Crush | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 27, 2014 | |||
Recorded | 2012–2014 | |||
Studio | YG Studios (Seoul) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 35:06 | |||
Language | Korean | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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2NE1 chronology | ||||
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Singles from Crush | ||||
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Crush is the second and final studio album by South Korean girl group 2NE1. It was released on February 27, 2014, by YG Entertainment. The album marked the group's first Korean album release since 2NE1 2nd Mini Album (2011) and their first studio album in four years following To Anyone (2010). Crush was produced by Teddy, Choice 37, Dee.P, Masta Wu, Choi Pil-kang and Peejay, as well as group leader CL. Stylistically, the album incorporates a broad range of musical influences from R&B, hip hop, dance, electronic, and reggae.
Crush received positive reviews from music critics who praised its production and composition; the record's innovation was particularly appreciated with its integration of various stylistic elements. Rolling Stone and Fuse listed Crush as one of the best albums released during the year worldwide. The album sold over 5,000 copies within four days in the US and debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200, making it the best-selling and the highest charting Korean album in the country at the time. The Japanese edition of Crush was made available on June 25, 2014, and peaked at number four on the Oricon Albums Chart.
The lead single from the album, "Come Back Home", peaked at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart for two consecutive weeks, becoming the group's ninth number-one single in South Korea. The second single, "Gotta Be You", was promoted on music program Inkigayo and peaked at number three on the Gaon Digital Chart. Shortly after the release of Crush, the group embarked on their final concert tour, the All or Nothing World Tour, which visited multiple countries in Asia.
Following the success of 2NE1's debut studio-album To Anyone (2010), [1] rumors began to circulate about the group's second full-length Korean-language album. Prior to the release of the group's 2012 single "I Love You", YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk unveiled plans for 2NE1 to release a new single every three weeks, eventually leading up to a new album. [2] One year later in June 2013, however, Yang once again unveiled plans for the promotion of a series of songs leading up to a new album, supposedly to be released that October. [3] It was only until February 13, 2014, when YG officially confirmed via YG Life the release of 2NE1's second Korean-language studio album, titled Crush, for February 24. [4] The agency announced that the full-length album would instead consist of ten new tracks, with the exception of the Korean version of their Japanese single "Scream" (2012). [5]
"For this album, we pretty much locked ourselves up in the studio and gave it 100 percent. We've also grown a lot as women since our first album, and you'll be able to hear that on this record. Also, since I wrote a lot of the music, it's even more personal to us than our previous records."
–CL talking about Crush [6]
On February 19, 2014, it was announced that the release of the album would be postponed to two days later than originally intended, in order to coincide with the birthday of CL on the 26th. [7] At the same time, the tracklist for the album was unveiled, and it was announced that "Come Back Home" and "Gotta Be You" would serve as its two singles. The name of the former track sparked curiosity among fans due to Yang's former group Seo Taiji and Boys having a song of the same name (1995); in an interview with Vice , 2NE1 leader CL confirmed that the name of the song was in fact intended to pay homage to the former group, although the concept of the music video would remain different. [8] [9] Crush and its two singles were released for digital consumption at midnight local time on February 27, while the album was released physically on March 7, 2014. [10]
The digital download of the album was originally scheduled for release on February 24, 2014, but was pushed back to February 27 to coincide with CL's birthday on February 26. Two music videos for its lead single "Come Back Home" were scheduled for release on February 28, although neither were released until March 2. [11] The music video for "Happy" was released on March 2. [11]
Prior to the release of the album, 2NE1 held a private listening party for a group of 21 people selected from fans and music experts. [12] It was revealed the new songs would be showcased for the first time at the opening dates of the group's All or Nothing World Tour in Seoul, South Korea on March 1 and 2, 2014. [11] On May 20, 2014, 2NE1 uploaded the music video for "Gotta Be You" on their YouTube channel in commemoration of their fifth anniversary of debut. [13] [14]
