THIS IS A 2NE1 INTERVIEW POST!
2011-08-03 12:21 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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omonatheydid2NE1: "WE ARE THE BEST WHEN WE PLAY ON STAGE"
2NE1 is one of the few groups that are establishing an independent position for themselves within the idol world. Although they may not have chiseled bodies and stick-thin legs, their unique music and fashion have led to their great popularity, both within Korea and overseas. Recently, all of the songs on their second mini album became hits, once again shocking the idol world. In September, they will also be making their debut in Japan. On the 1st, we met with the four members, CL (20), Park Bom (27), Sandara Park (27) and Gong Minji (17) at the YG Entertainment building.
> Starting with your digital single released back in April, Lonely, and ‘I am the Best’, and even now up till your newest song, ‘Ugly’, all of the songs on your mini album have swept away and placed first on various music charts.
CL: Normally, people will only remember the title song, and a lot of the songs on the albums never reach their full potential. We wanted all of our songs to shine. Every 3 weeks, we worked our hardest to reveal one new song at a time, along with a new music video, new choreography and new outfits. It’s also interesting how there was no relationship between all five of the songs.
> Although a while ago you were just screaming out ‘I am the Best’, now you’re singing about the pain you receive due to your unattractive appearances in Ugly. For 2NE1, which aspect can you relate to more?
CL: We can relate to both sides. When we’re on stage, we always have to have the attitude that ‘We are the Best’. However all females have felt unconfident at least once in their lives.
Sandara Park: I can also have a complex sometimes, but also sad at other times. The lyrics of ‘Ugly’ aren’t limited to ones’ outer appearances, it can also mean one’s inner wounds too.
> Your Japanese debut is coming out in September. Fans in London requested a performance and even had a flash mob. What do you think is the secret to captivating foreign fans?
CL: First of all, isn’t it mainly because our music is good? (laughs). Our choreography and outfits are all selected to express our music well, and that is how we make up our performances as well. One reason may also be because there is a lot of English in our lyrics. We are planning on changing only our lyrics into Japanese for our Japanese debut.
> There’s a scene in the music video where you are playing the drums. You have a song where they use the sound of a Janggu drum as well, do you have a lot of interest in traditional Korean music?
Gong Minji: Personally, because of my grandmother (Gong Okjin, who is famous for her ‘hunchbacked dance’) I have a lot of interest in it. In our previous album we had choreographed our dances with a foreign choreographer, however this time we personally choreographed the dances according to the way we wanted to express ourselves on stage.
CL: Since many fans are watching from overseas, we work hard to mix in traditional Korean music with popular music. However it’s a lot more interesting than I thought.
> You’ll be hosting your first ever concert after your debut at the Olympic Hall in the Seoul Olympic Park on August 26th~28th.
Sandara Park: We’re going to be showing a variety of live performances ranging from band music to electronica. For my solo performance, I’ve been practicing acoustic guitar for a total of 3 months now.
> You seem to be quite powerful during your performances, but when it comes to talking, you seem to be quite shy. What is Minji’s opinion of the other members’ personalities?
Gong Minji: We’re all opposite. (San)Dara unni has a very cute and pretty outer appearance, but the clothes that she wears are very hip-hop style. While she’s very charismatic, she’ll sometimes use very over-exaggerated expressions (laughs). CL unni is like a lion on stage but she uses a lot of aegyo. Different from Bom unni’s emotional vocals, she has a very outrageous charm.
Park Bom: Minji is still young but she’s really mature to the extent that sometimes I think of her as mother-like . She takes good care of Dara and me.
The 2NE1 members shout out loudly, ‘Nolja! (Let’s Play!)’ every time before they get on stage. hey said that their musical style cannot be expressed by a single word or defined by a single rule. Where will the limit be for these girls?
Source: http://news.nate.com/view/20110803n01203
Translated by GEE @ ygladies.com
Even if our bodies our tired, our hearts are content.
2NE1 has changed. Just a while ago, the girls who were shouting, “I am the Best” while dominating the stage are now hiding behind their backup dancers and stating “I’m not pretty”. These girls are just like chameleons, revealing a new song each week while pursuing ever-changing promotions.
YG Entertainment representatives stated, “In order to always show a new side of them, whenever the members don’t have any schedules in particular, they gather at the practice room to sing and dance”. At the end of their excruciating effort is the birth of powerful music and performances developed so spectacularly that they captivate fans from as far as Europe and Central America.
From ‘Lonely’, and ‘I am the Best’ to ‘Ugly’ which was just released a few days earlier, the 5 songs released by 2NE1 were all released in time intervals of 3 weeks, and were combined together to form their second mini album. We were able to meet with the four members, CL, Bom, Dara and Minji on the 1st at the YG Entertainment building, who have just began embarking on their official promotions with the release of Ugly.
