CL Unveils Long-Awaited Album ALPHA
GZB and Blackjacks, the Queen has finally made her return! The legendary South Korean rapper, singer, and songwriter CL recently dropped her highly-anticipated full-length album, ALPHA. With this being her first album release as a solo artist, fans are ecstatic and proud to see CL make her return in the industry. In addition to ALPHA’s release, CL also dropped the music video for “Tie a Cherry,” a song featured on the album’s tracklist. With her reputation as “The Baddest Female” and member of the popular second-generation girl group 2NE1, it’s time to see CL’s creative essence in the full-length album.
The release of ALPHA was originally intended for November 30, 2020. However, it was announced later that the album would be postponed until 2021 for further improvements. Fans that had already pre-ordered the album prior to the postponement held onto their order until CL was ready to release it. By that time, CL had dropped two pre-release singles, “HWA” and “5 Star,” for the upcoming album before the announcement. On August 13, 2021, it was finally announced that CL was set to drop ALPHA in October. To prepare fans for the upcoming album, the digital pre-singles “SPICY” and “Lover Like Me” were released.
Tracklist
SPICY*
Lover Like Me*
Chuck
Xai*
Let It*
Tie a Cherry*
Paradise
My Way*
Siren*
HWA*
5 Star
*Author’s favorites
“Tie a Cherry”
Even though “Tie a Cherry” or any of the other tracks on ALPHA aren’t an official “title track,” this song shows so much about CL’s growth and the persona that she’s created called Miss Cherry. “Tie a Cherry” was written by Julia Ross, Sokodomo, Peter Chun, Nick Lee, Krysta Youngs, Gino the Ghost, Kyan Palmer, and CL. The lyrics in the track give this impression of a confident persona that’s fun, self-made, and one-of-a-kind, especially in the line, “Ain’t ordinary the way it all revolves, I shoot for the stars.” One of the most memorable lines in the song is when she says, “Let me show you how to be the queen.” She knows she’s an artist to be reckoned with and will always be a queen in the eyes of her fans. There’s no doubt that this song gives an audible experience of CL’s range as a singer and rapper.
The music video displays CL in various outfits that only she could pull off and glow—an all-black lace gown, hot pink silk dress, a black wrap one-piece, and tons of jewels to add to her look. These trendsetting outfits are what make her an iconic individual in the fashion industry as she does not shy away from extraordinary looks. In each outfit, you can see the confidence that’s beaming out of her, making her stand out from everyone in the room. With such high-quality shots of her visuals in addition to black and white aesthetic scenes, it’s clear that CL has this power and artistic vision that is like no other in this industry. In this video and previous videos that were released for this album, it’s clear that everything CL touches turns to gold; she’s got this power to her which continues to make her “The Baddest Female.”
The Album
There’s no better way to start off ALPHA than with a song that has energy, power, and chemistry. “SPICY” is an experimental rap and pop track that features a spoken intro by the American actor, director, producer, and CL’s close friend, John Malkovich. Aside from his spoken adlib for the beginning of the song, Malkovich appears in the music video as a gold-statue version of himself. Written and produced by Holly, Sokodomo, Bonique, Fabian Mazur, Baauer, and CL, the song celebrates being yourself with attitude; for CL, in particular, it’s celebrating her being Korean, Asian, and her true self. This sentiment is expressed in the lyric, “She got the sauce and it’s spicy, you looking at the most fly Asians.” CL was able to perform and promote “SPICY” on four music show programs in South Korea as well as dropping a remix for the single featuring Lil Cherry, Sokodomo, and Omega Sapien. The colorful music video gained its own accomplishment, becoming CL’s fastest music video to reach 10 million views. The high-energy single brings the heat and prepares you for what’s to come in ALPHA.