The Japanese edition of Crush was released on June 25, 2014. The Limited Edition (Type A) contains the both Japanese and Korean versions of the album on 2 CD's, as well as a bonus DVD with music video clips and "making of Crush". The Special Edition (Type B) contains the DVD and Japanese version of the album while the Standard Edition (Type C) contains only the Japanese version of the album, without the DVD. The Fan Club Special Edition (Type D) has DVD footage of a fan club event from 2013. The Music Cards also contain information from the group's 2014 All or Nothing World Tour. [n 1] All editions have alternate covers.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Idology | (positive) [15] |
IZM | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 7.3/10 [18] |
Weiv | 7/10 [19] |
Yahoo! Voices | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Crush received positive reviews from music critics. Rolling Stone named it the sixth best pop album of 2014—the only appearance from an Asian artist on the list, with Charles Aaron writing "Almost two years after K-pop first giddily barged into America's imagination, the genre hasn't sustained a post-"Gangnam Style" wave, but the Seoul machine [2NE1] keeps humming." He further highlighted the diversity of all its tracks, and identified "MTBD" as the album's centerpiece. [21] Fuse noted the group's "knack for genre-melding" and wrote that "After fans waited nearly four years for their second full-length album, the K-pop phenoms did not disappoint with a slew of forward-thinking, wholly-accessible tracks". They selected "Come Back Home", "Baby I Miss You" and "Gotta Be You" as the album standouts. [22] [23] The publication further included Crush in their year-end ranking of best 40 worldwide albums of 2014. [24]
Billboard ranked it the number one best K-pop album of the year, where they felt that it "proved more than worth the nearly-four-year wait" and highlighted the record's venture into new sonic territory with the fusion of different genres. [25] August Brown of Los Angeles Times stated that "'Crush' has one foot in each country's pop music: K-pop's neon melodies, with sounds from America's trap and bass-music scenes. It's the most coherent LP to come out of this generation of K-pop." [17] Writing for Pitchfork, Corban Goble commented that "The brash all-female Korean pop supergroup 2NE1's new album, Crush, bottles up contemporary trends as well as their usual EDM/reggae/hip-hop/R&B stylemash. But it represents a sleeker, more refined vision for the group." [18] Conversely, Jeon Min-seok of webzine IZM had a more critical stance, feeling that the songs from the record were not as great as those found in the group's earlier albums. [16]
Crush was chosen as the Favorite Girl Group Album on the "Girl Group Week Readers' Poll" hosted by Billboard in May 2014, beating albums by Girls Aloud, Little Mix, Destiny's Child and the Spice Girls. [26] Billboard named it the 18th greatest K-pop album of the 2010s decade while Paste named it the 20th greatest K-pop album of all time, with the latter calling it a worthwhile last album "to one of K-pop's most important girl groups." [27]
Following its release, Crush sold over 5,000 copies within four days in the United States and debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200. In doing so, the album broke two records: the best selling K-pop album in the country (the record has since been beaten by Exo's Exodus which sold 6,000 copies) and the highest-charting album by a Korean artist on the Billboard 200, which would hold the record for two and a half years. In the group's native country South Korea, the album debuted and peaked at number two on the Gaon Album Chart in the chart issue dated March 2–8, 2014. [28] According to Gaon's mid-year charts, the tracks from Crush have been downloaded over 5.2 million times; [29] however, it underperformed it terms of physical sales compared to the group's previous records. Due to its successful digital performance, it landed their fourth nomination for Album of the Year at the 2014 Melon Music Awards. [30]
Listeners accused the sixth track, "MTBD", of having an audio sample of a young boy reciting Quran verses. This struck social media by storm amongst 2NE1's Muslim listeners, with even death threats being posted on both the group's and CL's social media pages. Because of this controversy, YG Entertainment released an alternate version of "MTBD" which omits the sample. [31]
Organization | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bugs Music Awards | 2014 | Top 10 Albums | Won | [32] |
Melon Music Awards | 2014 | Album of the Year | Nominated | [30] |
Best R&B / Soul Song (for "If I Were You") | Nominated | |||
Philippine K-pop Awards | 2014 | Album of the Year | Won | [33] |
