2NE1 is my favorite K-pop group bar none. You’ve seen me feature them before in my post about the Surface Pro 3 commercial; “I Am the Best” is their most famous song and one of the best K-pop videos of all time. Here’s another from them:
This song/video leans a little toward hip-hop. The choreography, especially the ways they use the bench in each set, is top notch. Speaking of sets, the video opens in an alleyway that looks like the one from their debut Fire (Street version) video.
This video also does a great job of cutting back and forth between group shots and close-ups of the current singer. The clothes, sets, etc. all provide great visual interest, and the different sets contrast well with each other. I always liked that you can tell who’s who easily in this video because they don’t keep changing hair colors throughout!
The members (in the order they start singing):
- Minzy (0:18)—main dancer, lead vocalist, lead rapper, maknae
- Dara (0:23)—visual, vocalist
- CL (0:32)—leader, main rapper, lead vocalist
- Bom (1:00)—main vocalist
“Main” is ranked higher than “lead” in these positions. CL is actually not the oldest but simply has the personality to be the leader. The “maknae” is the baby of the group. The visual is basically the most attractive member who does promotional activities.
More things I love about this video:
- Dara is not the group’s strongest singer, so this is one of the few songs where she’s really highlighted, and she pretty much kills it.
- Raps from both Minzy and CL, who is one of the best female rappers in K-pop.
- Everybody looks great! No complaints about the hair/makeup/sartorial choices.
More from 2NE1:
- Fire (Street version) and Fire (Space version)–that’s right, they have 2 MVs for their debut song (I prefer Street)
- Gotta Be You
