All eyes are on Queen CL — now more than ever.
The 2NE1 rapper-singer-solo star is almost ready to make her highly anticipated (yet undeniably daunting) stateside debut in 2015, which will be helmed by Justin Bieber manager-mastermind, Scooter Braun.
The first pieces of Western press are promising enough, at least: The fashion industry darling graces the pages of the February/March 2015 issue of Complex, looking fierce as ever in a variety of fashion-forward outfits. In an interview, she discusses her plans for US domination and 2NE1 (they’re not breaking up, so calm down), as well as her role as an Asian female pop star in America — which, y’know, is a thing that doesn’t actually exist in America.
For one thing, she says that Scooter Braun is intent on maintaining her signature style while adapting her to a new market: “It’s not like I am going to sing a whole song in Korean like PSY, but I think it’s a good balance. I want to represent Asian women in the right way. He wants to support that.”
CL’s already been hanging out with Grimes and hitting the studio with will.i.am (I know, I know) and Diplo, but she’s well aware of the challenge that lies ahead: “PSY blew up in a second, and everybody was proud of him. But they can’t say they’re proud of me. All they can do is wish me good luck and support me because nothing has actually happened yet.”
To that, she’s got nothing but hope for what she can bring to America in the larger sense: “There are so many Korean people here—and Chinese and Japanese—but they don’t have one pop artist that they can look up to. That’s kind of sad. I wish I could be that person for them to be proud of. I’m going to try my best to represent Korea in the best way. [Laughs.] In a cool way. I feel like sometimes we have the wrong image, and I want to fix it a little bit. I’ll try my best.”
We’ve watched some of the biggest Japanese, Korean and Chinese pop stars make their best efforts in America to varying levels of success over the years, from Utada to BoA to Wonder Girls to Girls’ Generation, but none of them have been able to really smash the market in an especially huge, lasting way.
She’s the full package — a superstar performer, a style icon and a talented artist — so here’s hoping The Baddest Female can put a dent in the pop market and truly dominate this year. I believe in you, CL!
