This week, with 2NE1’s comeback just around the corner, we’ll be looking at their promotional release; ‘Be Mine’.
I was in two minds as to whether I should review this song, seeing as it’s for an advert, but after very little consideration I felt compelled to write about it. This song gets stuck in my head most days, but I’m so okay with that because it is a genuinely beautiful-sounding song.
Concept
Well, the concept for this song, if you want to call it a concept, is that it is technically an advert for Intel Inspiron; this is a promotional song for the ‘Make Thumb Noise’ concept for the Ultrabook inspired by Intel. This will be something pretty strange for non-K-pop fans to get used to; I can imagine a lot of people thinking that it’s odd that they’ve made a whole song for advertising. They would wonder why it had been done. Of course singers and bands endorse companies and brands in the UK, but this is a whole new level. I’ve seen Florence and The Machine living recordings used to promote HP adverts, and actresses and singers like Vanessa Hudgens and Katy Perry promote skin care products, but all they do is appear in the adverts and smile. It even took me some time to get used to the idea back when 2PM made ‘My Color’ for Samsung. Even to this day, it seems a little like a waste that really awesome songs will just always be associated with a brand or product, and will remain a gimmick. And I feel that that is what this song risks becoming in the eyes of potential UK listeners; a gimmick to sell laptops.
Another part of the concept of this song is that it is a partially fan-made video/song, as fans had the opportunity to vote for clips to be in the song and parts of the video concept. This will more than likely hold no relevance if 2NE1 released this song in the UK, but I still think it is worth mentioning as it shows real gratitude and the camaraderie 2NE1 shares with their fans. A really sweet gesture from the girls to thank their fans for the support they’ve received over the years.
Aside from the usual shots of each member singing their parts of the song, the video is comprised of a collage of group and individual pictures and video clips of the girls. The images shown are from over the past year or so and show 2NE1 getting ready for performances and working hard and enthusiastically; it creates quite a personal yet familiar feel to the video, like they’re sharing treasured memories with you. Again, this is quite a treat for fans of theirs, but perhaps won’t really be of much interest to people who are only just being introduced to their music. Despite this it still adds to the overall touching vibe of the video and the sight of recordings of these four friends having fun together might resonate with a variety of people. (It might remind people of those hilarious yet embarrassing videos they’ve recorded with their own friends…not that I would know anything about that kind of thing!)
Everything in the video is quite sweet and lovely, with the sets being predominately white and having some kind of relaxing theme to it; a library, some kind of shoe shop, a room with waterfalls and TV screens and…well, a room with laptops on the wall. I assume these sets are visual examples of some of the uses of the laptop; reading, shopping or selling, video chatting, and just a general fun way to spend time. All throughout the video the Intel laptops are a main feature, but they still manage to not overpower the video; the girls have the laptops with them at most points in the video, and they are seen using them to play music, look at photos, record videos and much more. I almost get the feeling that they are trying to portray the laptop as something that is with you at the important times in your life, just like a friend. Again, I’m not entirely sure how well British people will react to such blatant product placement, but I know many people who will agree that a laptop holds a lot of sentimental value as a lot of our lives can be held on them.
The white clothes, simple outfits and hair, and plush surroundings match well with the feel of the song. Nothing about this concept is over the top which matches up perfectly with the laidback and smooth feeling of the track.
UK potential: 3/5
Choreography
After all the fan voting between the main two styles of song this could have been, R&B or Electro-house, ‘Be Mine’ ended up being a slow tempo R&B song, which therefore meant that there is no dance routine. I can’t be sure if 2NE1 will ever play this song live seeing as it is for a CF, but ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ was used in an advert too and they have played that live. But ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ is actually one of their own slightly altered songs, so they play the original live, but ‘Be Mine’ may not be seeing as it is probably just for Intel promotion and might not be on any album. As such we may never see if they add any choreography to a live version.
Even if they were to ever perform ‘Be Mine’ live, it would probably be more likely to be like ‘It Hurts’ or ‘Lonely’; the members would just sit/stand and sing it. But let’s be honest, that’s probably the best way to go for a fitting visual for this song, and even when not moving, 2NE1 provide amazing performances. We wouldn’t even miss a dance routine.
UK potential: 4/5 (because the lack of dancing matches well with the song and concept)
Song
Maybe it’s just because it feels like they’ve been gone for too long (when in reality they didn’t finish their promotions for ‘Ugly’ that long ago) but this song just sounds amazing to me. Despite a proportion of fans complaining that they preferred other possible variations of the song to this final version, I think that there is not a thing I would fault about this end result; it’s a slightly softer style of song than 2NE1 usually produces, but it completely compliments each of their different singing styles and just proves that as a group they can deliver many different genres of music with their unique sound still stamped all over it.
This song is much more gentle and slow than most songs we are used to from 2NE1, and we are shown a much sweeter image than their usual fierce one. But they still pull off this image and alter a slow tempo-ed song to fit them better, e.g. ‘So just shut up and be mine’. This is where their unique image and sound comes into play because even though they are singing some kind of love song, they make it more edgy with the kind of harsh language you wouldn’t expect to find in a confession.
A fair amount of English is used in this song, but it’s mostly the same lines repeated (but repeated quite regularly). The English lyrics pretty much make sense and as usual are impeccably pronounced; ‘All I wanna do is just be with you…don’t fade away. Hold on to this moment, this is what I’ve been waiting’. This is the only slight objection to the English that I have, as the end of that line sounds slightly odd unless they actually say ‘why I’ve been waiting’, but I listened to it many times, and I’m pretty sure they say ‘what’. They also say ‘We’ll make it through anything, you’re the one I’ve been…’ and they seem to not finish their sentences until later in the song, when they say ‘you’re the one I’ve been waiting for so long. Wanna be in your arms’. Despite these slight inconsistencies with the English, I don’t think many people will really pick up on it or read into it as much as I have, and they will probably just enjoy having something that they can sing along to.
‘Be Mine’ has an uplifting sound, and you can tell even from the English used that it’s clearly a hopeful love song. This is refreshing compared to the kinds of love songs that have been popular in the UK recently, e.g. Adele’s heartbroken anthems, which I think would give this song a slight edge and will be more memorable to UK listeners.
UK Potential: 5/5
Highlight: Minzy’s voice is outstanding in this song! She manages to improve with every song released, and again with the release of ‘Be Mine’ she doesn’t disappoint. Of course the other members have beautiful voices too, but Minzy really manages to shine.
Overall UK Potential: 12/15 – A fairly high score, but in my opinion I think 2NE1 are one of the K-pop groups that have the most potential for breaking into the Western music market; their English is top-notch, they have already gained the attention of big Western names such as Will. I. Am and Jeremy Scott, and their style and attitude are already admired by many people and fans worldwide. So, maybe this song isn’t their usual fierce style but it’s still uniquely 2NE1, and the lack of ‘shock factor’ would really help this song appeal to a wider audience. To be honest, I’m pretty confused as to why they don’t already have an English album out!
(But please, YG, don’t let Will. I. Am produce the whole album. I’ve heard the snippets of his songs with 2NE1…urm, all I’ll say is that Teddy knows best!)
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