''2NE1'' (also known as ''2NE1 1st Mini Album'') is the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

by South Korean

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

2NE1 2NE1 (, ) was a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, which was active between 2009 and 2016. The group was composed of four members: Bom, CL, Dara, and Minzy. Known for breaking typical stereotypes of K-pop, musical experiment ...

. The album was released by

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production compa ...

on July 8, 2009, and contains seven songs composed and produced by Korean producers

Teddy Park Teddy Park (born Park Hong-jun on September 14, 1978), is a Korean–American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Park moved to the United States with his family as a young child. When he was 17 years old, P ...

and

Kush Kush or Cush may refer to: Bible * Cush (Bible), two people and one or more places in the Hebrew Bible Places * Kush (mountain), a mountain near Kalat, Pakistan Balochistan * Kush (satrapy), a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire * Hindu Kush, a ...

. The EP was commercially successful in South Korea, where it was the best-selling album by a female artist and the third best-selling album overall in 2009.

Background

2NE1's first song was "

Lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are availa ...

", digitally released on March 27, 2009. The song was created for LG Cyon to promote their Lollipop phone, and it was a joint release with

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

; the commercial/music video debuted on March 28, 2009. Lee, Duna
'여자빅뱅' CF통해 모습 공개한다 (''"Female Big Bang" First Shown Through Commercial'')
''uKopia''. March 26, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2009. Although it was not a promoted single (as it was an advertisement song, there were problems with network chart eligibility), Im, I-rang

''MyDaily''. April 17, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2009. "Lollipop" proved to be a strong chart hit, going to #1 on various online charts and topping music television network Mnet's online chart for four weeks in a row. Kim, Hyeong-woo

'' Joins.com''/''Newsen''. April 28, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2009. It was also profiled in Perez Hilton's blog. However, questions were raised about the group's future, as the song's success was attributed to the popularity of Big Bang.빅뱅에 숟가락 얹은 ‘2NE1’ 성공할 수 있을까? (''Big Bang's Helping Hand for 2NE1; Can They Succeed?'')
. ''Kukinews''. April 14, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009. On April 30, Yang Hyun-suk revealed that 2NE1's debut song would be a hip hop/

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

song, and that it would be digitally released on May 6, 2009. Titled "Fire", the song was fully written and produced by

1TYM 1TYM (Korean: 원타임, pronounced as "One Time") was a four-member South Korean group. They were Teddy Park (also known as Park Hong-jun), Oh Jinhwan, Song Baekyoung, and Danny Im (also known as Im Taebin). History In the late 1990s, YG CE ...

. Teasers of the song were released on their official website at the beginning of May, with a 20-second clip released on May 1.

Commercial performance

The extended play was a commercial success in South Korea. It recorded over 50,000 pre-orders within a week—a high amount for a rookie group at the time, and sold over 80,000 copies within two weeks after its release. In early August, the EP surpassed sales of 100,000 copies. On the Hanteo album chart, ''2NE1 1st Mini Album'' was the best-selling girl group album and the third best-selling album overall during 2009. Five of the EP's tracks ranked within the top 100 on the year-end Melon chart for 2009—the most by any act during the year—and led to the EP being named among the most successful digital albums in K-pop history according to ''Star News''. It continued to show strong sales by charting on the 2010 year end chart for Gaon, selling an additional 40,949 copies. It has since sold over 225,000 copies as of September 2016.

Singles

", written and produced by

, was digitally released on March 27, 2009. Despite not being promoted traditionally by both groups, the song nonetheless was a major success in South Korea; giving the girls a number #1 song before their debut. "

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

" became a hit on various on- and offline charts. It was released as planned on May 6, with two versions of the music video—a "space" version and a "street" version—released the same day. The videos received over one million views in a day; Park, Sae-yeon
2NE1, 2009 최고신인 되나? ‘파이어’ M/V 1백만 클릭 ‘대박’ (''2NE1, 2009 Best New Group? "Fire" Music Video Receives 1 Million Clicks, "Huge Success"'')
''

JoongAng Ilbo ''The JoongAng'', formally known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'', is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also publ ...

''/''Newsen''. May 7, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2009. the view count then increased to two million. Park, Yeong-woong
2NE1, 뮤비 공개 하루만에 2백만 조회…17일 첫 무대 (''2NE1, Music Video Debut Has 2 Million Views...17th is First Performance'')
''MyDaily''. May 7, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2009. " I Don't Care" was the third single from ''2NE1'', co-produced by Teddy and YG's newly signed rising producer

. Soon after its release, the music video was also profiled in Perez Hilton's blog who declared them his "favorite" Korean girl-group. The single went on to win Song of the Year at the

2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards The 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) was the eleventh of the annual music awards in Seoul, South Korea that took place on November 21, 2009, at the Seoul Sports Complex. Newcomer girl group 2NE1 lead the nominations with 4 counts, followed ...

, making them the first group to win the accolade in the same year of debut, and the second rookie to win after

for " Lies" (2007).

Promotion

The group's first performance of the song was on May 17, 2009, on SBS's ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' ( ko, 인기가요; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who p ...

''. beginning the group's activities. Their first performance was also included in Perez Hilton's blog once again, showing his interest towards the group. Both the song and the group have been very popular online, with the song topping M.Net's online chart and the group's name becoming a top search term. The group was also rewarded with three

Cyworld Cyworld () is a South Korean social network service. Cyworld was originally part of SK communication, and became an independent company in 2014. Members cultivate relationships by forming ''Ilchon'' (, Hanja: ) or "friendships" with each other ...

Digital Music Awards, with both "Lollipop" and "Fire" winning "Song of the Month" awards and the group winning "Rookie of the Month" for May 2009. Lee, Hyae-rin
2NE1, 디지털 뮤직어워드 3관왕 기염① (''2NE1, 3-Time Digital Music Award Winners'')
''Asia Economy''. June 10, 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2009. They received their first Mutizen award during their fourth stage performance in SBS ''Inkigayo'' (Popular Song) on June 14, 2009. They received their second Mutizen award on SBS ''Inkigayo'' (Popular Song) on June 21, 2009. For closed the promotion of the first mini album was released the song "In The Club" as first promotional single of the album.

Accolades

Track listing

Production

* Mastering: Tom Coyne (Sterling Sound)

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

2NE1 official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:2ne1 (Ep) 2009 debut EPs YG Entertainment EPs 2NE1 albums Korean-language EPs Albums produced by Teddy Park