Who Is CL, Born Lee Chae-rin, The South Korean Rapper Who Performed At The Olympic Closing Ceremony?

Lee Chae-rin is a South Korean rapper who goes by the stage name CL and is one of the biggest K-pop names in the business.

WHO IS CL?

CL, 27, performed at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic closing ceremony on Sunday night with her hit song “The Baddest Female.” Prior to launching her solo career, Lee was part of the girl group 2NE1, which formed in 2009. The group officially disbanded in 2016, and their final album Crush was the top-ranked K-pop album for two years, according to Billboard.

CL serves as a “muse” to designer Jeremy Scott, who created the costumes for 2NE1’s 2012 global tour. For her part, Lee has said that Scott is her “best friend” and like her “big brother,” according to Elle.

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Prior to her closing ceremony appearance, CL had not performed in South Korea for a few years. “It’s so special to me,” she told Billboard of the closing ceremony. “I haven’t done a [performance] in Korea in a while so it was very meaningful. Just coming back home is real great.”

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A post shared by CL (@chaelincl) on Feb 12, 2018 at 8:30am PST

Though she is well known in Korea, CL is not yet a household name in the U.S. Her hope, however, is to bridge that gap soon. “I feel like I put so much energy and time into [reaching a U.S. audience] that I’m going to, I have to do it,” she told CNN. “I think it’s also about how you do it and what the message is and who I represent and who I am. So I want to do it right, and that’s why it’s taking so long.”

A post shared by CL (@chaelincl) on Feb 10, 2018 at 9:47pm PST