2NE1: "We feel we're the best when singing and dancing on stage" - Part 1

2NE1 [YG Entertainment]

2NE1 is an interesting girl group. In just a month of shouting out, “I am the best. Even I myself think I’m awesome. You’re jealous of me.” [From “I am the Best”], they are singing “I’m not pretty. I’m not beautiful.” [From “Ugly”] 2NE1 is also an incredible girl group. Every song they released from their mini-album every three weeks topped music charts. It may have been two years and two months since they’ve made their debut but it is still difficult to predict the path they will take next. When reporters at a press conference on Monday asked them questions such as “What is the style of music you strive to do?” and “What is the big picture you have in mind for yourselves?” they responded, “We’re not sure. Not having a direction is our direction.” Nonetheless, amidst the swarm of cute, pretty and innocent girl groups, 2NE1 has declared they are the best on stage. Let’s find out where they get that confidence.

<#10_QMARK#> How does it feel to release your second mini-album? You had released songs, one at a time, in digital format but they’re finally out in one whole album.
CL: We didn’t release the songs after we’d finished working on all of them. “Hate You” and “Don’t Stop The Music” were made last year but we worked on the rest of the songs, one after another, based on the demos of them that were made early this year. It finally feels like they’ve been organized now that they’ve been packaged into an album.

“We tend to give our opinion on almost everything."

CL [YG Entertainment]

<#10_QMARK#> Starting with Park Bom's solo song "Don't Cry," your new songs released every three weeks topped music charts. How did it feel watching this happen even before the release of your actual album?
CL: To start with, it felt good because it seemed like each and every song got attention. And we shot a music video for every song but we really wanted to surprise everyone by making each one very different so we put a lot of work into making that happen. We wanted people to enjoy the music video for “I am the Best” in particular so we gave a lot of ideas and changed our wardrobe several times as well. We also invested a lot of energy into our stage performances and pulled all-nighters to make the choreography for it. I think that’s how the quality of each song got improved.
Sandara Park: We felt some pressure as well but what was a lot of fun was that each song had a different vibe to it. So it was fun getting to think about what we’d do for each song.
Gong Minzy: We received interest for every song we released so I realized that we’re really receiving a lot of love and that we should work harder.

<#10_QMARK#> It seems like you participated actively in making this album including directing the performance for “Ugly” yourselves.
CL: We actually tend to give our opinion on almost everything. We all worked on the choreography for “I am the Best” and “Ugly” from the very beginning and before Teddy started working on “Ugly,” he talked a lot with us on what would go into the song. He asked us questions like ‘When do you lose confidence?’ ‘How do you feel then?’ ‘What do you do when you’re lonely?’ and wrote the lyrics for the songs based on our responses. We’re very close with Teddy so we just told him everything honestly.

<#10_QMARK#> When is it that you actually lose confidence?
Sandara Park: In my case, it my seem a bit unique, but I'm always dressing up like a guy or wearing unique hairstyles when I'm on stage. So the few times that I wear feminine clothes, strangely enough, I lose confidence.
Gong Minzy: I think I lose confidence when I've been working hard to improve but things won’t go the way I want them to.
CL: I don't lose confidence but I sometimes go into slumps.

<#10_QMARK#> Were you in a slump recently?
CL: We had time to rest starting January of this year, between the time when we released our last full-length album and this mini-album, but that’s when I had a very hard time. It was hard living as Chae-lin instead of CL because this was the first time since our debut that we weren’t working and were given time to ourselves. I couldn't wait to start working again but on the other hand, I wanted to pay more attention to my real self.

“It was very hard to draw out the emotion of being insecure.”

Sandara Park [YG Entertainment]

<#10_QMARK#> “Ugly” is actually a band-oriented song but it’s not like you can play the instruments on stage yourself so you must’ve had to thought a lot about how to embody it on stage.
CL: Yes, we had really wanted to perform with a live band but since we couldn’t, we thought hard about what we could do. I mean, there are programs where live bands can play but it’s hard to do so on the music programs we go on often. So we tried our best to deliver through our choreography, wardrobe and movements. However, you’ll get to see us perform with a live band at our concert.

<#10_QMARK#> CL, I think you got to sing more in this album, including singing the chorus for “Ugly.”
CL: When the demo for “Ugly” first came out, the chorus got completed first. And I had gone into the studio to help record the demo but I was told my voice suited the chorus well so it got carried right into the album.

<#10_QMARK#> Sandara Park, your hat and wardrobe make you seem very much like a young boy for the performances of “Ugly.” You mentioned earlier that you lose confidence when you wear feminine clothes but would a part of you still like to dress in a feminine way some day?
Sandara Park: Strangely enough, I don’t think so. And even when I do dress up in a feminine way, in my own way, my fans will respond “Shocking!” It gets me quite frustrated. (laugh) I guess I shouldn’t try to be feminine anymore.

<#10_QMARK#> When do you think you were the most feminine?
Sandara Park: I was feminine for when we did “I Don’t Care” and for “I am the Best,” I had silver bangs and wore a skirt. And I thought I was very feminine that day and that my friends would like it but that wasn’t the case.
Park Bom: That wasn’t feminine… (laugh)
Sandara Park: Oh, it wasn’t? (laugh)

<#10_QMARK#> What’s actually interesting is that “Ugly,” about a girl who has a complex with her physical feature, and “I am the Best” were carried in the same album. What has it been like having to record and sing two songs that are completely the opposite of each other?
CL: I think everyone has both sides to them. There’ll be times when you’re confident but also not, and everyone feels lonely at times. But in our case, we’ve had to look like we’re always the best and confident. So it was very hard to draw out the emotion of being insecure or lonely when performing that song.

<#10_QMARK#> I think that’s why it seemed like you paid more attention to the expressions you showed while singing your parts than the choreogsraphy.
CL: There really isn’t a lot of choreography in “Ugly.’ There are more parts where we just stand and sing. And we didn’t practice our expressions but tried to express ourselves in the way we feel for the parts we sing.

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10 아시아 Reporter : Lee Ga-on
10 아시아 Editor : Lee Ji-Hye seven@
10 아시아 Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@