“Lover Like Me” gives CL the chance to focus on her vocals in this empowering English and Korean breakup anthem. With help from co-writers Freedo, Cleo Tighe, Sarah Blanchard, nafia, and Anne-Marie, the single will attract heartbroken fans who need a reminder of their worth in this world. In the lyrics, there are lines like, “You always said that I would be the main thing, and now you gonna switch lanes,'' and, “If you’re gonna let me go, you will never ever find another lover like me,” that acknowledges the end of a relationship while striving to move on. Even though this is mainly a vocal track, the bridge offers a short moment for rap in Korean and can connect with fans as CL says, “This one for my bad b******.” Even in the visually aesthetic music video, CL expresses this breakup track as an empowering and freeing moment for her. The message goes beyond being for just herself, but to fans that are enduring similar situations.
The soft sounds in “Xai” almost feel like butterflies fluttering in your stomach (as weird as that sounds). With CL’s lyrics, the song describes her love life to some degree based on her privacy and balancing life in the spotlight. She uses lyrics like, “When the sun goes down, we find each other. When the moon rises, we find each other,” to express this sentiment of secrecy and love when nobody is around. Though the song’s lyrics can be taken into a different context, this is one of those songs you’ll want to hear in the late hours with your special someone. You’re certain to understand the complex but simple feelings of love here.
Let's take a minute to highlight this “Let It.” With “Let It,” there’s so much to unpack here, especially if you caught CL’s TikTok Live before her album release. In her live premiere, she stated that this track was meant to be a song for 2NE1 as there is a recording featuring her, Park Bom, and Dara’s vocals. Since MINZY had scheduling conflicts, she was unable to record with them, though CL has the recorded version with three of the four members saved. Aside from the fact that this track talks about letting things flow naturally when they are out of your control, the nostalgic feeling you absorb within the first listen gives goosebumps (especially given the information you know now). But that’s not all. CL played a short soundbite of the recorded track featuring Dara and Bom on her TikTok live...and it changes everything about the song. Blackjacks, I wouldn’t be surprised if you went into shock or there were tears in your eyes after hearing this. It’s no wonder CL mentioned that this track makes her reminisce about 2NE1. This is certainly a track that you should return to when you need an uplifting message.
“Siren” is an English ballad-like track that touches on a struggling relationship. CL describes the emotions that come to mind when you’re trying to salvage the relationship, but it’s starting to become one-sided. In the line, “It ain’t done til it’s finished, so spit it out and admit it; let’s work it out,” she’s expressing wanting to hear the truth and wanting to work things out, but she knows the love is dying. In essence, the sirens are going off and she wants to hear the truth because she knows “you got something to say” to her. The violins in the back of the track really help visualize the melancholic sentiment in her lyrics. This track could also potentially connect with “Lover Like Me” as the lyrics, “Who’s gonna love you like that?” and, “You will never ever find another lover like me,” intersect on her worth.
If you’re looking for a hype track that certainly gives the attitude and energy that we know CL is known for, “My Way” offers that badass aura. With a song that touches on CL doing things her way in every aspect, it could easily be the independence anthem to do life with this attitude. The song gives that rap style we all missed that encourages you to get lit; after all, she says, “get me lit,” so why not join her on that? Having this attitude of doing life your way should be the anthem of getting through the remainder of 2021! If you ever needed a song to boost confidence in yourself, look no further than listening to this track.
With 11 songs in total, each song off the album displays an important message through CL’s perspective and artistic vision. ALPHA is the multi-genre album that wholeheartedly showcases CL’s duality, versatility, and creativity. As a fan that has watched CL’s career blossom from her girl group days in 2NE1 through her solo projects and collaborations, it’s a blessing to be living in a world where CL exists. If there’s one thing to take away from this album drop, it’s that CL is indeed the ALPHA.
You can catch CL live in Los Angeles, CA November 6-7 headlining 88rising’s Head In The Clouds Festival. To stay up-to-date with the current promotions of ALPHA, make sure to follow CL on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, and don’t forget to stream her album on Spotify and YouTube Music! You can check out the live performances of some songs off ALPHA below!