“I’m happy that none of the album songs were buried under the others. I poured all of my energy into all five songs, thinking that each one would be a representative song. It was a lot harder than I imagined, but we thought that each song was too good to only be heard by us, so I was happy that we could let fans hear them all.” (CL)
“Our new song, Ugly, is a song for females who have lost their confidence. I want to say that it’s a song that absolutely anyone can relate to.” (Bom)
Every time they release a song that they’ve devoted themselves to, there was a huge ‘commotion’ on music charts. Naturally, they top all the charts, however the views on their music videos are also explosive. Even when special songs from ‘Infinity Challenge’ and ‘I am a Singer’ are sweeping the charts, these girls’ songs still stand strong.
When asking the girls about the secret to their skyrocketing popularity, they answered in chorus, “Isn’t it because our music is good?”.
“Choreography and outfits are simply tools that are expressed through music. We are also artists that convey music. We haven’t had any problems that were as important as music is to an artist.” (CL)
These girls were noticed for their different appearances from existing girl groups. Throughout the interview, the girls were not so focused on thick makeup and drastic fashion, but instead focused only on their music.
“The creator of our songs is Teddy, however there has never been a time that we did not take part in the music-making process. Even when the lyrics are being written, they reflect our opinions.” (Bom)
2NE1 will be hosting their first solo concert on August 26th~28th. They’ve coined the slogan, ‘NOLZA’, and are planning to have a blast with the fans. “We’re going to have a concert with events constantly popping up. You’ll be able to see a new side of 2NE1 that you have been unable to experience from our albums or on broadcasts.” (CL)
In order to present unique events, Dara had started learning the acoustic guitar since this May. Bom hinted about preparing for a stage in which a 2NE1 song is combined with classical music. CL and Minji are planning to do a joint stage.
However ‘playing on stage’ is not an easy task. The cost that one has to give up in order to play once is quite sizeable. “Some people say that to enjoy yourself, you have to be at ease, but it means that if you want to be at ease, you have to practice to death.” (CL)
On stage, 2NE1 appears to be strong and powerful just like wild lions, however off the stage, the members speak very calm and orderly, and are quite shy. Even when these girls are given free time, they don’t spend their time outside playing. Their days spent at the practice studio are not few.
“Even if our bodies our tired, our hearts are content. We think to ourselves, “We really like this work”. (Dara)
Source: http://news.nate.com/view/20110803n01909
Translated by GEE @ ygladies.com
2NE1, “Even though my tattoo was drawn on with a name pen, it wouldn’t come off well” Nate Interview!
2NE1 is a figure much like a soda-pop in the music industry. In 2009, four people with four distinct personalities united and instilled the music industry with a fresh energy. They appealed to fans with their unique personalities which was occupied at the time by flowery girl groups, and they are now amongst the most popular of idols, in Japan, and even Europe.
All five songs in their second mini album released on the 28th were All-Kills. They have also already began their Japanese promotions officially, and their collaboration with the maestro of the hip hop scene, Will.I.Am is going smoothly.
2NE1 stated with ease, “There has never been a time when we have worn flowery one pieces for broadcasts. We’re going to show everyone music that is differentiated from other girl groups by our unique personalities”.
- All your songs are title songs.
“Truthfully, while making our first album, we felt that we were lacking in the number of songs we had and so we released a mini album. Although the number of songs were still few, the quality of each of the songs were good enough to be deemed the title song. It’s an album that we are personally satisfied with. The overall style of the songs are different. It seems like we’ll be able to show a variety of 2NE1’s different sides.” (Sandara Park)
- Recently, the response for ‘Ugly’ has been hot.
“It’s a song made by Teddy oppa with a very strong rock feeling. I have a hope that the content of the lyrics will convey the message better than the performance. It speaks of the loneliness and nervousness that everyone has felt at least once. There are many times when I feel lonely. When I finish a performance and come off the stage, I always have an empty feeling.” (CL)
- It’s almost been a year since you’ve had Korean activities.
“Our breaks were long. Even while producing songs, we’ve had time to recharge. While starving us from promotions, it makes us more content when we appear on broadcasts. When we’re given free time suddenly, we didn’t know what to do. It was the most leisurely lifestyle we had after our debut, however I wanted to enter back into promotions quickly.” (CL)
- What did you do during your break?
“We all went on vacation for 1 month. I visited France. My father held an exhibition too, but I wanted to be free more than anything. However I was surprised that people could recognize me on the streets. Sometimes, people would look at me and tilt their head, then suddenly recognize me and rush towards me. There were also students who had 2NE1 stickers on their bags. One time I went into a store and Can’t Nobody was playing, and I was really happy.” (CL)
- What’s an interesting story while producing this album?
“We always film our music videos in Namyangju. Since we film for one week, we have to live in a motel. We’ve actually gone so frequently that we’ve even got a favourite motel. Is this not something a girl group should say… ha ha ha.” (Gong Minji)
- Every album, you attempt to transform yourselves.