Golden Disc Awards | 2015 | Album Bonsang | Nominated | |
Red Dot Design Awards | 2015 | Best Communication Design | Won | [34] |
Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Billboard | The 10 Best K-pop Albums of 2014 | 1 | [25] |
The 40 Best K-pop Deep Cuts of the Decade ("MTBD") | 2 | [35] | |
The 25 Greatest K-pop Albums of the 2010s | 18 | [36] | |
Fuse | Best 40 Albums of 2014 | — | [24] |
Paste | The 30 Greatest K-pop Albums of All Time | 20 | [27] |
Rolling Stone | 20 Best Pop Albums of 2014 | 6 | [21] |
Vice | The 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2014 ("If I Were You") | 7 | [37] |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Crush" | CL | CL, Choice 37 | Choice 37 | 3:14 |
2. | "Come Back Home" | Teddy | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | 3:50 |
3. | "Gotta Be You" (너 아님 안돼;Neo Anim Andwae) | Teddy, Masta Wu | Teddy, P.K | P.K | 3:52 |
4. | "If I Were You" (살아 봤으면 해;Sara Bwasseumyeon Hae;lit. I Wish I Could Live (That Way) | CL | CL, Dee.P | Dee.P | 3:30 |
5. | "Good to You" (착한 여자;Chakhan Yeoja;lit. Kind Woman) | Teddy, G-Dragon | Teddy, Choice 37 | Choice 37 | 3:41 |
6. | "MTBD" (CL solo; 멘붕;Menbung;lit. Mental Breakdown) | Teddy, CL | Teddy | Teddy | 3:16 |
7. | "Happy" | Teddy | Teddy | Teddy | 3:37 |
8. | "Scream" (Korean version) | CL | Teddy, Dee.P | Dee.P | 3:40 |
9. | "Baby I Miss You" | CL | CL, Choice 37, Peejay | Choice 37, Peejay | 3:12 |
10. | "Come Back Home" (Unplugged version) | Teddy | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | 3:14 |
Total length: | 35:06 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Crush" | Sunny Boy | CL, Choice 37 | Choice 37 | 3:14 |
2. | "Come Back Home" | Teddy, Sunny Boy | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | 3:49 |
3. | "Gotta Be You" | Teddy, Masta Wu, Sunny Boy | Teddy, Masta Wu | Choi Pil Kang | 3:51 |
4. | "Do You Love Me" | Teddy, Sunny Boy | Teddy | 3:35 | |
5. | "Happy" | Teddy, Sunny Boy | Teddy | 3:37 | |
6. | "Falling in Love" | Teddy, Choice37, Sunny Boy | Teddy | 3:46 | |
7. | "I Love You" | Teddy, Sunny Boy, Tatsuji Ueda, Izumi Soratani, Keisuke | Teddy, Lydia Paek | 3:57 | |
8. | "If I Were You" | Ritsuko Tanifuji | CL, Dee.P | Dee.P | 3:30 |
9. | "Missing You" | Teddy, Tatsuji Ueda | Teddy | 3:39 | |
10. | "Come Back Home" (Unplugged version) | Teddy, Sunny Boy | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | 3:14 |
Total length: | 36:12 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Crush" | CL | CL, Choice 37 | Choice 37 | 3:14 |
2. | "Come Back Home" | Teddy | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | 3:50 |
3. | "Gotta Be You" (너 아님 안돼; Neo Anim Andwae) | Teddy, Choi Pil Kang | Teddy, Masta Wu | Choi P.K | 3:52 |
4. | "If I Were You" (살아 봤으면 해; Sara Bwasseumyeon Hae) | CL | CL, Dee.P | Dee.P | 3:30 |
5. | "Good to You" (착한 여자; Chakhan Yeoja) | Teddy, G-Dragon | Teddy, Choice 37 | Choice 37 | 3:41 |
6. | "MTBD (CL solo)" (멘붕; Menbung) | Teddy, CL | Teddy | Teddy | 3:16 |
7. | "Happy" | Teddy | Teddy | Teddy | 3:37 |
8. | "Scream" (Korean version) | CL | Teddy, Dee.P | Dee.P | 3:40 |
9. | "Baby I Miss You" | CL | CL, Choice 37, Peejay | Choice 37, Peejay | 3:12 |
10. | "Come Back Home" (Unplugged version) | Teddy | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | Teddy, P.K, Dee.P | 3:14 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Crush" (music videos) | |
2. | "Come Back Home" (music videos) | |
3. | "Gotta Be You" (music videos) | |
4. | "Happy" (music videos) | |
5. | "Missing You" (music videos) | |
6. | "Do You Love Me" (music videos) | |
7. | "Falling in Love" (music videos) | |
8. | "I Love You" (music videos) | |
9. | "Making of Crush" |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "2NE1 1st FANCLUB EVENT 2013 ~DO YOU LOVE ME~" (only sale for Blackjack Nolza Shop) |
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Crush. [38]
Recording
2NE1 Design
Production
| Management
|
Weekly charts
| Monthly charts
Year-end charts
|
Region | Sales amount |
---|---|
Japan | 36,000 [52] |
South Korea | 71,236 [53] |
United States | 10,000 [54] |
Region | Date | Version(s) | Format(s) | Label(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | February 27, 2014 | Korean | ||
South Korea | ||||
March 7, 2014 | CD | |||
Japan | March 19, 2014 |
| YGEX | |
Philippines | March 29, 2014 | CD | Warner Music Philippines | |
Taiwan | April 3, 2014 |
| Warner Music Taiwan | |
Japan | June 25, 2014 | Japanese |
| YGEX |
CD | ||||
CD+DVD | ||||
2CD+DVD |
2NE1 is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, which was active between 2009 and 2016, before reforming in 2024. The group is composed of four members: Bom, CL, Dara, and Minzy. Known for breaking typical stereotypes of K-pop, musical experimentation, fashion, and stage presence, they are recognized for expanding girl group styles in the Korean music industry and have become one of the leading figures of the Korean wave.
