2NE1 - Crush

I. Introduction

Crush is the second and final Korean studio album and third and final studio album overall by South Korean girl group 2NE1. It is the group's first album release since 2011's 2nd Mini Album and second full-length album following 2010's To Anyone. Production of the album was handled mainly by Teddy with contributions from Choice 37, Dee.P, Masta Wu, Choi Pil Kang and Peejay as well as the group's leader, CL. Lyrics were written mainly by Teddy Park and CL, with contributions from Big Bang's G-Dragon and Choi Pil Kang. The album is classified as pop, but features elements of other genres, such as R&B, dance, hip hop, reggae and electronic music. This was 2NE1's last release to feature Minzy as a member of the group before her departure in 2016. Crush was named the sixth best pop album of 2014 by Rolling Stone and one of the best 40 pop albums of 2014 by Fuse. The album also ranked at number 11 on Billboard magazine's year-end World Albums list, marking the first time a K-pop band has placed on the chart since its inception.

II. Background And Composition

On January 15, 2014, a poster for the group's upcoming All or Nothing World Tour was revealed on their agency's website, with hints about a new album. On February 19, it was revealed the album would contain of a total of 10 songs. All of the songs are new, except two; Scream, which was previously featured on their 2012 Japanese language album Collection and an Acoustic Version of the album's title track. It was further revealed that the group's leader CL co-composed and wrote lyrics for three and five songs respectively, a first for the group. The digital download of the album was originally slated for release on midnight local time on February 24, 2014, but was pushed back to midnight local time on February 27, 2014, to coincide with CL's birthday on February 26. Two music videos for its lead single "Come Back Home" were planned for release on February 28: a regular version and an unplugged version, although they were not formally released until March 2. The album in physical format was released on March 7. The music video for "Happy" was released on March 2. Prior to the release of the album, 2NE1 held a private listening party for a group of 21 people selected from fans and music experts. It was revealed the new songs would be showcased for the first time at the opening dates of the group's All or Nothing world tour in Seoul, South Korea on March 1 and 2. On May 20, 2NE1 released the music video for "Gotta Be You". Listeners accused the sixth track, "MTBD 멘붕(Mental Breakdown)" of having an audio sample of a young boy reciting Quran verses. This struck social media by storm amongst 2NE1's Muslim listeners, with even death threats being posted on both the group's and CL's social media pages. Because of this controversy, YG Entertainment released an alternate version of "MTBD" which omits the sample.

III. Album Versions

Japanese Version A

Korean Physical Versions Black and Pink

Japanese Digital Version and Type B Physical CD

Japanese Fanclub Edition and Korean Digital Version

The Japanese edition of Crush was released on June 25, 2014. The Limited Edition (Type A) contains the both Japanese and Korean versions of the album on 2 CD's, as well as a bonus DVD with music video clips and "making of Crush". The Special Edition (Type B) contains the DVD and Japanese version of the album while the Standard Edition (Type C) contains only the Japanese version of the album, without the DVD. The Fan Club Special Edition (Type D) has DVD footage of a fan club event from 2013. The Music Cards also contain information from the group's 2014 All or Nothing tour. All editions have alternate covers. Korean Version was released with two covers in black and pink color pallets. The digital version in Japan had a differing cover art compared to the one used world wide.

IV. Tracklisting

IVI. Korean Physical Versions, Korean Digital Versions & CD 2 Of Japanese Type A CD Set

IVII. Japanese Standard Edition, Japanese Digital & Japanese Type A/Type B First Disc

IVIII. Crush Type A and Type B – DVD (Japanese music videos)

1."Crush" (music videos)
2."Come Back Home" (music videos)
3."Gotta Be You" (music videos)
4."Happy" (music videos)
5."Missing You" (music videos)
6."Do You Love Me" (music videos)
7."Falling in Love" (music videos)
8."I Love You" (music videos)
9."Making of Crush"

IVIV. Crush Type D – DVD (Fan Club Limited Edition)

1."2NE1 1st FANCLUB EVENT 2013 ～DO YOU LOVE ME～" (only sale for Blackjack Nolza Shop)

V. Important Videos from the Era