(YG Entertainment gave Soompi a chance to listen to “I Love You” prior to its release for the world’s first review of the song!)

2NE1 has come a long way since their 2009 debut track “Fire,” establishing themselves as a confident, sexy, and stylish hip-hop/R&B group. Their straight-in-your-face lyrics and I-don’t-care personality have made them clearly stand out from the rest of the pack, and it’s almost become a given that they come out with another single that exemplifies their strong and fearless attitude.

Enter their latest single, “I Love You.” This song produced by YG Entertainment’s resident producer, Teddy, and co-composed by Lydia Paek, whose previous work includes Park Bom’s “Don’t Cry,” is another upbeat, electro-based track, only with one clear distinction – 2NE1 begs for love.

“I Love You” is an interesting track in that it takes 2NE1’s unflinching swagger into unexplored territory. With lyrics such as “All day I’m reminded of you. I keep staring at the silent phone. Why can’t you see my true feelings?”, it almost feels like we’re listening to a different group, especially when we’ve grown so accustomed to their strong and confident attitude in previous singles (re: “I Don’t Care,” “Go Away,” “I Am the Best,” and “Hate You,” just to name a few). Yet they do a perfect job with their vocals in portraying the emotions of a woman deeply in love (the lyrics sound almost too possessive).

The sound of the song, too, is very unconventional with different beats and sounds intertwined in each verse. This could at first give you the false impression of hearing a bunch of disjointed verses quickly playing over each other. However, after a couple rounds, you’ll soon realize that Teddy did yet another magical job at turning what could have been an experimental piece into a masterpiece. Despite the lyrics that may at first feel atypical of a regular 2NE1 song, and the mysterious use/mix of completely different sounds, “I Love You” comes at you as an entirely new experience – and before you know it, the “I love you,” “Ooh,” and “yeah, yeah, yeah” chorus parts will continue to play in your head.

With “I Love You,” 2NE1 has another smash hit single in the making. This song proves 2NE1’s versatility in emotional delivery and musical talent, and it will only take them one step closer to their long-awaited global debut. We’re not sure what song they’ll pick as their English debut track yet, but if we had the choice, “I Love You” would definitely be one of the top choices.

“I Love You” will be released as a digital single through iTunes on July 5.