

2NE1 begin its global tour on July 28, when it kicked off its first concert in Seoul. The group will travel to USA on August 17 and move onto to Japan at the end of August.

Source: eNewsWorld

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Interview: Redd Kross’s Jeff McDonald On Why 2NE1 Are The New Ronettes

Legendary L.A. groovy punks Redd Kross are back for reals with a new album, Researching the Blues (Merge), and soldiering on with their insistence that punk is indeed groovy. They were never strictly “punk” according to the norms of the early-’80s California scene they grew up in; nor did they always sport the “Brady Bunch extras” look they cultivated later in that decade, when the founding brothers starred in the goofy cult classic Spirit of ’76 and went off about Charles Manson, Cher, shag carpeting, and whatnot. But brothers and founding members Jeff and Steve McDonald have consistently crafted oddly catchy tunes via an undying love for Cheap Trick and all loopy things L.A. And judging by their new record, they’re still as good as distilling those influences into songs as ever.

 The band has had the same lineup for six-plus years, and when we caught lead singer/guitarist Jeff McDonald on the phone, they had recently returned from a two-week tour in Australia. Since the Brothers McDonald pop up in the occasional film and TV show, when Jeff started by saying he’d just returned home from Universal Studios I figured he was lining up a new role…

Who are some of your favorite girl groups?

You know, it’s weird, right now girl groups have made a huge resurgence via the Kpop scene, you know the Korean pop scene? A lot of the Kpop stuff is bad and I don’t really like it. But the good stuff is always done by girls. Right now I am obsessed with this group called 2NE1 [ed: 21, get it?]. I just discovered them through a Korean pop TV station in L.A. here, with subtitles. So what they do with Kpop is they have these entertainment production houses. So you’re signed when you’re a teenager, and then you’re a trainee for awhile—you get in physical shape, you dance like 20 hours a day, you learn how to deal with the press, and you record and record until you’re ready to make your debut. It’s kind of a cross between like the Phil Spector/Motown model and the Olympics gymnastic team. But 2NE1 have this reality show, and it’s really fascinating seeing people come up through that system. The guy that ends up producing and writing most of the songs is from the U.S. actually, he’s Korean-American. And these records are amazing! 2NE1 has recorded a couple songs in English. A lot are in Korean with English in the choruses; and a lot of the English is really bad broken English. But a lot of the YG Entertainment groups—the one that 2NE1 and Big Bang are in—everything is pristine as far as that. 2NE1 are the new Ronettes as far as I’m concerned.

Note: Omitted parts not related to 2NE1!

Source: Village Voice

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Article: MTV K Picks K-pop’s Top Ten Craziest Music Videos

Try To Follow Me at #9

K-pop MVs are created to be hip, cool and super relevant. They also have a habit of competing so closely with one another, that they all become one big blur. How many ‘dancing in a box’ music videos are there now, anyway? How many overplayed dramatic storylines? How many feature sexy body waves, charismatic close-ups and aegyo poses? We love them, we really do, but sometimes we’re in the mood for something more.

In our opinion, music videos are at their most entertaining when they are insanity-driven, over-the-top and just plain crazy. Check out the top ten wackiest MVs that K-pop has to offer right now. Watch and be amazed. This is K-pop like you’ve never seen it before. Well… maybe a few of these since good stuff tends to go viral.

10. PREPIX ft. BEENZINO, ESNA and BEASTS’s JUNHYUNG – “WHAT I SEE”
9. 2NE1 – “TRY TO FOLLOW ME”
8. GIRL’S DAY – “TWINKLE TWINKLE”
7. PSY – “RIGHT NOW”
6. NORAZO – “SALES KING”
5. EPIK HIGH – “WANNABE”
4. EPIK HIGH – “TROT + TECHNOLOGY”
3. ULALA SESSION – “BEAUTIFUL NIGHT”
2. AZIATIX + IDIOTAPE + JAURIM – “#PEEPSHOW”
1. PSY – “GANGNAM STYLE”

Source: MTV K

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Article: Singapore’s Top Korean Pop Artistes in 2012

Singapore’s Top Korean Pop Artistes in 2012

In a span of 11 days, from the start of (x)clusive‘s 3rd Anniversary celebrations on 20th July until 31st July, (x)clusive garnered thousands of votes from Korean Pop lovers to establish the most favourite KPOP artistes in 2012 in Singapore.

