2009 was a good year for YG Entertainment. Rolling off of Big Bang’s success from their “Remember” album in late 2008, they picked up endorsements from LG Electronics, spawned hits with Seungri’s “Strong Baby” and went on to launch arguably the greatest debut of any girl group in history with 2NE1.
In July of 2009, YG could have just sat back and rode off the wave of 2NE1’s hit “I Don’t Care,” or even Big Bang’s stardom in Japan with the release of their hit “Gara Gara Go.” Instead…they started teasing fans about the potential release of G-Dragon’s first solo project.
Now me…this had me on the edge of my seat. You gotta remember, I’ve been a fan of Big Bang since before they debuted in 2006. I saw what G-Dragon was capable of as a friggin trainee…a trainee!
The beginning of 2009 jumped out to a great start. I was still reeling from that awesome showdown between Big Bang and DBSKat the SBS year-end events and the hits kept on coming. I think it was simply the trend where hip hop and pop blended smooth electronica in their songs that made them all so unforgettable.
This chapter’s gonna show you a myriad of artists, so strap yourselves in. We go from TBNY, to Untouchables, an up-and-coming solo act named AJ and rounding it out with Super Junior’s breakout hit that would eventually become their most successful song. All of it went down in the first quarter of 2009.
This was back when Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” was on replay non-stop. Even with me, a man who didn’t listen to the radio or kept up with American pop culture, I couldn’t escape it whether I was out at the gym or at this internet start-up company where I was an intern. Man, you couldn’t escape it. That’s not to complain though. Say what you want aboutLady Gaga, “Poker Face”got in your blood. Your head will bob, no matter what you’re doing.
Those were good times. I only had three months of college before graduating, I just started practicing Wing Chun with a legit sifu. And as per usual, what made it all memorable, was the music I discovered.
In the last chapter, I discussed Big Bang’s collaborative performance with a hip hop group called Dynamic Duo. It was the first I had heard of Dynamic Duo and was impressed. Thus, I was more open to solo and underground hip hop acts. The first I discovered, was a hip hop duo called TBNY.
August of 2008 was awesome for more reasons than one. Big Bang just came out with their “Stand Up” mini-album and even Shinee and the Wonder Girls were still throwing down. But on August 29, 2008, a new challenger entered the stage. They went by the name of 2pm.
When, I first heard about 2pm there was a lot of hype. First off, they boasted about their masculinity, which was a jab at the other idol groups as I mentioned in my chapter “Big Bang vs. The Flower Boys.”2pm would become known as the “beastly idols” for bearing their muscular physique and pulling off some difficult choreography, backflips and handsprings galore.
Additionally, 2pm was formed and produced by JYP of JYP Entertainment, the same man behind the Wonder Girls and Rain. The anticipation was palpable. It was JYP’s first boyband since G.O.D and…I hope I’m not overstepping any bounds by saying this, but it does seem like having a boyband was a staple of prominence when it comes to Korean pop culture. You could have a soloist, a band, or even a girl group…but until you’ve locked down a solid boyband…it seems like you just couldn’t compete as an entertainment company.
Despite all of this, I confess, when I first heard 2pm’s “10 Out of 10” I really didn’t think much of them. I mean, they were clearly awesome dancers and they had the swag to compete on the same level of Shinee, who had debuted just a few months prior. But their singing…I didn’t think there was anything remarkable about them. Their voices were average, their rappers were sub-par, and if any of them were to go solo, I didn’t think they stood a chance on their own. And then…it was just by chance that I saw their live performance of “Only You.”
There’s something about that song and performance that made 2pm stand out to me. It wasn’t until I saw this performance that I thought… “Okay, these guys could be a threat to Big Bang.”
And I say that with a smile. I’m one of those who fully believes in rivalries bringing the best out of competitors. “10 Out of 10” was okay…but “Only You” showed their versatility, meaning they weren’t only capable of producing a mainstream track, but creating something new. Continue Reading
Stage In The Sky 