Head-to-Head Competition

Major K-pop Girl Groups Release Back-to-Back Comebacks

Priscilla Ng

Staff Writer

    Korean pop groups SNSD (of SM Entertainment) and 2NE1 (of YG Entertainment) both came out with new music this past week after delays that pushed back the release dates for both groups.

    SNSD released their fourth mini-album “Mr.Mr.” on Monday, February 24 and 2NE1 dropped their second full-length album, “Crush”, on Wednesday, February 26.

    “It’s awesome that both groups decided to comeback in the same week,” senior Sanjana Naik said. “This means more new music for me to listen to!”

    SNSD and 2NE1 are some of the most popular K-pop groups not only in South Korea, but internationally. 2NE1 has already held two concerts in America; SNSD has performed on the David Letterman show.

    However, fans were disappointed when the delays were announced (“Mr.Mr.” was originally slated to come out February 19 and “Crush” was initially supposed to be released on February 26).

    “Honestly, I was really annoyed that both of the albums were delayed. It just seems like a marketing technique to make SNSD and 2NE1’s comebacks as close as possible,” senior Jason Wang said. “But, the two albums are out now and they’re both amazing. I really like ‘Soul’ [one of the tracks off ‘Mr.Mr.’] because the harmonies are done well.”

     The double comebacks are even attracting students and fans who have not been listening to K-pop recently.

    “I haven’t listened to any of SNSD’s stuff for awhile, or K-pop in general actually,” senior Karen Ku said. “But I heard my friends talking about the new mini-album and I decided to go check it out. I’m glad I did because ‘Mr.Mr.’ is pretty catchy.”

    Along with positive reactions to SNSD’s mini-album, students were also extremely pleased to see new tracks from 2NE1.

    “It’s their first full length album since 2010 so it’s long overdue,” senior Malhar Pendse said. “The album totally makes up for it though. ‘Crush’ [the title track] is pretty raw – it’s a close second behind my all time favorite ‘I Am the Best’ [2NE1’s single released in 2011].”

    Others agreed, feeling that the album delivered after such a long time without a new full-length album.

    “Even though I don’t usually listen to rap or dubstep, I loved CL’s [2NE1’s leader] ‘MTBD’,” Naik said. “It has such a high-energy feel to it.”

    With the two albums warmly received, students can look forward to more K-pop releases this year. Comebacks that have been announced include BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, T-ARA, and many others.