This voting even made it as entertainment headlines on local Chinese daily newspaper Lianhe Wanbao, just two days after it ended! Although the main bulk of votes came from Singapore, there were also hundreds of votes coming in from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, establishing the reach of the local Korean Pop scene.

So who are the Top KPOP artistes in Singapore as voted by the local (and neighbouring) fans?

Most Popular Girl Group in Singapore goes to…

1st Place – 2NE1 (46%)
2nd Place – Girls’ Generation (20%)
3rd Place – 4minute (13%)

2NE1, sister group of Big Bang in the YG Family, nabs the top spot as the Most Popular Girl Group. Votes for the YG artistes have been taking the lead from the start of the poll, but Blackjacks (fans of 2NE1) widened the gap significantly, leaving SM Entertainment’s gemGirls’ Generation far behind.

There also have been rumours about 2NE1 having their solo concert Nolza in Singapore, since Big Bang‘s concert was announced, but no official details have been released yet.

Full Results:

  1. 2NE1 (46%)
  2. Girls’ Generation (20%)
  3. 4minute (13%)
  4. Sistar (8%)
  5. Wonder Girls (5%)
  6. T-ara (4%)
  7. KARA (4%)

The Most Wanted KPOP Artiste in Singapore goes to…

Winners for Most Popular Korean Boy and Girl Group, Infinite and 2NE1, both took the first and second position respectively – no surprise on that! Meanwhile Girls’ Generation comes closely after, followed by Beast and then Big Bang. Deducing from the results, it seems that popularity may not be equivalent to the requests of seeing them live – but of course, the immense support from the fans are undeniable.

List of Top 25 Most Wanted KPOP Artistes in Singapore

  1. Infinite
  2. 2NE1
  3. SNSD
  4. Beast
  5. Big Bang
  6. Sistar
  7. EXO
  8. Super Junior
  9. U-Kiss
  10. B.A.P
  11. SHINee
  12. BTOB
  13. JYJ
  14. Lee Seung Gi
  15. 2PM
  16. Teen Top
  17. B1A4
  18. IU
  19. ZE:A
  20. MBLAQ
  21. CNBLUE
  22. 4minute
  23. G.NA
  24. T-ara
  25. NU’EST

(omitted parts unrelated to 2NE1)

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE!

Source: x-clusive.sg

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Article: MTV, Spin and Examiner, “2NE1 are K-Pop Goddesses”

Big U.S. media sites such as MTV, Spin and the Examiner have all been raving about 2NE1 and their new ad with top stars such as Nicki Minaj and Jeremy Scott.

MTV mentions the Adidas commercial stating, “Recently the sneaker brand recruited another superstar from the borough, Nicki Minaj, to appear in their latest adidas Originals commercial. The new spot also features Big Sean, Chicago Bulls player Derrick Rose, Sky Ferreira, K-Pop group 2NE1, and Kids These Days all sporting their own creative, colorful and original style.”

 

SPIN magazine in a post titled “The Adidas Ad You Need to See Starring Nicki Minaj, 2NE1, and Jeremy Scott.”

SPIN post praised, “Naturally, K-pop goddesses 2NE1 steal the show, tossing bandit bandannas and choreographed dance moves all over Tokyo.”

Examiner also mentions, “The commercial spot not only features Minaj, but Jeremy Scott, Derrick Rose, Big Sean and 2NE1. All are featured in their own Adidas Originals clothing and kicks, most of which are available now at the Originals website.”

Fashionista.com stated, “K-Pop phenomenon 2NE1 does some sort of flash mob dance routine in the middle of a Tokyo street.”

With Nicki Minaj and their new commercial for Adidas, it was no surprise that K-Pop sensation 2NE1 was featured as well. They sported their own creative styles with the Adidas merchandise.

Other top artists such as Derrick Rose and Big Sean were also seen in this ad as well.

Girl group 2NE1 takes up most of the commercial with their unique style and talented dance moves.

2NE1 currently on their first world tour, “NEW EVOLUTION” is working with world famous staff members as well as world renowned fashion designer, Jeremy Scott, who is also featured in this ad.

Source: Kpopstarz

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