CL wants to be the #1 Pop artist in the U.S

(Complex) When “Gangnam Style” arrived in the U.S., I interviewed Scooter and PSY, and they both told me that it was important that PSY d...

(Complex)

When “Gangnam Style” arrived in the U.S., I interviewed Scooter and PSY, and they both told me that it was important that PSY didn’t change who he was to cater to the U.S. market. Did you have a similar conversation when you signed with Scooter?
Yeah, he definitely respects me already as an artist, and he loves what I’ve been doing. He just wants to bring that out here and balance it out. 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.

Some K-pop fans think that to make it here you’ll have to sex up your image.
Well, you know my image when I was in 2NE1. And I’m not going to change that. I’m not against being beautiful or sexy or anything, but it’s just I have this—I don’t know how to say it—but I have this “cool” image that I want to keep.



Everybody is speculating that your U.S. debut means that 2NE1 will break up.
That’s not true! We just finished our tour and everybody gets to take a break now. It’s just I don’t get a break. [Laughs.]

What are your expectations for your solo album?
I feel like it’s all about good music at the end of the day. It’s not like I’m a rookie—I have been doing this for a long time in Asia. It’s just a new market. I have to have good music, so I’m just focusing on that.

“ASIAN PEOPLE IN THE U.S. DON’T HAVE ONE POP ARTIST THAT THEY CAN LOOK UP TO. I WISH I COULD BE THAT PERSON FOR THEM TO BE PROUD OF.”



What has been the reaction in Korea to your upcoming U.S. debut?
People have been supportive. I’m happy about that. It’s a good pressure for me.

To be the breakthrough Korean artist?
Right. It hasn’t happened for me yet, so they’re just like: “Oh, good luck.” 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.

Growing up, you attended international schools in Korea, Japan, and France—I’m guessing you learned how to adapt pretty quickly.
There were a lot of different races, and I grew up with all of them. I’m an open book. I love making friends. I like getting inspired, meeting new people, talking to them about their lives.

Korean dramas and makeup are blowing up in America lately. Have you noticed that?
Actually, no. Not dramas, because I don’t watch them. Are they big here?


A lot of non-Koreans are getting into them because there are websites that show them with English subtitles.
That’s interesting. I didn’t know.

And Korean makeup is huge.
When it comes to makeup, everyone in Asia already knows that Korean makeup is the best. [Laughs.] And I know the makeup game. People care a lot about beauty in Korea, in general.

Overall I’d say Korean stuff is cool in a way that it wasn’t when I was a kid, so it’s actually a great time for you to come out here.
Right. 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 look forward to seeing that happen.
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.