Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
CL is, apparently, a lot less delusional than her rabid, screaming stans are in that she doesn’t consider herself the best rapper in Korea. Or a rapper at all, really. Just a performer, as she told Rolling Stone.
Why You Should Pay Attention: The self-proclaimed “Baddest Female” is one of the buzziest female rappers in Korea, and she’s poised for a major breakthrough in the U.S. come fall with a debut EP out on Mad Decent. One fourth of the wildly famous K-pop group 2NE1, CL is now taking her career solo stateside under the helm of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande manager Scooter Braun. Still, she’s hesitant to label herself too quickly. “I don’t actually like calling myself a rapper,” CL says. “I’m more a performer. I don’t like to box myself into anything, because I also sing and I love to dance; I do everything.” And while the raspy-voiced singer’s debut EP is still shrouded in tight-lipped mystery, for now CL has collaborations with Skrillex, will.i.am and Diplo under her belt, plus a spot on the latter’s Mad Decent Block Party tour.
HyunA has also shown some awareness of what she is, calling her music “performance oriented”. We all know what it’s code for, but it’s still easier to ground with artists who aren’t delusional and who help shut down their insane fandoms who run around declaring them the best at everything.
Of course, that unfortunately doesn’t really make either of them better at rapping or anything, so their songs still depend a lot on the concept and image and beat/composition, but it at least makes it easier to root for them as artists and reinforces that it’s fandoms that are insufferable and not them.
