CL (rapper)

Lee Chae-rin (born February 26, 1991), better known by her stage name CL, is a South Korean rapper, singer and songwriter.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, she spent much of her early life in Japan and France.

It primary incorporates samples of Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 track "Method Man", and had the rapper himself appear in the accompanying music video.

Time magazine referred to her as one of the biggest stars in Asia, and called her the "Future of K-pop in America".

"Lifted" went on to peak at number 94 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning her first entry as a solo artist and second overall, making her the first female South Korean soloist to appear on the chart.

Her first feature on a song recording was Big Bang's "Intro (Hot Issue)" in 2007.

Later that year, Lee performed for the first time on stage at Seoul Broadcasting System's Gayo Daejeon alongside her label mates.

Her first credited appearance in a song was in 2008, with Uhm Jung-hwa's "DJ," in which she rapped.

Lee took on the stage name 'CL' and was placed as the leader and main rapper of 2NE1, alongside Bom, Sandara Park and Minzy.

She debuted and rose to fame as a member of the girl group 2NE1 in 2009, which went on to become one of the most popular South Korean girl groups worldwide.

The group then collaborated with label-mates BigBang for the song "Lollipop" on March 27, 2009, before appearing on SBS's The Music Trend for the first time on May 17, where they performed their official debut single "Fire".

2NE1 achieved significant success with their number-one single "I Don't Care" from their first extended play, 2NE1, which won them the "Song of the Year" accolade at the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, making them the first rookie group to win a daesang in the same year of debut.

In August 2009, she collaborated with label-mates G-Dragon and Teddy Park of 1TYM for the single "The Leaders", featured on G-Dragon's first solo album, Heartbreaker.

The same month, after the group finished with "I Don't Care" promotions, CL collaborated with fellow member Minzy for "Please Don't Go," which charted at number six on the Gaon Chart by the end of November.

As a solo artist, CL made her debut with the single "The Baddest Female" in May 2013 and released the solo track "MTBD" in February 2014 as part of 2NE1's final studio album Crush.

Her first solo single, "The Baddest Female", was released on May 28, 2013.

For 2NE1's second album Crush, CL wrote the lyrics and co-composed the music for the tracks "Crush", "If I Were You", and "Baby I Miss You".

She also wrote the lyrics for her solo track "MTBD", as well as the track "Scream".

In October 2014, it was announced that CL was planning to debut as a solo artist the following year in the United States, teaming up with Scooter Braun as her manager.

Following the group's hiatus at the turn of 2015, CL pursued a solo career with the release of the standalone singles "Hello Bitches" (2015) and "Lifted" (2016).

The latter single led CL to become the first female Korean solo artist to place onto the Billboard Hot 100, and the third Korean artist to do so overall.

CL ranked 2nd and 25th on the polls for Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

In May 2015, she featured in Diplo's single "Doctor Pepper", alongside Riff Raff and OG Maco.

In November 2015, CL released her first single "Hello Bitches", as a teaser for her initially planned EP Lifted.

She was also featured on labelmate Psy's single "Daddy".

The song debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning her first entry on the chart.

In November 2016, YG announced the disbandment of 2NE1 after nearly two years of hiatus, and CL subsequently remained under the label.

The single, "Lifted" was released on August 19, 2016.

The song appeared in the Top 30 of iTunes' Hip-Hop/Rap chart within three hours of being released, peaking at number 21.

On October 29, 2016, CL kicked off her first North American tour, the Hello Bitches Tour, at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom.

With the sold-out performance, she became the first K-pop female artist to hold a solo concert in the city.

The tour visited various other cities in the United States and Canada before concluding in Toronto on November 14.

Shortly after leaving YG in December 2019, she released her solo EP project In the Name of Love (2019), consisting of six tracks written during the three years since her previous single "Lifted".

Her debut studio album, Alpha, was released in October 2021.

She appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list (2019) and was named amongst the best girl group members of all time by The Guardian.

Beyond the field of music, she is recognized as a style icon by numerous publications worldwide.

Lee Chae-rin was born in Seoul, South Korea, but spent most of her childhood living in Paris, Tsukuba, and Tokyo.

When she was 13, she moved to Paris alone where she studied for two years.

On living in different cities while growing up, CL said, "Culturally, I'm not 100 percent Korean. I'm very mixed, and very open."

When she was 15, CL auditioned to join South Korean record label YG Entertainment.