CEBU, Philippines - They made us want to buy a colorful “LOLLIPOP,” mesmerized us with their “FIRE,” and now, they’re convincing us to leave unworthy guys with “I DON’T CARE.” With their futuristic sound, uber cute hairstyles, and out-of-this-world fashion, 2NE1 (pronounced as “to anyone” or “twenty-one”) is living up to its name, which actually stands for “New Evolution of the 21 Century.”
Formed by YG Entertainment—a Korean powerhouse talent management company—2NE1 was labeled to be the female version of Big Bang, another K-Pop group. 2NE1 members CL, Bom, Dara (more known to us, Pinoys, as Sandara Park) and Minzy first gave us a taste of their music alongside Big Bang with their single “Lollipop” which was originally created for LG to promote their Cyon phone.
Though it was only an advertisement, “Lollipop” received great responses from net surfers which made the song top various online charts. After Lollipop’s success, 2NE1 released their debut song “FIRE” with two versions of the music video, a “space” and “street” version, which received over one million views in a day and then increased to two million.
2NE1 is so popular that the famous American celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has written about them. The group earned three awards in the Cyworld Digital Music Awards as “Rookie of the Month” for May 2009 and with both “Lollipop” and “Fire” winning “Song of the Month.” With more awards lining at their door, 2NE1 was chosen to be the models of Fila’s new commercial campaign.
Because of Sandara’s fame here in the Philippines, fans continue to support her by supporting her group. As their fame intensifies, let’s hope these gals will continue to bring us more music to share to the world.
Members
CL
Real Name: Lee Chae Rin
Position: Leader, Vocal Member, Rapper
Date of Birth: February 26, 1991
Languages: Korean, English, French, Japanese
Hobbies: Composing and Drawing
Before 2NE1’s stardom, CL was a YG trainee. She became one of the most searched people on the net when she rapped on YG family’s collaboration. Known for her charisma and confidence, she became an immediate favorite to musicians.
Bom
Real Name: Park Bom
Position: Main Vocals
Date of Birth: March 24, 1984
Languages: Korean, English, Japanese
Hobbies: Listening to Music and Singing
Bom lived in America for six years and studied there majoring in Psychology but then switched to a major in music studies. She was also a YG trainee and worked with fellow groups such as Big Bang, Lexy and Red Roc.
Dara
Real Name: Sandara Park
Position: Vocal Member
Date of Birth: November 12, 1984
Languages: Korean, English, Tagalog, Chinese
Labeled as the “Pambansang Krung-Krung,” Sandara first starred in ABS-CBN’s show “Star Circle Quest” which paved way to her stardom in the Philippines. She then returned to Korea on August 1, 2007 and got signed in YG Entertainment the day after.
Minzy
Real Name: Gong Min-ji
Position: Lead dancer, Rapper, Vocal Member
Date of Birth: January 18, 1994
Languages: Korean, Japanese, English, Chinese
Minzy caught the attention of YG Entertainment’s President, Yang Hyun Seok when a video of her dancing spread across the internet.