2NE1

 Profile:

CL        씨엘     Leader, vocal, rap     February 26, 1991 (age 21)
Bom      봄         Lead vocal                 March 24, 1984 (age 28)
Dara     다라          Vocal                      November 12, 1984 (age 28)
Minzy    민지    Vocal, rap                  January 18, 1994 (age 18)
 
2NE1 (Korean: 투애니원; Pronounced To Anyone or Twenty One) is a four-member South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment in 2009. The band consists of CL, Minzy, Dara, and Bom. The name 2NE1 combines the phrases "21st century" and "new evolution" (NE).

First appearing in "Lollipop", a commercial campaign with Big Bang for LG Electronics, 2NE1's debut single "Fire" was released on May 6, 2009. Since then, the group has released two extended plays, 2NE1 and 2NE1 2nd Mini Album, and one studio album, To Anyone. Their first EP, 2NE1 spawned the number-one single "I Don't Care", which won them the "Song of the Year" award at the 2009 Mnet 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 mini album titled NOLZA, which contained re-made versions of the Korean songs featured on the group's 2nd Mini Album. Since then, the group has released one studio album, Collection, and two physical singles in Japan. 2NE1 are set to debut in the United States in 2013, with work on the group's debut English studio album beginning in 2010 with producer will.i.am.

August Brown from The Los Angeles Times has compared 2NE1 with Girls' Generation, describing the former as a "saucier and more hip-hop-inclined girl group", while Jon Caramanica from The New York Times acknowledged that the group has "become a huge success" and Lee Hawkins from The Wall Street Journal asserts that 2NE1 is "taking the world by storm right now". As of 2012, the band has 400 million video views on YouTube.


2NE1 was first mentioned by South Korean press in late 2004 before YG Entertainment announced in early 2009 that the group would consist of four members and debut sometime in May of that year. The company stated that the group had trained for 4 years, and that their debut album would contain songs produced by 1TYM's leader Teddy Park. 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".

In collaboration with Big Bang, 2NE1's first CF song "Lollipop", was digitally released on March 27, 2009. The song was created for LG to promote their Cyon phone. The music video was released on March 28, 2009. Although it was not a promoted single because it was an advertisement (there were problems with network chart eligibility), "Lollipop" went to number one on various online charts and topped the online chart of music television network Mnet for four weeks in a row.
On April 30, YG Entertainment's CEO Yang Hyun Suk revealed that 2NE1's debut song would contain elements of hip-hop and reggae, and that it would be digitally released on May 6, 2009. Titled "Fire", the song was written and produced by 1TYM's Teddy Park. Teasers of the song were released on their official website at the beginning of May, with a 20-second clip released on May 1."Fire" was released as planned on May 6, with two versions of the music video — a "space" version and a "street" version — released on the same day. Within the first 24 hours of release, the videos each received over one million views. The group held their first performance of "Fire" on May 17, 2009, on SBS's Inkigayo, marking the start of the group's activities. A reality show, 2NE1TV, was also launched in May 2009 to assist in the group's debut promotions.

Both the song and the group became popular online: "Fire" topped Mnet's online chart and 2NE1 became a popular search term. The group was awarded three Cyworld Digital Music Awards; "Lollipop" and "Fire" both won "Song of the Month" award and the group won "Rookie of the Month" for May 2009 2NE1 received their first Mutizen award after their fourth stage performance in SBS's Inkigayo (Popular Song) on June 14, 2009. They received their second Mutizen award on the same show on June 21, 2009. Two days afterwards, 2NE1 signed a deal with Fila to become the models for the company's new commercial campaign.

"I Don't Care" was released as the group's second single on July 1, 2009 along with the group's first mini-album. Promotions for their new release officially commenced in early July. Yang Hyun Suk stated that the song would demonstrate a softer, more feminine image of the group than illustrated by "Fire". A reggae version of "I Don't Care" was debuted with a performance on SBS's Inkigayo in September 2009, signaling the end of promotions for the song. Due to the remix's popularity, it was released to digital outlets on September 3, 2009, and became their next digital single.

