If you haven’t already you need to add some Korean pop, the genre lovingly referred to as “k-pop” to your playlists. If there is one thing I know about “k-pop” is that this style of music is a big musical production with a lot of talented singers and dancers and rappers entertaining crowds with choreographed movements and clothes against fantastic set pieces and backdrops. The songs are catchy and the dances are intricate and the music and the beats are a rave from start to finish. A fantastic group to add to your Spotify, iTunes and or Pandora or all three is South – Korean music group 2NE1 and no that is not a typo. This all girl quartet kicks –but and produces music that draws influences from dance music and pop peppered in with a heavy influence from R&B and hip-hop. They were formed in 2009 by YG Entertainment this mega-cooperation that every k-pop music groups/artists are managed by. YG Entertainment keep cranking out the hits from very talented music groups/artists so they must be doing something right and or something is in the water over there. While each member of 2NE1 has their own unique skills they excel at individually yet, together those skills collide in a radical mind-blowing explosion.

2NE1 is an all-girl group where CL (Lee Chae-rin), Minzy (Gong Minji), Dara (Sandara Park), and Bom (Park Bom) make up the group and they are as their hit “I Am the Best” suggests “The Best” and my current favorites. Although 2NE1 is an atypical group with just four main members they still dominate and command the stage with their signature rocking style and animated faces and sensational dance moves no matter if they are singing a ballad or a more upbeat anthem. These girls slay anytime they perform they should be crowned queens of high-octane pop. Their hit “I Am the Best” is wonderful mixture of electronic and hip-hop and just plain wicked good. Whenever I hear it, it cascades into my ear canals and never leaves and I my find myself singing it for weeks on end its melodies and harmonies are so intoxicating. While you can listen to their songs and any other k-pop artists in English you lose the pizazz and moxie that is so much a part of k-pop that gets lost in translation. “I Am the Best” earned its best sales week yet in America and according to Nielsen SoundScan sold 6,000 copies and topped Billboard’s World Digital Song Chart “A first for a Korean act other than PSY.”

Currently 2NE1 has only released two-full length albums since they debuted in 2010. Their first album was “To Anyone” which peaked at number 7 on the U.S. Billboard World Albums and their second album was titled “Crush”, released in 2014. Their second album peaked weekly at number 9 on the U.S. Billboard Independent Albums and number 2 on the U.S. Billboard World Albums. “Crush”, their second album became the highest-charting k-pop album on the Billboard 200 landing at number 61 and 2NE1 was lovingly “dubbed favorite girl group album” in a Billboard pool that included Destiny’s Child and the Spice Girls. All members of the group act as extraordinary vocalists but it is only CL (Chae-rin) who spits that melodic-lyrical flow we all know as rap. Her vocals are on perfect display in their single “I Am the Best” where the verses that feature her rapping are unlike anything I have ever heard. In the video all four members of the group showcase their talents off beautifully. The song starts off with a beat that hooks the listener then CL starts if off right with her unique voice that could not be mistaken for anyone else. All four members of 2NE1 are shown dancing in a precise formation no one person is off beat letting you know that this girl group is in charge and it pays off in this smash hit. This song just makes you want to jump up and done and bop your head to the beat and the feel of the song is so electric and such a party you should listening to 2NE1 whenever you can. K-pop as a genre is so varied and allows for so many different interpretations of different music styles that 2NE1 is truly extraordinary.  Get to listening to 2NE1 such a superb music group they haven’t reinvented the wheel they just souped-up the car and took you for a ride with no end in sight.