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I Am the Best
"I Am the Best" (Korean: 내가 제일 잘 나가; RR: Naega jeil jal naga) is a song by South Korean girl group 2NE1. YG Entertainment released the song for digital download and streaming as the third single from the group's self-titled second extended play (EP) on June 24, 2011. Written and produced by Teddy Park, "I Am the Best" is an electro house and electropop track that integrates hip hop and Middle Eastern elements through its instrumentation. Its lyrics contain themes of self-confidence and narcissism.
Music journalists praised the production and 2NE1's performance and considered it a pioneer of the Korean wave and K-pop's "girl crush" concept, which denotes themes of ferocity and female empowerment. Many publications ranked it among the best K-pop songs of the decade and all time. It peaked at number one on the South Korean Gaon Digital Chart and was the fourth-best-selling single of 2011 in South Korea, with more than 3.4 million downloads sold. It won Song of the Year at the 2011 Mnet Asian Music Awards and Best Dance & Electronic Song at the 9th Korean Music Awards.
Seo Hyun-seung directed the music video for "I Am the Best", which features the members in glam punk fashion and won a MTV Video Music Award Japan for Best New Artist Video in 2012. The song received renewed attention after appearing in a 2014 commercial for Microsoft's Surface Pro 3; Capitol Records released it in the United States on December 10, 2014. The single peaked at number 61 on the French SNEP singles chart and made 2NE1 the first Korean group to have a number-one song on the Billboard US World Digital Songs chart.
To promote girl group 2NE1's new extended play (EP), YG Entertainment released a single every three weeks starting from April 21, 2011, to promote all six tracks from the EP. "Don't Cry" (a solo single by group member Park Bom) and "Lonely" were the first two singles, and they both peaked at number one on the South Korean Gaon Digital Chart. YG released "I Am the Best" for digital download and streaming as the third single on June 24. In a press release, YG announced that it was an "intense" song combining electronic music and hip hop, which appealed to youths who were part of the clubbing culture.
YG Entertainment collaborator Teddy Park, who had produced most of 2NE1's past releases, wrote and produced "I Am the Best". Lee Kyung-joon engineered the track, which was mixed by Jason Robert. The Japanese-language version of the song was first made available for download via Recochoku on July 20, 2011, and was later included in the Japanese edition of the EP (Nolza) on September 21 as part of the group's debut in the country. Prior to the release of CL's first studio album Alpha in 2021, she held a live countdown event and played several snippets of unreleased versions of songs from both herself and 2NE1, and revealed that "I Am the Best" had originally featured Canadian singer Justin Bieber.
"I Am the Best" is three minutes and 28 seconds long. It incorporates a range of musical styles (electronic, electro house, hip-hop, African rhythms and reggae), synthesizers, Middle Eastern-inspired strings in the song's middle eight, and chants. Critics described the genre as electro house and electropop. Tim Chan from Rolling Stone noted the song's ability to bridge cultures and genres, "gloriously weav[ing] a Middle Eastern synth line in the middle of a glossy electro-pop track." Sociology professor John Lie highlighted the song as an example of the innovation of K-pop's formula, noting that it "subtly subverts the K-pop aesthetic and ethos" by incorporating a variety of different influences. The song is recognized as an empowerment anthem, with its lyrics centered around themes of self-confidence and narcissism.
Music critics applauded the musical styles of "I Am the Best" and 2NE1's performance. Discussing the rise of the Korean wave in November 2011, James Brooks of Pitchfork highlighted the song's "show-stopping" energy and 2NE1's "manic, larger-than-life charisma". In The New York Times, Jon Caramanica wrote that the song was "a postcard from the moment" when K-pop, which had been bound by the sound of other countries, "was beginning to embrace excess as its own style". Caramanica called 2NE1 a powerful influence in the industry, almost "ruthlessly modern", and believed that "'I Am the Best' encapsulated its "high-grade attitude". Slant Magazine featured it in their list of the 25 Best Singles of 2011; critic Jonathan Keefe described the track as "a jaw-dropping, vibrant triumph of pure swagger and verve" and cited it as an example of the "unmitigated joy of K-pop".
Korean Music Awards selection committee member Seo Jeong-min highlighted the song's "powerful, sensuous, and addictive electronic sound", and asserted that it firmly establishes itself as one of the representative tracks of K-pop. In Spin's June 2012 list of the 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time, "I Am the Best" ranked at number three, with Chuck Eddy writing that it "might've been the best single released on the planet in 2011". In October 2013, the Smithsonian Institution recognized "I Am the Best" as a key work in the spread of the Korean wave around the world with "Gangnam Style" by Psy, and "Fantastic Baby" by Big Bang, among others. In January 2017, Jeff Benjamin of Billboard picked the track as the number one single in the group's discography, writing that as "one of the most recognized K-pop songs in the world," the song speaks to 2NE1's legacy as a "bonafide, complete act", and commented that each member proves herself as an essential element of the "perfect-pop product" by turning into a superstar on her respective section.