In August, after finishing "I Don't Care" promotions, 2NE1 took a temporary hiatus with each member releasing their own solo singles. Sandara Park was the first to release her own digital single, titled "Kiss", in September 2009. The song featured fellow member CL as a rapper and was used in a commercial for CF Beer. Park Bom's single "You and I" was released next in October 2009; it proved to be the most successful of the group's solo singles, peaking at the top of the GaOn chart. CL collaborated with Minzy in the following month for their single "Please Don't Go".

Along with three other groups representing Korea, 2NE1 performed in the 6th Asia Song Festival in September 2009, where they received the 2009's "Asian Newcomer's Award.  2NE1 received many year-end awards, including Best Rookie Award and Song of the Year Award. Their hit single "I Don't Care" was named 2009's Best Selling Song on music sites Mnet, Bugs, Monkey3, and Cyworld and second in MelOn. Their debut EP also reached a milestone of 100,000 in sales by the end of the 2009 year.

On March 28, 2012, 2NE1 released their first full-length Japanese album titled Collection along with their second Japanese single "Scream". The album includes Japanese remakes of their Korean songs such as "Love Is Ouch", "Fire", and "I Don't Care", and a cover of Madonna's 1984 hit song "Like A Virgin". Multiple editions of the album were released to include a DVD containing the groups Japanese and Korean music videos, according to Oricon's music website. The album peaked at #4 on the Oricon Daily Chart and went on to sell over 40,000 copies in Japan.

The group and their fellow label-mates Big Bang were invited to perform for the first time at 2012's Springroove festival in Japan alongside some of the top American and Japanese hip hop artists. The previous year, 2NE1 and GD&TOP were invited, but due to the Japan tsunami and earthquake tragedy, the festival was cancelled. The group collaborated with Japanese hip-hop group M-Flo for the single "She's So (Outta Control)" as well, which was released in early 2012 and was featured on M-Flo's "Square One" album.

The group is still at work on their debut English album, which is currently scheduled for release in 2013. In March 2012, DJ Poet (who is also working on 2NE1's English studio album) released new information regarding 2NE1's first U.S. single. According to DJ Poet, the song, titled "Take The World On", will be an electro-dance track and will also serve as the promotional single to the new range Intel Notebook PC's. Originally scheduled for release in May or June 2012, the song is currently awaiting release after delay.

2NE1 performed at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, which took place on June 23, 2012 at the Makuhari Messe, to conclude initial Japanese promotions. They also won the 'Best New Artist Video' award for their song "I Am The Best". The group served as the public speakers for the 59th ‘Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival’ in France in June 2012, along with the nation’s top advertising agency "Cheil Worldwide", after having been picked as the favorite K-pop group by French Hallyu fans. The seminar they gave was titled, “Korean Wave Through Digital Wave.”

The group made their official Korean comeback on July 5, 2012 with "I Love You", which was produced by Teddy Park and achieved an all-kill within hours of release. The group was initially scheduled to release their second full-length Korean-language album in July or August 2012, with Teddy Park confirming in June 2012 that a total of seven songs had already been recorded for the set. Also confirmed in June 2012 was that 2NE1's first world tour, the New Evolution World Tour, would begin in Seoul, South Korea on July 28 and visit New Jersey and California in the United States in the following month before a September Japanese leg. Jeremy Scott designed the costumes for the concert, with Divinity Roxx assisting in music for the concert. Due to the group's world tour, it was announced in July 2012 that the release of their second Korean album would be delayed into October of that year. On September 26, a Japanese-language version of "I Love You" was released as the group's third official Japanese single.

In August, 2NE1 embarked on the US leg of their New Evolution tour. On August 24, 2NE1 held an independent concert at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. 6,680 of the 6,714 tickets put on sale were sold, bringing in a gross sales of $653,716, and ranking at #29 on Billboard’s Current Box Score. This made 2NE1 the first girl group to rank on Billboard‘s Current Box Score.

In late summer of 2012 the group appeared along side Nicki Minaj and other artists including Big Sean and athlete Derrick Rose promoting their own line of Adidas, marking their first entrance into American pop culture. The Full video features them dancing in the heart of Tokyo having an impromptu concert for surprise fans. 2NE1 has their own line of Adidas with Jeremy Scott.

2NE1 is currently preparing the release of its second full-length Korean album. The album, originally due for release in October 2012, has been delayed to early 2013. YG delayed the group's late 2012 comeback, citing potential stresses on the group as a result of its New Evolution Global Tour.