Whether you hate ‘em or love ‘em, the much-anticipated “female Big Bang”, 2NE1, is making waves. Since the 4-member group dropped “Lollipop”, the song has gone on to secure number one spots on numerous online music charts and has enjoyed greater success than Girls’ Generation’s debut single “Into the New World” or the Wondergirls’ “Irony”. So far, YG Entertainment seems to have succeeded in creating the next big girl group. However, the future looks uncertain for 2NE1 due to several factors. First of all, “Lollipop” isn’t really their debut single; YG Entertainment has clarified that the song is intended solely for the LG Cyon’s “Lollipop” phone commercial. Looks like LG is taking a page out of Samsung’s book �" if you remember the “Anymotion” song featuring Lee Hyori and Eric, which was released a few years ago, helped propel Samsung Anycall to its status as the definite market leader in the cellular phone industry. Following “Anymotion” was “Anyclub”, and then “Anyband”, a project which featureed mega-stars BoA, Tablo, Junsu of TVXQ and Jin Bora. LG is trying to follow this trend of music-based advertising for their phones. This means that we can’t really judge 2NE1 yet based on the success of this single since it’s not really their song and it doesn’t reflect their musical style yet, as YG has stated its intentions to make 2NE1 a “hip-hop group”. Personally, I think this is great news because I can’t stand “Lollipop” and if the rest of 2NE1’s songs sound like it, I won’t be buying their album anytime soon. However, Korean listeners (and others *ahem Perez Hilton*) have received “Lollipop” extremely well and changing the music style might not jive with them. The bigger question here, however, is whether 2NE1 will be able to succeed on their own without a leg up from their big brother, Big Bang. Some music critics have pointed out that “Lollipop” seems more like Big Bang’s single, and their huge feature in both the song and the music video, is the reason why the song was able to garner so much success. Not only does each member get his own part to sing or rap, but Big Bang seems to have more screen time than 2NE1 in the music video. “Though it’s officially 2NE1’s music, their actual participation in the digital single is very low,” a radio DJ commented, and many netizens feel the same way. Would 2NE1 and the LG Cyon “Lollipop” phone/commercial have succeeded without this heavy hand from Big Bang? I doubt it. As much I dislike Big Bang and their music, I can’t deny their overwhelming popularity (and influence) in Korea. Though I’m not really sure at this point if 2NE1 really has vocal talent (after hearing Sandara Park’s singing from some of her singles in the Philippines… but then again, due to the synthesized nature of “Lollipop”, all of us are already well-aware that it isn’t good voices that gets you the crown in the kingdom of K-Pop. It’s about having catchy (and often repetitive) songs, good music videos and an attractive image (which can be said for almost any market). 2NE1 can’t feature Big Bang on their singles forever; they’re going to have to become independent someday, and that’s when we’ll really be able to determine if they’re worth listening to. Until 2NE1 comes up with their own single comparable to the popularity of Big Bang’s breakthrough hit, “Lies”, we can’t really call them the “female Big Bang” yet. coolsmurf's subbed lollipop video: