[Review] “Hate You” by 2NE1

Not long ago, 2NE1 unleashed “Hate You“, their quick follow-up release to “I Am The Best“. If it feels like everything’s coming at you, guns blazing, that’s because it is (quite literally). 2NE1 has been tearing through a gauntlet of promotional activities over the past few weeks in order to show as much of their musical talents as possible.

Were they a bit too trigger-happy with these back-to-back releases, or did they hit their target?

Read on to find out!

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“Hate You” was released as a contingent with an animated music video featuring artsy caricatures of 2NE1. Like any other 2NE1 song, “Hate You” is true to the digital style found within many of its predecessors before it.

The song opens with a set of pulsating synths and a first taste of the chorus, dominated entirely by CL. With the leader front and center, Bom, Minzy, and Sandara take their places in the verses and middle eight, locked and loaded with their individual (and standard) ammunition: Bom with her piercing vocals, Minzy on the deeper tones, and Sandara, chiming in with her thin voice when needed.

Listening to this song, “Hate You” is far more controlled than the hectic “I Am The Best”, both in energy and production. “Hate You” sees the entire team stepping into a whole new phase with a production style that’s significantly different from what we heard last year with ‘To Anyone‘.

If “I Am The Best” was clean, “Hate You” is even cleaner. The vocals aren’t as abrasive as what we’ve come to expect from 2NE1, and that’s a pleasant thing to hear.

When it comes to its commercial appeal, “Hate You” walks the same lines as “Let’s Go Party” from 2NE1’s first mini-album (which was an incredible song in its own way, yet it maintained a level of reserve that held it back from qualifying as a ‘radio friendly’ song). Basically, “Hate You” functions in the same way, in that it’s meant to co-exist as part of 2NE1’s new mini-album, more than being a stand out single.

This may also explain why this song was released as an animated music video with an intense plot line. To put it another way, it’s kind of like the song you hear during the end credits of a movie – acceptable, pretty, and nice to jam as you make your way down.

If “Hate You” misses the mark on anything, it has to be the full lack of Minzy in most of the song.

Minzy delivers in the first verse, then she’s missing until the middle eight, where she reappears to shuffle back and forth for a moment with Bom, who then takes the reins as usual and delivers the famous ‘Bom-climax’.

The thing is, Minzy has a lower register that the other members don’t. ”Hate You” is almost begging for richer tones and a resonating degree of depth – something Minzy could have easily brought to the table, yet was/is never given the chance to.

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2NE1 returns with “Ugly” and “Hate You” on Inkigayo

After a short promotion period with “I Am The Best“, 2NE1 is begining yet another round of promotions on SBS Inkigayo with their new tracks “Ugly” and “Hate You” from their second mini album.

The strong guitar riff in “Ugly” sets the mood and pretty much carries throughout the entire song. This is an upbeat, fast track with a mix of rock & electronic, and is about being openly honest with our outward appearances, no matter how “Ugly” we may seem.

The track is also the perfect addictive summer song; it’s got a refreshing chorus melody by the talentedCL. With K-Pop gaining international fans all over the world, the chorus is sung entirely in English.

And something special was also planned in that the Inkigayo stage performance was entirely planned by the 2NE1 members themselves, with supervision from YG himself.

Check out their comeback stage below which also includes “Hate You”.

Key poses with Luffy of ‘One Piece’

SHINee’s Key recently surprised fans with a photo update from Japan.

On July 31st, Key posted, “I’m going to ride the ‘Thousand Sunny’ when I return to Korea. Because I saw ‘Luffy’, it might take awhile [for me to return],” and attached a selca of himself with the anime character.

In the photo, Key is seen posing next to a statue of ‘Luffy’, a fictional character in the popular Japanese manga series, ‘One Piece‘. Key also mentions the ‘Thousand Sunny’, which is the ship Luffy uses to get travel the world.

In response, fans commented, “Even in Japan, you are cute” and “When are you returning? I want to see you soon!”

Meanwhile, SHINee is currently in Japan for their nationwide concert tour called, ‘SHINee JAPAN DEBUT PREMIUM RECEPTION TOUR’, which began on July 22nd in Fukuoka. The tour will end on August 11th in Nagoya.

