IN CONCERT: 2NE1

2011 sure has been an awesome one for me in my KPOP fanship. I saw Yunho in the flesh on the streets of NYC at Fashion Night Out, saw (most of) the entire SMTOWN Family live at SMTown New York (including my top two male biases, one of them being the ULTIMATE BIAS), and now I can confirm I will be seeing live TODAY my overall favorite female KPOP artist, 2NE1, live in person! In effect, between 2010 and 2011, I will be essentially crossing off seeing all of my KPOP faves live and in concert. And I live in America. (Hurrah for Globalization!) I realize how seriously blessed I am with this statement.

I can't really explain to you how psyched I am about this, but I'll try. Friends, let me tell you a story. A story about how I got into the KPOP genre...

Much of the blame can be placed on (the now award-winning) Nikki @ Pop Reviews Now back in mid 2009. After months of reading her blog and speaking to her on Twitter following her sudden fixation with KPOP as a genre whole, including her urgent re-birth as a Cassiopeia (that means a TVXQ! fan), I eventually caved to her call to arms and began to tentatively wade the waters. But it was not through my Ultimates in TVXQ! that I truly became a KPOP fan. Oh no. The iTunes library does not tell lies, people. While I may have joined the Cassiopeia rank officially in October of 2009 (thanks in large part to the sway of "Mirotic" and "Wrong Number"), 2NE1 officially entered my iTunes library in early August via their second single "I Don't Care", mere months after their original debut in South Korea in May of 2009. So in a sense, I was a Blackjack (2NE1 fan) first. Shock and awe ensues.

The celebration of all things 2NE1 has been ongoing ever since. In fact, in terms of my non-KPOP listening friendship circle, 2NE1 remains to be the sole artist I've been able to turn people on to. To question their ability to find footing here in America seems difficult -- their stylized image alone fits in with the American Top 40 landscape so much better than that of say, Wonder Girls, BoA or Girls' Generation. I've been waiting a long time for that 2NE1 English record, but at least today I can say I saw 2NE1 in person.

2NE1 will be performing today as a part of MTV Iggy's celebration of the 'Best New Bands In the World', an honor they won last month. It will be their first American performance ever, let alone on the East Coast and will hopefully be the harbinger of good things regarding their upcoming English language/American release. The concert is at the Best Buy Theater near Times Square here in New York City, and is set to also include Venezuelan punk band La Vida Boeheme, Malaysian singer-songwriter YUNA and Jamaican reggae singer Gyptian, amongst promised others.

Here's a taste of the live 2NE1 experience, via their recent performance at the 2011 MAMA Awards (MNET Asian Music Awards), held in Singapore. The group took home two awards that night: Best Group Vocal for "Lonely" and the prestigious Song of the Year award for "I Am the Best". The performed both songs live.

Dear CL, you are the epitome of fierce. How I want to be you.

I will be attending this event alongside a fellow blogger pal, who contributes to my buddy McRoth's epic KPOP blog. Keep an eye on my Twitter account (@melismaticdiva) for live coverage.