Lee Chae-rin, better known by her stage name CL, is a South Korean rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she spent much of her early life in Japan and France. She debuted and rose to fame as the leader of the girl group 2NE1 in 2009, which went on to become one of the most popular South Korean girl groups worldwide. As a solo artist, CL made her debut with the single "The Baddest Female" in May 2013 and released the solo track "MTBD" in February 2014 as part of 2NE1's final studio album Crush.
Park Bom, previously known mononymously as Bom, is a South Korean singer. She is best known as a member of the South Korean girl group 2NE1.
Gong Min-ji, better known by her stage name Minzy, is a South Korean singer, rapper, and dancer. She debuted in 2009 as a member of South Korean girl group 2NE1, which became one of the best-selling girl groups worldwide before her departure in April 2016. She released her first solo EP, Minzy Work 01: "Uno", in April 2017. On November 20, 2020, Minzy made her debut in the Philippines with the Tagalog version of her single "Lovely".
To Anyone is the debut studio album by South Korean girl group 2NE1. It was released on September 9, 2010, by YG Entertainment and CJ E&M Music. 2NE1 worked alongside YG CEO Yang Hyun Suk, Teddy, and e.knock to produce the album. Sonically, the album was described as a pop record, integrating other genres including R&B, dance, and hip hop.
2NE1 were a South Korean girl group signed to YG Entertainment, with members CL, Bom, Dara, and Minzy making up the quartet. Their discography consists of two studio albums, two extended plays, eighteen singles and two promotional singles. The group established themselves in the Korean music scene in March 2009, with the release of the LG Cyon promotional single "Lollipop", a collaboration with label mates Big Bang. It brought the group instant recognition in South Korea and would receive over 3,000,000 downloads in the country.
2NE1 is the second eponymous extended play by South Korean girl group 2NE1. It was released on July 28, 2011, through YG Entertainment, in both physical and digital formats. It was distributed by KMP Holdings. 2NE1 2nd Mini Album, like its predecessors 2NE1 1st Mini Album (2009) and To Anyone (2010), was primarily written and produced by Teddy Park, with additional songwriting contributions from Kush and Lydia Paek. The EP was re-released as the group's debut Japanese record titled Nolza on September 21, 2011, under YGEX.
"I Am the Best" is a song by South Korean girl group 2NE1. YG Entertainment released the song for digital download and streaming as the third single from the group's self-titled second extended play (EP) on June 24, 2011. Written and produced by Teddy Park, "I Am the Best" is an electro house and electropop track that integrates hip hop and Middle Eastern elements through its instrumentation. Its lyrics contain themes of self-confidence and narcissism.
Alive is the fifth Korean extended play by South Korean boy group Big Bang, released through YG Entertainment on February 29, 2012. Musically, it is a dance and electronic record that incorporates elements of hip hop and R&B. BigBang members G-Dragon and T.O.P wrote and produced the lyrics and music for nearly all tracks on the album. Alive spawned three digital singles that were released within the week prior—"Blue", "Fantastic Baby", and "Bad Boy", all three of which peaked within the top three positions on the Gaon Digital Chart.
