I Am the Best

"I Am the Best" (Korean: 내가 제일 잘 나가; RR: Naega Jeil Jal Naga) is a Korean single by South Korean girl group 2NE1 from their self-titled second EP. It was digitally released worldwide on June 24, 2011 under the group's label, YG Entertainment. It was released under Capitol Records on December 10, 2014 in the United States.[3]

This article is about the 2011 2NE1 song. For the English-language play, see Paritosh Painter. For other uses, see I'm the Best (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Ai Am Best or Best.
"I Am the Best"
Single by 2NE1
from the album 2NE1 (2011) and Nolza
ReleasedJune 24, 2011 (2011-06-24) (Korean)
July 21, 2011 (2011-07-21) (Japanese)
Recorded2011
Genre
Length3:27
Label
Songwriter(s)Teddy Park
Producer(s)Teddy Park
2NE1 singles chronology
"Lonely"
(2011)		 "I Am the Best"
(2011)		 "Hate You"
(2011)
iTunes digital cover

Promotion and release

The song was produced by YG Entertainment's main producer, Teddy Park. It was described as an electronic hip hop track that is similar to 2NE1's debut single "Fire". The style of the song is said to be familiar to the youth who are used to clubbing culture.[4]

The first teaser of the song was released on June 19, 2011 featuring 2NE1's leader, CL. The teaser was posted via YG-Life along with the official artwork of the song. YG Entertainment also revealed that they will release a 10-second snippet of the song each day until the full track release on June 24.

On December 11, 2014, Capitol Records replaced YG Entertainment to distribute "I Am the Best" in the U.S. market.[3] The song subsequently impacted Dance, Mainstream and Rhythmic radios in America the same day.

Music video

After a three-day delay on its planned release, the music video of the song premiered on 2NE1's official YouTube channel on June 27, 2011. It was directed by Seo Hyun Seung who also directed their previous music videos like "Fire", "Try to Follow Me" and "Can't Nobody".[5]

Upon the video's release and positively received performances, the group announced a Dance Competition[6] where fans were to attempt the choreography and post it online, and the members of 2NE1 would choose the winner.[7] The winner was an all-female dance troupe from Vietnam called L.Y.N.T.[8]

On October 6, 2014, the music video crossed the 100 million views mark on YouTube and became the eighth K-pop music video to do so.[9]

International reception

In Korea, the song debuted at number 4 on the Gaon Digital Chart for the week ending June 25, 2011.[10] The following week, "I Am the Best" rose three positions to the number one spot on the chart, becoming the group's fourth number one single on the Gaon Chart.[11] By the end of 2011, the song had sold 3.47 million digital copies and was the fourth best-seller of the year in the country.[12] It won the "Song of the Year" award at the 2011 Mnet Asian Music Awards.[13]

In Japan, the song was not commercially successful, peaking at number 37 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart and number 53 on the Japan Hot 100.[14][15]

Following the broadcasting of Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 commercial in August 2014,[16] the song reached number one on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart with 6,000 copies sold on the week ending October 11, 2014. The song also received airplay from American radio stations without officially being released to the airplay market.[17]

Spin's June 2012 list of the "21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time" had "I Am the Best" at number 3, with Chuck Eddy writing that the song "might’ve been the best single released on the planet in 2011".[18] In November 2019, the song was number 4 in Billboard's "100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s" list.[19]

Tie-ins

The single is listed in the Xbox 360 Kinect game, Dance Central 3,[20] and became the first K-pop song to be listed in the Dance Central series.[21][22] The song is featured on the dance rhythm video game, Just Dance 2020.

This song was featured in week 8 of the 10th season of the American series So You Think You Can Dance in which Jenna Johnson danced with Mark Kanemura in a routine that he had choreographed.[23][24]

Microsoft used the song for their commercial "Head to Head" for the Surface Pro 3 in August 2014.[16][25] A second commercial called "Accolades" was broadcast in December.[26]

On February 25, 2018, 2NE1 lead vocalist CL performed at the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, performing parts from "I Am the Best."[27]

The song is also featured in the South Park episode “Board Girls”.

The song was featured in the 2018 South Korean drama, Something in the Rain, episode one. It was also featured in the 2020 Netflix original film Work it during one of the dance performances.

