CL is an interesting figure in K-pop the industry spanning the second and the third generations. She continues to fight for relevancy as she grows her solo career. She has also taken an interesting path into her “Korean-ness“.
CL, born Lee Chae-rin, grew up abroad living in Paris, and Tokyo after being born in South Korea. She herself has admitted to her mixed identity by saying "culturally, I'm not 100 percent Korean. I'm very mixed, and very open." And her musical output and brand identity reflect this ease of traversing between K-pop and global pop and hip hop.
At age 15, she returned to Korea and auditioned for YG entertainment. She would debut as CL in the group 2NE1, a four member ensemble from YG. Despite her age, she became the leader and was a serious force in a powerful female group. 2NE1 presented an image in contrast to contemporaries such as Girls Generation and Wonder Girls.
From 2014, CL would venture out into her solo career and quickly saw success as she expanded into the states. Part of her ease into the US market was due to her signing with Justin Beiber‘s manager, Scooter Braun. She would have a slew of hits and collaborate with artists like Diplo and the enigmatic “rapper“ Riff Raff.
During this time, YG decided to disband 2NE1, despite CL and fellow member Sandra Park remaining on the label and renewing their contracts. What felt like a sign of loyalty would later turn into a strained relationship.
From 2017 to 2019 CL would be mired in a series of delays of her album, frustring fans and herself. She would start to rebel and blame the label for these delays, eventually leading to her leave YG in 2019 by not renewing her contract.
Finally, in 2021 CL released her album ‘ALPHA‘, which would be her first official full length album. The single ‘Spicy‘ has a curious vocal by the American actor John Malkovich as he yearns for that “Korean“ spice. Overall, the album was a hit and had some powerful singles. However, I don‘t think it received as much attention as her previous solo singles and her songs with 2NE1.
For me, I find CL fascinating in several ways. First, her diverse international background is of interest to me personally. She‘s a third-culture kid, like myself and Yaeji, who is both comfortable but also alienated in Korean culture. Then there is her image. CL has struggled with her own troubles with her weight and body image, but with the release of ‘ALPHA‘, she has started to embrace her more bodacious body and added a great amount of sex appeal to her curves. I think this is a very brave and commendable protest against the outrageous beauty standards that plague Korean women, especially those in the public spotlight.
Expanding upon her global fluidity, CL possesses a hip hop diva identity and character that makes her equally comfortable in a Vogue interview as much as a performance on MNet in Korea. I especially enjoyed her Pisick University interview where she fearlessly stakes her ground, similar to someone like Jessi.
Although CL‘s K-pop relevancy is in a state of flux amidst the many new generation girl groups, she still is a powerful bridge between cultures as well as generations of K-pop. I look forward to seeing how her career continues.
Signing off..