“We feel burdend to show a new side of ourselves always. Teddy oppa isn’t the type to simply produce one type of genre. We work hard so that we can express various types of music from rock music to hip hop.” (Park Bom)
- Your tattoos became a topic.
“Lonely was a very soothing song, however I wanted to come off strongly in terms of visuals, and in the end I decided on having a tattoo. It was drawn on with a name-pen but it was troublesome because it wouldn’t come off for a couple of days. I was worried that when I went to Japan, I would get caught by the security device because of my tattoo.” (Gong Minji)
- We’re curious about your Japanese activities.
“At the beginning of this year, we had made our entry into the Japanese market, however because of the earthquake, we had to cut our promotions off early. Since it is Japan, we have no intention of showing a new side of us. We are planning on entering Japan with the same promotions we did in Korea. I was happy when Jeremy Scott sang along in Korean to ‘I am the Best’. We want to form a bond with Japanese youth coming from a Korean perspective.” (CL)
- Did you study a lot of Japanese?
“The others have studied it before our debut, and CL had lived 7 years in Japan. I’m far behind, but every time I open my book, I become really sleepy. I’m still far behind.” (Sandara Park)
- You are already new Hallyu stars.
“Since our language and appearances are different, it may be hard to relate to us, but it’s interesting how there is so much interest in our music and videos. When I go on Youtube, I see many covers of our songs, and they even copy our expressions, it really shocks me. Once, Will.I.Am had a concert in Brazil and one fan actually was holding a lightstick with our name on it. Sometimes when we have open broadcasts, I’ve seen fans wearing Hijabs.” (CL)
- Where do you think you lack?
“I think that I really lack in terms of doing variety programs. The members are all not very good at speaking. We can talk about serious things, but it’s tough for us when we have to make people laugh. It’s like our faces cramp up.” (Sandara Park)
“My personality was originally much like an otaku (T/N: very introverted). When there’s a get together, I just stay quietly in a corner. I’m not good at matching my emotions to the occasion.” (Park Bom)
- Do you think ‘I am the Best’ amongst several girl groups?
“Nope. We simply think, “We’re doing different music from other groups.” Of course music can never be the same, we think that personality is important, and we always attempt to challenge ourselves at different music.” (CL)
-You’ll be having your first concert after your debut, ‘Nolza’
“From the moment we debuted, it was a goal of ours to have a concert. I want to have a concert where we can run around and play with the audience. ‘Nolja’, the title of our concert, is also what we shout out before we go on stage instead of ‘fighting’. For the concert, it can also mean ‘Come to play with us’.” (Gong Minji)
- What’s a method of relieving tension before your performances?
“I look at myself in the mirror and say, “I am Beyonce”. After that I feel confident.” (Park Bom)
“My hairstyles are a source of confidence for me. I point my hair up into a Vegeta hairstyle and I slant my eyes upwards because I want to come off strongly.” (Sandara Park).
Source: http://news.nate.com/view/20110803n05071
Translated by GEE @ ygladies.com
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Date: 2011-08-03 07:30 am (UTC)lolwat
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Date: 2011-08-03 08:58 am (UTC)pretty much this!
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Date: 2011-08-03 09:22 am (UTC)“Nope. We simply think, “We’re doing different music from other groups.” Of course music can never be the same, we think that personality is important, and we always attempt to challenge ourselves at different music.” (CL)
Here, she said it. Now please stop comparing and placing them above others because they don't do it themselves either.
Loved these interviews ♥ They're all so precious. I really do love all the songs they released, but Ugly is my favorite probably.
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Date: 2011-08-03 09:47 am (UTC)I like how you think CL. I know I often say "... should have been the title track instead!", alot of gems go unnoticed.
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Date: 2011-08-03 02:19 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-08-03 02:20 pm (UTC)O God..... More awful awkward remakes...
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Date: 2011-08-03 02:25 pm (UTC)“We feel burdend to show a new side of ourselves always. Teddy oppa isn’t the type to simply produce one type of genre. We work hard so that we can express various types of music from rock music to hip hop.” (Park Bom)
O rly?
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Date: 2011-08-03 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 02:44 pm (UTC)I love them all <3
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Date: 2011-08-03 03:24 pm (UTC)Cause only gangsters have tattoos right? X)
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Date: 2011-08-03 04:50 pm (UTC)1. there's a security device that sees tattoos 0_o
2. G-Dragon & Se7en have tattoos and I don't see them having problems :X I guess cause she's underaged thts why she's scared XD
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Date: 2011-08-03 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 05:35 pm (UTC)LOL, Bom is hilarious. I can so picture her doing this.
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Date: 2011-08-03 08:21 pm (UTC)OMG, JKLJLKDHSFLK I'M SHAKING AND CRYING RIGHT NOW!
WILL.I.AM TALKED ABOUT ME TO THE GIRLS. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! ;~~~~~;
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Date: 2011-08-03 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 09:51 pm (UTC)And at the end of the show i gave to will.i.am jkhdfjgks
it was wrote "Will ♥ 2NE1" ^^
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