K-Pop Ranter

Review: 2ne1 Do You Love Me

Posted by : AndiSweets August 08, 2013

It hasn't been long since the release of 2ne1's Falling In Love which immediately topped the charts almost as soon as it was released. 2ne1 has released yet another chart topper, Do You Love Me, after gifting us with two teasers and the choreography practice that we wouldn't be able to see in their music video. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out below!

The video: Due to tight schedules because of the song's release date, 2ne1 didn't have the time to record a professional video filled with the glamour and bombastic feeling that we're used to seeing. YG Entertainment instead opted to make a very bold move and shed themselves all the perfection and glitter to have the girls record the music video themselves. How? By simply having a jolly old time with some cameras on deck. This is perhaps the most raw portrayal I've seen of an idol group, possibly ever. Scripted or not, this music video seems more natural and fun than any of 2ne1's other videos. They even had their friends join in on the fun with a little dance party and the girls run around with their phones and record various people with beautiful lady lips mouthing "do you love me?".
All the girls look pretty good especially considering the fact that its harder to use lighting and special effects to make them look better with that type of recording style. Park Bom actually moves her face a little; Dara looks kind of dull because of the blond hair; Minzy doesn't look too hot either but that's probably because they didn't get too many good shots of her; and CL, despite not being the most good looking member in the group, oozes a sexy confidence throughout the whole video. There are some parts where they look kind of drunk, though - especially the parts when they're bouncing on the bed and fooling around in the bathroom.

The song: The song starts off right away with a sort of magical, feel good vibe to it (which reminded me a little bit of Epik High's Up) followed by CL chanting "D-O Y-O-U L-O-V-E M-E" which you will hear multiple times throughout the song. I wasn't necessarily impressed by the chanting but it did fit well enough with the song. At first, when they began singing "do you love me?" it sounded out of tune and I thought that maybe Park Bom's singing wasn't quite on point but when CL followed suit in the same tone, I realized it was intentional. After a few listens, I could no longer notice it and I started to like the sound of it. However, Dara nearly ruined the song when her part came up. It's no question that she is not a great singer and her voice is usually drowned out by heavy robotic autotune to hide that fact. Unfortunately, this time they didn't try to hide her voice, nor did they seem to try to fix it, unless even autotune couldn't save the dead sound of her voice. Minzy picks up Dara's slack with her segment, which make's her sound like the best singer in 2ne1 after Dara's terrible vocals (and it seems that she's working her way up with the way Park Bom's vocals are slowly deteriorating). Dara's first segment was bad enough, but she has yet another part in the song. Granted, it's not as bad as the first time because it lacks that high note that is terribly off pitch. Perhaps it was to make her sound slightly better in comparison.

Overall opinon: Though this isn't one of 2ne1's best songs, it is a pretty decent track. It would have been even better if YG had cut off the fat (so to speak) and made Dara's parts smaller or drowned out the sound of her voice the way they usually do. The music video's style was unique and quite good compared to all the other experimental videos other groups have been releasing throughout the year.

What do you think? Did you like this new music video style?

Like our stuff? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook!