December 14, 2020

[Review] 2NE1 - Can't Nobody (Throwback)

2NE1 in 2020? Yessir. For the nostalgic selection of a song I haven't reviewed I decided to journey back a decade ago to one of the earliest hits in my Kpop journey. How has 2NE1's legacy held up after a whopping ten years? Let's take a time machine and find out.

Well, even though this was only their second year in the business, 2NE1 had zero shame in announcing who they were and what they're all about. This was the type of brash, in-your-face type of music that this group would become renowned for, and for good reason. They are pretty good at being loud, crazy, and aggressive. The heavy autotune cements the "I don't give a fuck" attitude that CL even echoes later in her second verse.

That being said, the song is pretty segmented. CL and Minzy's parts go well together a decent amount - albeit the completely uninspired English lyrics. But then Bom's chorus is a completely different style, and Dara's moments are kinda whatever. "Can't Nobody" was like the awkward fusion between the hard-hitting beats of "Clap Your Hands" and the more smooth chorus of "Go Away," which is an interesting combination to say the least.

CL is obviously a talented rapper but I don't think this song really captured her strengths very much, if at all. The autotune in particular is a little too much for my ears to handle, which makes me wonder if there's a version or take out there without it. I'd be interested in listening to that. Hell, I probably have in the past and have simply forgotten about it. While I could make the easy argument that Minzy and Dara deserved better, this was very early in their careers. They obviously had plenty of time to grow and have better moments in the spotlight.

Music video discussion? Not in my retrospective. The only thing that really stands out or is of note is that Bom's eyeshadow is too much and holy shit Minzy was so fucking confident despite being only 16 years old. Other than that, your baseline 2NE1 MV with the wacky costumes, wacky aesthetics, and wacky shenanigans.

Over their seven year stretch, 2NE1 released a lot of music. Is "Can't Nobody" one of their best? Absolutely not. Is "Can't Nobody" a good song? Ehh, maybe. But I'll be damned if it (a) wasn't catchy and (b) helped with their rise to superstardom. Being a building block for their future singles means that there will always be legacy points for "Can't Nobody" to collect at the end of the day.

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