I Am the Best

"I Am the Best" (Korean: 내가 제일 잘 나가; RR: Naega jeil jal naga) is a song recorded by South Korean girl group 2NE1 for their self-titled second EP. The song was written and produced entirely by the group's long-time collaborator Teddy Park and was released for digital download as the third single from the EP on June 24, 2011, under YG Entertainment. "I Am the Best" integrates a variety of musical genres such as electro house, electronic and hip hop, complete with instrumentations of synthesizers and middle eastern inspired rifts. An empowerment anthem, the lyrics revolve around the themes of self-confidence, dominance, and narcissism. Music journalists applauded the musical styles of "I Am the Best" and 2NE1's performance, and considered it an iconic symbol of the genre's girl crush concept. Recognized as an important work in the spread of the Korean wave around the world, it has appeared near the top on several critics K-pop bests lists. It was commercially successful in the group's native country, achieving the number one position on the Gaon Digital Chart and garnered more than 3.4 million digital downloads in 2011, and became the fourth best-selling single of the year in South Korea. Seo Hyun-seung directed the accompanying music video for "I Am the Best", which incorporated elaborate sets, props, attire and hairstyles with unconventional aesthetics. In 2014, the song attracted renewed attention in the United States after appearing in a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 commercial campaign. It then topped the Billboard World Digital Songs chart for the first time, making 2NE1 the first K-pop group and the second Korean act overall to have done so. The song was subsequently released in the country on December 10, 2014 by Capitol Records and became one of the few non-English songs to have received airplay on American radio stations.