Ugly by 2NE1 is not so enjoyable for me after knowing bts info

  • i don't know a lot about 2ne1 but love a lot of their songs like ugly; lonely; falling in love. Ugly is really a relatable songs for us girls who may not feel most attractive and it doesn't sugarcoat that's what i like about this song.


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    But after knowing what yg was doing like calling them ugly. it feels like yg used their unattractiveness(subjective) as a selling point. Like some blackjacks say; he described 2ne1 as look at talents not beauty. it does not sound empowering. Sounds like all beautiful ggs don't have talent. it feels like they were sold as an ugly group as a counter to then popular girlgroups snsd and wonder girls; that were known for beautiful members. instead of showing that unconventional doesn't mean unattractive; they only emphasized the beauty standards more.


    i do love 2ne1 songs and all members CL; Minzy; Bom; Dara.

  • Tbh kpop is heavily manufactured so anything can be used to sell music or idols. It's why concepts are a thing, it's much easier to sell say a group that does 80s retro concept than show off girl crush group #432.


    YG sold 2ne1 as basically an alternative gg to the usual pretty gg. It obviously worked and was a huge success. But yeah he did go overboard calling them ugly on TV and going so far as to continuously praise a rival group more than his own.

  • Sadly this isn't news, I mean, BP themselves have empowering songs made by yg the company but at debut they were described as prettier 2ne1. This don't only happend at YG tho, unless the ideia came up by the artist themselves and they wrote it being cynical isn't a stretch, but being very honest what matters it's what it means to you, really, if at some point you could relate to and feel better it's the most important:pepelove1:

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  • If it helps that was YG's brand for all their artists, not only female groups. Bigbang was also called ugly by yg staff and made fun of on variety shows. Daesung was literally referred to as "the ugly one" predebut. Talent>Visuals was YG's selling point to show that they were better than the rest of the idol industry. Lowkey worked as well since yg artists were really popular with the gp during 2nd gen.


    It doesn't have to effect the way you feel about the song. I love it and feel both comforted and empowered while listening to it. It's one of my favorite 2NE1 songs.

  • If it helps that was YG's brand for all their artists, not only female groups. Bigbang was also called ugly by yg staff and made fun of on variety shows. Daesung was literally referred to as "the ugly one" predebut. Talent>Visuals was YG's selling point to show that they were better than the rest of the idol industry. Lowkey worked as well since yg artists were really popular with the gp during 2nd gen.


    So it doesn't make the song more or less empowering imo. I love it. It's one of my favorite 2NE1 songs.

    I love the song as well but in 2NE1's case it is documented he took it way far as far as mocking them for not wearing makeup during dress rehearsals and insulting their weight, comparing them to SNSD on levels of how datable they were etc. I do agree the marketing half of the situation worked for promotions, however, knowing how bad he was to them behind the scenes does add a little of bad taste to my mouth especially considering the girls have spoken out about how those comments made them feel about themselves. :omg48:

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  • I love the song as well but in 2NE1's case it is documented he took it way far as far as mocking them for not wearing makeup during dress rehearsals and insulting their weight, comparing them to SNSD on levels of how datable they were etc. I do agree the marketing half worked, knowing how bad he was to them behind the scenes does add a little of bad taste to my mouth especially considering the girls have spoken out about how those comments made them feel about themselves. :omg48:

    Yes it's disgusting. I've always felt weird about the whole situation. On one hand YG has mocked 2NE1 (and many other YG artists) for their looks but on the other hand at least the agency still believed in them enough to debut them and push them as a top group. Many YG artists wouldn't have had the opportunity to debut under SM or JYP because their visuals wouldn't be considered up to bar. Not sure which is crueler.

  • Well if you did actual research you would know Teddy wrote that song when he had low self-esteem. He also said the word ugly doesn't necessarily mean unattractive. It could mean much more than just being ugly. Basically for those who deviate from the standard. It's to give those people hope and empower them.


    But other than that, it's not a secret that YG called 2NE1 ugly. Kpop fans did that too.

  • Well if you did actual research you would know Teddy wrote that song when he had low self-esteem. He also said the word ugly doesn't necessarily mean unattractive. It could mean much more than just being ugly. Basically for those who deviate from the standard. It's to give those people hope and empower them.


    But other than that, it's not a secret that YG called 2NE1 ugly. Kpop fans did that too.

    Was gonna say this exactly. Can't remember what exactly the episode was but Teddy went through the process in 2ne1 TV/YGTV. Something about feeling ugly as a person

  • I fucking hate acronyms and I will always do it you lazy fuckers.


    Anyway, claiming they were promoting 2NE1 as an "ugly group" and trying to use this as selling point is just a stupid claim. Just because someone in the company maybe describe them as "ugly" does not mean they was trying to use that as a selling point. Sure, you could claim they use a concept that made them less depened of good visuals and even gave them some more credibility, but I don't think they really used their "unattractiveness" as a selling point, more like it did not hurt them so much because of the concept they had.

    We can agree they did not have the best visuals in kpop, even if they had Dara in the group that was one of the best looking girls in kpop. They would never had much of a chance with a "cute" concept like early Twice, and groups like Twice would not have much of a chance if their visuals was not above average.

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