2NE1

s a South Korean hip hop/pop girl group formed byYG Entertainment in 2009. 2NE1 consists of 4 members: CL, Minzy, Dara and Bom. The group's name 2NE1 stands for "New Evolution of the 21st Century".^[4]

First appearing in "Lollipop", a commercial campaign with Big Bang for LG Telecom, their debut single "Fire" was released on May 6, 2009. Since then, they have released one extended play, 2NE1, and one studio album, To Anyone. "Fire", "I Don't Care", "Try to Follow Me", and "Go Away" have all hit number one in South Korea.

Pre-debut

The group was first mentioned by the press in late 2008, YG Entertainment announced that the group would consist of four members and debut sometime in May 2009. The company stated that the group had trained for 4 years, and that their debut album would contain songs produced by 1TYM Leader Teddy Park. The group's name was initially announced as "21"; however, due to the discovery of a singer with the same name, the group was quickly renamed "2NE1"

2009: Debut

2NE1's first song was "Lollipop", digitally released on March 27, 2009. The song was created for LG to promote their Cyon phone, and it was a joint release with Big Bang; the commercial/music video debuted on March 28, 2009. Although it was not a promoted single (as it was an advertisement song, there were problems with network chart eligibility), "Lollipop" proved to be a strong chart hit, going to #1 on various online charts and topping music television network M.Net's online chart for four weeks in a row.

On April 30, Yang Hyun Suk revealed that 2NE1's debut song would be a hip-hop/reggae song, and that it would be digitally released on May 6, 2009. Titled "Fire", the song was fully written and produced by 1TYM's Teddy Park. Teasers of the song were released on their official website at the beginning of May, with a 20-second clip released on May 1.