"Scream" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group 2NE1. It was released through YGEX alongside the group's Japanese compilation album Collection on March 28, 2012, and marked the first and only original Japanese song by the group. "Scream" serves as the second single promoted off the record after "Go Away", which was released in November 2011. A remix of the song by M-Flo was released digitally on Recochoku on March 14, 2012, before the single itself was released on March 28. A recording of "Scream" in Korean was included on the tracklist of 2NE1's second studio album Crush, which was released in February 2014.
"I Love You" is a song recorded in two languages by South Korean girl group 2NE1. The Korean version was released on July 5, 2012, through YG Entertainment, while the Japanese version was released on September 19 by YGEX as the group's third Japanese single. The song was produced by 2NE1's long-time collaborator Teddy Park. Musically, "I Love You" is described as an affectionate, lush, and "moody synth" dance-pop track that infuses elements of electronic and traditional Korean trot music to create a "different sound" and "new genre of music", whilst still showing the beauty of Korean culture.
"The Baddest Female" is a song by South Korean rapper and singer CL. It was released through YG Entertainment on May 28, 2013, with the accompanying music video uploaded to YouTube simultaneously. The video reached more than one million views in less than 24 hours. Musically, "The Baddest Female" is a hip hop song that incorporates elements of dubstep and electro.
"Falling in Love" is a song by South Korean girl group 2NE1, released on July 8, 2013 by YG Entertainment. The song was produced by the group's long-time collaborator Teddy, and was co-written by him and Choice37. Musically, "Falling in Love" is a breezy K-pop song that contains elements of reggae, electronic and hip hop. The music video was uploaded to the group's official YouTube channel the day before.
"Hate You" is a song by South Korean girl group 2NE1. The Korean version is the third single from the group's self-titled EP and was released by YG Entertainment on July 21, 2011. The Japanese version is included on the Japanese version of the EP, titled Nolza, released on August 10, 2011. The song was written and produced by YG's in-house producer Teddy Park.
"Come Back Home" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group 2NE1 for their second and final Korean-language studio album, Crush (2014). The song was released on February 27, 2014, through YG Entertainment in conjunction with the release of the album and serves as one of its two title tracks. Written and produced by Teddy Park along with Choi Pil-kang and Dee.P, the song is a hybrid of a variety of musical genres, including electropop, R&B, reggae and trap. An unplugged version of the single was also made available on the album.
"Gotta Be You" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group 2NE1 and is the second Korean-language single from the group's final studio album Crush. The track peaked at number 3 on the Gaon Digital Chart and was ranked number 42 for the most downloaded songs in South Korea in 2014. The track was the last single that 2NE1 released as a quartet, before Minzy's departure from the group in April 2016.
The discography of South Korean rapper and singer CL consists of one studio album, one extended play and eighteen singles. Her debut solo single "The Baddest Female" peaked within the top five on the Gaon Digital Chart. Its follow up single "MTBD" was released in 2014, as part of 2NE1's final studio album Crush (2014). The standalone singles "Doctor Pepper" and "Hello Bitches" were released in 2015. In 2016, her first English-language single "Lifted" became the first entry by a solo female Korean artist to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2019, she released the EP In the Name of Love, and five of its six tracks peaked within the top 15 on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart.
The All or Nothing World Tour was the second Asia tour and third concert tour overall by South Korean girl group 2NE1, in support of their second Korean studio album Crush (2014). The tour visited various countries in Asia including South Korea, Japan, Philippines, China, Thailand, Malaysia and more from March to October 2014. It was 2NE1's final concert tour before their disbandment two years later in 2016, until their reunion in 2024.
"Missing You" is a song by South Korean girl group 2NE1, released on November 21, 2013 by YG Entertainment. The song was produced and written entirely by long-time producer and collaborator Teddy. Commercially, "Missing You" debuted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart and sold over 1 million digital units by the end of 2014.
"MTBD" is a song by South Korean rapper and singer CL. It was released through YG Entertainment on February 27, 2014, as a track off 2NE1's final studio album Crush (2014). "MTBD", which derives from the phrase "mental breakdown", was written and produced by Teddy Park with additional lyrics penned by CL. The song was used in the fifth episode of Fox's Lucifer, which was broadcast in February 2016.
Discography
Other references
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