A Review of CL's "The Baddest Female"

2NE1‘s immense popularity, especially over leader CL, had the bars set high when the “baddest female” and company YG announced her debut as a solo artist. Many fans, including I, were ecstatic to what fierce and charismatic CL would put forth into the k-pop realm. Known for her eye-catching swagger and individuality, it was no wonder CL would be given her chance to fly solo, receiving over one million views on youtube for “The Baddest Female” in one day. So what do I think about her song and music video?

I don’t mean to rain on any CL fans’ parade, but despite all the hype her debut received, I felt it was nothing more than lackluster. The lyrics of the song were bland and uninspired; nothing more than another “bragging-right” song like “I Am the Best” by 2NE1 that proved to have more witty wordings and catchy beat. The redundant use of “bad girl” became annoying immediately from the start. I understand the pride CL has over claiming the title of “baddest female,” but the repetitiveness was getting old. The beat of the song itself was nothing special. Despite being introduced an interesting combination of dougie and dubstep, the song was still not catchy enough to dance or sing (or even rap) to. You only hear a snippet of dubstep towards the end anyway.

The music video also did not live up to my expectations. CL is absolutely stunning in here. I adored all the costuming, make up, and hair styling for her and everyone else within the video. Which brings my attention to CL and her performance in the video. Although CL is known for her carefree and confident personality on stage, she seemed stiffer and unsure throughout the video. It may have been due to her other band-mates not being present and the pressure of a solo career that could have overwhelmed her during recording. Another reason for her lacking performance could be that the style was unsuitable for her. Although she is mainly dubbed as the female version of popular leader of Big Bang, G-Dragon, the excessive randomness and craziness may not have worked for her in her favor. (This is only an opinionated guess).

As much as I admire and love 2NE1‘s amazing leader, I had to give this song a four out of ten. Perhaps this song has still not grown onto me but I felt overall it lacked depth or any sort of memorable factor. However, I would give the video a six out of ten for the nice sets and beautiful costumes. The other points are missing due to CL’s lacking performance and dull choreography.

To watch the video on youtube, click here.