Released June 24, 2011 Recorded 2011 | Format Digital download Length 3:27 | |
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Genre Electro house, electronic, hip hop Label YG Entertainment
YGEX
Capitol | ||
"I Am the Best" (Hangul: 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.
Contents
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.
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. 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".
Upon the video's release and positively received performances, the group announced a Dance Competition where fans were to attempt the choreography and post it online, and the members of 2NE1 would choose the winner. The winner was an all-female dance troupe from Vietnam called L.Y.N.T.
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.
International reception
In Korea, the song debuted at number 4 on the Gaon Digital Chart for the week ending June 25, 2011. 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. 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. It won the "Song of the Year" award at the 2011 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
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.
Following the broadcasting of Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 commercial in August 2014, 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.
Tie-ins
The single is listed in the Xbox 360 Kinect game, Dance Central 3, and became the first K-pop song to be listed in the Dance Central series.
This song was featured in week 8 of the 10th season of the American So You Think You Can Dance TV-show where Jenna Johnson danced with Mark Kanemura in an routine which he had choreographed.
Microsoft used the song for their commercial "Head to Head" for the Surface Pro 3 in August 2014. A second commercial called "Accolades" was broadcast in December.