With Korean idol groups now saturating the Japanese pop market to the extent that the initial breath of fresh air and rush of slick, electropop energy is passing, it takes a more seasoned kind of fan to differentiate between the legions of immaculately rehearsed Girls' Generation clones. But with Japan slow to respond with forward-thinking pop of its own, the task falls to another Korean group to blow K-pop apart.
2NE1 have a habit of reminding the listener of the group's name every three or four seconds during the first half of this first Japanese-language album, and like a Korean TLC composed of four Lisa "Left Eye" Lopeses, every moment buzzes with that most misused word in pop music — attitude. Main rapper CL's spoken word intros are full of swagger, Park Bom is as fine a singer as they come, Dara is sassy with a touch of ironic self-awareness, and Minzy ... well, she's a good dancer.
In a way, 2NE1's closest Japanese equivalent is probably idol group Momoiro Clover Z. While they come from radically different musical backgrounds, they share a seamless integration of personality, image and music, with each element mutually complementary. They also share a completely batty, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to songwriting. "I Am the Best," already familiar from last year on the "Nolza" mini-album, is a particularly striking example with its collision of manic house music bleeps, crunching electro synths, tribal drumming and Indian/Middle Eastern melodies sounding like absolutely nothing else on earth. What do you even call that music? Dutch electro-Bollyhouse? Who even cares?