CL (rapper)

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.[7] Lee got an audition with YG Entertainment when she was 15.[3][7] 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.[8]

Lee took on the stage name 'CL' and was placed as the leader and main rapper of 2NE1, alongside Bom, Sandara Park and Minzy. The group then collaborated with label-mates Big Bang for the song "Lollipop" before officially debuting on SBS's The Music Trend on May 17, 2009 where they performed "Fire". 2NE1 achieved significant success with the number-one single "I Don't Care" from their first extended play, 2NE1, which won them the "Song of the Year" award 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.[9] Her first solo single, "The Baddest Female", was released on May 28, 2013.[10] 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".[11]

A promotional shoot for "Hello Bitches" in 2015

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.[12] In May 2015, she featured in Diplo's single "Doctor Pepper", alongside Riff Raff and OG Maco.[13] In November 2015, CL released her first single "Hello Bitches", as a teaser for her upcoming EP Lifted.[14][15] 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.[16] The single, "Lifted" was released on August 19, 2016.[17] The song appeared in the Top 30 of iTunes' Hip-Hop/Rap chart within three hours of being released, peaking at number 21.[18] Time noted her as the "future of Kpop in America".[19] It debuted on 94 on the Hot 100 earning her first entry as a solo artist and second overall making her the first female South Korean act to appear on the chart.[20] On October 29, 2016, CL kicked off her first North American tour, the Hello Bitches Tour, in New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom, and concluded in Toronto on November 14.[21]

Alongside Shaiana, she featured on Lil Yachty's song "Surrender", an exclusive track off of the Target deluxe edition of his album Teenage Emotions, released on May 26, 2017. CL also recorded an original single titled "No Better Feelin'" for the My Little Pony: The Movie soundtrack, released on September 22, 2017.[22] On January 4, 2018, she was reported to make her Hollywood debut as an actress in Peter Berg's film Mile 22 that stars Mark Wahlberg.[23] On February 25, 2018, CL performed at the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, performing parts from "The Baddest Female" and the 2NE1 global hit "I Am the Best".[24] At the closing ceremony, she met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, First Lady Kim Jung-sook, Exo, and Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump.[25]

CL at the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Pyeongchang County.

On April 1, 2019, Forbes included CL in their 30 Under 30 Asia 2019 list for Entertainment & Sports, which comprises 30 influential people under 30 years old who have made substantial impact in their respective fields.[26] Later that year on November 8, YG Entertainment announced that CL did not renew her contract with the company and would be leaving the label.[27] On December 4, soon after leaving YG, she began releasing previously unreleased tracks for her digital solo EP project In the Name of Love for three consecutive weeks.[28]

On September 12, 2020, CL announced that she had been working on a new album and will be released later in the year. Two days later, she released the music video for the song "Post Up", which serves as the intro track for her upcoming album.[29] On October 29, she released two singles—"Hwa" and "5 Star"—which were co-written by former labelmate Tablo.[30] At the same time, CL announced her first full-length album Alpha will be released on November 30.[31][32] However on November 16, CL announced that she decided to postpone the album release until early 2021, stating that new ideas have came to her on the way and wishes the release to be the best as possible.[33]