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I Am the Best
"I Am the Best" (Korean: 내가 제일 잘 나가; RR: Naega jeil jal naga) is a song by South Korean girl group 2NE1. YG Entertainment released the song for digital download and streaming as the third single from the group's self-titled second extended play (EP) on June 24, 2011. Written and produced by Teddy Park, "I Am the Best" is an electro house and electropop track that integrates hip hop and Middle Eastern elements through its instrumentation. Its lyrics contain themes of self-confidence and narcissism.
Music journalists praised the production and 2NE1's performance and considered it a pioneer of the Korean wave and K-pop's "girl crush" concept, which denotes themes of ferocity and female empowerment. Many publications ranked it among the best K-pop songs of the decade and all time. It peaked at number one on the South Korean Gaon Digital Chart and was the fourth-best-selling single of 2011 in South Korea, with more than 3.4 million downloads sold. It won Song of the Year at the 2011 Mnet Asian Music Awards and Best Dance & Electronic Song at the 9th Korean Music Awards.
Seo Hyun-seung directed the music video for "I Am the Best", which features the members in glam punk fashion and won a MTV Video Music Award Japan for Best New Artist Video in 2012. The song received renewed attention after appearing in a 2014 commercial for Microsoft's Surface Pro 3; Capitol Records released it in the United States on December 10, 2014. The single peaked at number 61 on the French SNEP singles chart and made 2NE1 the first Korean group to have a number-one song on the Billboard US World Digital Songs chart.
To promote girl group 2NE1's new extended play (EP), YG Entertainment released a single every three weeks starting from April 21, 2011, to promote all six tracks from the EP. "Don't Cry" (a solo single by group member Park Bom) and "Lonely" were the first two singles, and they both peaked at number one on the South Korean Gaon Digital Chart. YG released "I Am the Best" for digital download and streaming as the third single on June 24. In a press release, YG announced that it was an "intense" song combining electronic music and hip hop, which appealed to youths who were part of the clubbing culture.
YG Entertainment collaborator Teddy Park, who had produced most of 2NE1's past releases, wrote and produced "I Am the Best". Lee Kyung-joon engineered the track, which was mixed by Jason Robert. The Japanese-language version of the song was first made available for download via Recochoku on July 20, 2011, and was later included in the Japanese edition of the EP (Nolza) on September 21 as part of the group's debut in the country. Prior to the release of CL's first studio album Alpha in 2021, she held a live countdown event and played several snippets of unreleased versions of songs from both herself and 2NE1, and revealed that "I Am the Best" had originally featured Canadian singer Justin Bieber.
"I Am the Best" is three minutes and 28 seconds long. It incorporates a range of musical styles (electronic, electro house, hip-hop, African rhythms and reggae), synthesizers, Middle Eastern-inspired strings in the song's middle eight, and chants. Critics described the genre as electro house and electropop. Tim Chan from Rolling Stone noted the song's ability to bridge cultures and genres, "gloriously weav[ing] a Middle Eastern synth line in the middle of a glossy electro-pop track." Sociology professor John Lie highlighted the song as an example of the innovation of K-pop's formula, noting that it "subtly subverts the K-pop aesthetic and ethos" by incorporating a variety of different influences. The song is recognized as an empowerment anthem, with its lyrics centered around themes of self-confidence and narcissism.
Music critics applauded the musical styles of "I Am the Best" and 2NE1's performance. Discussing the rise of the Korean wave in November 2011, James Brooks of Pitchfork highlighted the song's "show-stopping" energy and 2NE1's "manic, larger-than-life charisma". In The New York Times, Jon Caramanica wrote that the song was "a postcard from the moment" when K-pop, which had been bound by the sound of other countries, "was beginning to embrace excess as its own style". Caramanica called 2NE1 a powerful influence in the industry, almost "ruthlessly modern", and believed that "'I Am the Best' encapsulated its "high-grade attitude". Slant Magazine featured it in their list of the 25 Best Singles of 2011; critic Jonathan Keefe described the track as "a jaw-dropping, vibrant triumph of pure swagger and verve" and cited it as an example of the "unmitigated joy of K-pop".
Korean Music Awards selection committee member Seo Jeong-min highlighted the song's "powerful, sensuous, and addictive electronic sound", and asserted that it firmly establishes itself as one of the representative tracks of K-pop. In Spin's June 2012 list of the 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time, "I Am the Best" ranked at number three, with Chuck Eddy writing that it "might've been the best single released on the planet in 2011". In October 2013, the Smithsonian Institution recognized "I Am the Best" as a key work in the spread of the Korean wave around the world with "Gangnam Style" by Psy, and "Fantastic Baby" by Big Bang, among others. In January 2017, Jeff Benjamin of Billboard picked the track as the number one single in the group's discography, writing that as "one of the most recognized K-pop songs in the world," the song speaks to 2NE1's legacy as a "bonafide, complete act", and commented that each member proves herself as an essential element of the "perfect-pop product" by turning into a superstar on her respective section.
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