Shin Se Kyung’s old graduation photos reveal her natural beauty

Shin Se Kyung’s graduation photos from elementary school were recently revealed through an online community post under the title, “Maturity different from others, Shin Se Kyung’s elementary school graduation picture“.

Below the picture was the text, “In ‘Happy Together‘, Han Jung Soo mentioned he saw Shin Se Kyung when she was in elementary school and thought, ‘Pretty lady’, which he completely agreed with when she saw Shin Se Kyung’s graduation picture.”

The three photos – taken from elementary school to high school to her present age – showcase her everlasting beauty.

Netizens remarked, “She was pretty even when she was young“, “It’s enough for Han Jung Soo to mistake her as a lady“, and “Natural beauty“.

KARA’s Seungyeon shows off her baby-faced beauty

KARA’s Han Seungyeon recently uploaded selca pictures that displayed her baby-faced beauty.

On July 28th, Seungyeon shared the pictures through her Twitter, and wrote, “On the way to my schedule. I really don’t know how long it will take. I’ve only ever lived in Seoul, but this is my first time seeing it like this. I hope everyone is safe. Fighting!”

Seungyeon is seen looking into the camera with cute expressions on her face. Netizens were especially attracted to the fact that Seungyeon looked much younger than her actual age.

They commented, “Really cute”, “Seriously, how old are you?”, and “Come back safely.”

4minute’s Gayoon and Jiyoon goof around with a camera

4minute’s Jiyoon and Gayoon recently showed off their playful sides.

On July 27th, Jiyoon tweeted, “I won’t be able to use Twitter in a few days. So I’m tweeting a lot starting today.” She then uploaded a picture of her and her group member goofing around with the camera.

In the picture, the idols are seen smiling brightly while posing with side-by-side. The two also showed off their comedic sides by pretending to pose like mummies, closing their eyes and having their mouths agape for the shot.

Fans commented, “You two are so cute“, “Why can’t you use Twitter?“, and “Wow so pretty.”

B2ST tops Japan’s ‘Recochoku’ chart three times in a row with “Fiction”

The Japanese ‘orchestra version’ of B2ST’s hit track, “Fiction“, has topped Japanese ringtone chartRecochoku three times in a row!

On July 27th, B2ST released the orchestra version of “Fiction” through Recochoku, and grabbed #1 on the day of its release. This marks the third time B2ST topped the chart since “Bad Girl” and “Shock“.

The song has quite the history of earning triple crowns on Korean music programs, and it seems that its popularity is being reflected in Japan. A representative of Japan’s music industry commented, “Day by day, B2ST is earning more and more music fans who are becoming lovers of their work. Their fandom is becoming stronger than ever.”

This accomplishment has drawn more attention to the boys’ upcoming first official Japanese album, as the song will be included in its tracklist.

2NE1’s CL participates in advertisement shoot for ‘Lancome’

2NE1’s Sandara Park revealed that fellow member CL recently modelled in a photoshoot for French cosmetics brand, ‘Lancome’.

On July 28th, Sandara uploaded a picture on her me2day and added, “As a commemoration for the release of 2NE1’s second mini-album, this alluring female~!!! Throwing in a picture of CL!!! You’ll be able to see more pictures of CL for ‘X-come’ soon~!!!”

Netizens were shocked by the elegant transformation CL made for the photoshoot, which contrasts starkly with her fierce stage charisma. Her smoothly styled hairbun and sexy eye makeup revealed a softer side to the girl group leader.

According to an associate, CL was recently selected to take part in a one-off advertisement shoot for Lancome’s new essence moisturizer product and website, “Vision of Beauty”. They said, “CL was chosen as one of many celebrity models for this advertisement campaign.”

Meanwhile, other celebrity figures appointed for this new campaign include Choi Hwa Jung, Jaurim’sKim Youna, Wonder Girls‘ Sohee, and ballerina Kim Juwon.

YG Entertainment trainer Hwang Sung Chan reveals Park Bom’s true diet

Recently, YG Entertainment’s exclusive trainer, Hwang Sung Chan, revealed the truth about Park Bom’s current diet.