Charts
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Japan (Japan Hot 100)[28] 53
South Korea (Gaon Singles Chart)[11] 1
Chart (2014) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[29] 61
US World Digital Songs (Billboard)[17] 1

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[30]
Japanese ver., digital download 		Gold 100,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone

Release history
Region Release date Format Distributor
Japan[31] June 24, 2011 Digital download YG Entertainment
South Korea[32] YG Entertainment, KT Music
Hong Kong[33] December 9, 2014 Capitol Records
Taiwan[34]
United States[35] December 10, 2014

See also

References
  1. St. Michel, Patrick (September 13, 2011). "How Korean Pop Conquered Japan". The Atlantic. Atlantic Media. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  2. Benjamin, Jeff (October 20, 2014). "2NE1's K-Pop Hit 'I Am the Best' Gains Spins at U.S. Radio Stations". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  3. "iTunes - Music - I Am the Best - Single by 2NE1". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  4. "'YG-Life' blog updates fans on 2NE1′s new mini-album + concert". Allkpop. 6Theory Media.
  5. "2NE1 releases "I Am The Best" music video!". Allkpop. 6Theory Media.
  6. 2NE1 (2011-06-30). 2NE1 "I AM THE BEST" Dance Cover Contest Spot (YouTube). Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  7. "2NE1 "I Am The Best" Official Video and Dance Cover Contest". The Turn Magazine. New York City. 2011-07-11. Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  8. "2NE1 Reveals "I Am The Best" Dance Cover Competition Winners!". Soompi. 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  9. "2NE1 – '내가 제일 잘 나가(I AM THE BEST)' M/V HITS 100 MILLION VIEWS". yg-life.com. YG Life.
  10. 2011년 27주차 Digital Chart. Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  11. 2011년 28주차 Digital Chart. Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  12. "2011년 Download Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  13. "2011 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" Archived 2015-07-03 at the Wayback Machine. MAMA. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  14. "レコード協会調べ 2011年08月31日～2011年09月06日". RIAJ (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  15. "Billboard Japan Hot 100 2011/10/03" (in Japanese). Billboard Japan. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  16. Benjamin, Jeff (August 13, 2014). "Watch Microsoft Brilliantly Shade Apple With 2NE1's K-Pop Hit in New Ad". Billboard.
  17. Benjamin, Jeff. "2NE1's 'I Am the Best' Tops World Digital Songs Chart After Big Sales Week". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  18. Bevan, David; Eddy, Chuck (June 1, 2012) "The 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time" Spin.
  19. "The 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s: Staff List" Billboard. November 25, 2019.
  20. Goldfarb, Andrew (2012-07-23). "Dance Central 3 Release Date Announced". IGN. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  21. "2NE1 to Be Featured in 'Dance Central 3' for Kinect". Soompi. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  22. "2NE1's "I AM THE BEST" Becomes 1st K-pop Song Used In "Dance Central" Video Game Series". Jpopasia.com. 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  23. Barrett, Annie (2013-08-20). "'SYTYCD' results: Two eliminated from Top 8 are... | PopWatch | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
  24. "DANCE on FOX - Jenna & Mark: Winners Chosen". Fox.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2014-01-23. - also "DANCE on FOX". Fox.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23. - select Performances and page to Jenna & Mark
  25. Surface (August 10, 2014). "Surface Pro 3 – Head to Head" (YouTube). Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  26. "YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  27. Herman, Tamar (February 25, 2018). "K-Pop Stars CL & EXO Impress at Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony". Billboard.
  28. "2NE1 Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  29. "Lescharts.com – 2NE1 – I Am The Best" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  30. "RIAJ Certification" (To retrieve the data, select "December 2014" ("2014年12月")) (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan.
  31. "I Am the Best by 2NE1 – Single" (in Japanese). iTunes Store (JP). Apple Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  32. "내가 제일 잘 나가 (I Am the Best) – Digital Single" (in Korean). Melon. LOEN Entertainment. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  33. "I Am the Best – Single". iTunes Store (HK). Apple Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  34. "I Am the Best – Single". iTunes Store (TW). Apple Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  35. "I Am the Best – Single". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
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