2NE1’s main vocalist has always been one of the most talked-about celebrities when it comes to diet plans, thanks to the media hype surround her past “Corn Diet“, “Lettuce Diet“, and more recently, the “Watermelon Diet“.

The “Watermelon Diet” first came about during last month’s broadcast of SBS’s “Inkigayo“, where Park Bom said in an interview, “I’ve been eating a lot of watermelon as a substitute for rice.” The media instead relayed this as, “I only ate watermelon”, and thus created this mythical “Watermelon Diet”.

Responding to the intense interest surrounding this so-called ‘Watermelon Diet’, trainer Hwang stated,“To be honest, watermelon is a great fruit that satiates, and we only chose it to help block out her snacking; it wasn’t eaten as a substitute. Park Bom never underwent a one-food diet. I’m worried that the public will read the wrong information and start following it.”

Trainer Hwang then explained that he created a diet plan that would steer Bom away from her past western food diet to a more healthy alternative.

Park Bom eats a total of five meals a day – three main meals and two snacking meals. Trainer Hwang created the two snacking meals to allow Bom to enjoy her two favorite foods – corn and nuts. Additionally, Hwang got rid of a strict menu selection in Bom’s three main meals in order to alleviate the stress attached to dieting.

Hwang also created a diet planner which includes her daily eating records; he positively reinforces her new pattern of eating by paying her compliments on completed areas of her planner, before ticking it off with his special red marker.

Trainer Hwang also regularly checks up on and approves 2NE1’s daily menus via calls and texts. He revealed that because Park Bom avoids his calls so often, he saved her contact number under the name, “Park Bbong” (Bbong = lie) on his cellphone.

Source: Newsen via Nate

2NE1 releases MV for “Ugly”

The ladies of 2NE1 have been blowing up the music charts with “Lonely” and “I Am The Best“, and now they’re gearing up to take back the #1 spot with “Ugly“!

YG Entertainment finally unveiled the full MV for the girls’ new track, and it immediately arrested everyone’s attention right from the get-go. The girls look fierce with their ‘Acid punk-meets-K-Pop’ look, and their chorus expresses vulnerability amidst the sounds of aggressive guitar riffs.

Check out the MV below:

“200 Pound Beauty” musical announces finalized cast

The secured cast for the musical remake of “200 Pound Beauty” has finally been announced this week.

The role of the cool-headed, charismatic producer ‘Han Sang Jun‘ has been appointed to actors Lee Jong Hyun and Oh Man Suk; Supernova’s Sung Je will have a special performance for when the musical arrives in Osaka, Japan.

Meanwhile, the character of the previously overweight singer, Kang Han Byul/Jenny will be performed by singer Bada and KARA’s Park Gyuri.

Other cast members include CulTwo’s Kim Tae Kyun and musical actor Yang Jun Mo, who will be acting the role of the plastic surgeon, Lee Gong Hak, while Song Young Kyu and Im Hyung Jun will be acting as President Choi, a producer CEO who strictly prefers appearance over talent.

“200 Pounds Beauty” is a romantic comedy about an overweight lip-sync vocalist named Han Byul who owns an amazing vocal talent, but was always forced to hide herself behind the curtain due to her less-than-attractive physical appearance. After being humiliated in front of her true love, Han Byul decides to undergo head-to-toe plastic surgery in the hopes of standing on stage as a top singer.

The original musical was performed in 2008 with Bada playing as Han Byul, and it later won a total of four awards at the 3rd ‘The Musical Awards’ ceremony in 2009 for the “Best Musical Creativity Award”, “Best Actress” (Bada), “Best Director Award”, and “Best Stage Art Award” (Makeup designer Chae Song Hwa).

The producer stated, “For the scene where the previously obese Kang Han Byul transforms into the beautiful Jenny, we plan to show amazing theatrical art on stage with the help of artist Lee Eun Kyul. Designer Chae Song Hwa’s drama makeup will be more delicate and naturally upgraded to the extent where people will almost mistake Han Byul and Jenny as two different people.”

“200 Pound Beauty” will be kick-starting their Asia tour in October, beginning with performances in Osaka followed by performances in Seoul, China and Singapore.