"Lifted" is a song by South Korean rapper and singer CL. It was released through

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and conce ...

on August 19, 2016, as her debut American single.

Background

The song was written by CL,

Asher Roth Asher Paul Roth (born August 11, 1985) is an American rapper from Morrisville, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his 2009 debut single " I Love College," which peaked at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and foresaw the birth of frat ra ...

, and

Teddy Park Teddy Park (born Park Hong-jun on September 14, 1978) is a Korean Americans, Korean–American Rapping, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Park moved to the United States with his family as a young child. Wh ...

, with the production being handled by the latter. It heavily samples the song "

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...

" by

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

Critical reception

Colette Bennett of ''

The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. It was founded by Nicholas White in 2011, and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometown newsp ...

'' said "something about

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

seems too simple" and went on to say that "CL's rapping is strong as usual" and "the song has a chill, reggae-inspired vibe". ''Billboard''s Tamar Herman stated that the song "diverges sharply from CL's image as one of South Korea's most prominent female rappers and eschews her typical aggressive style. Referencing drugs and liquor liberally while roaming around New York City, this isn't the same CL that K-pop fans are used to. Built for listening to on a hazy summer day, 'Lifted' takes a step back from CL's typical raps, aside from a quick bit at the beginning of the song." Nolan Feeney of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' labeled it "a solid-gold banger".

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number 94 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

making CL's first entry as a lead artist, second overall on the chart and also the third Korean act to do so overall. The song garnered 5.2 million streams in the United States by the week ending on October 6.

Music video and promotion

A music video for the song, directed by

Dave Meyers David Meyers may refer to: *Dave Meyers (director) (born 1972), American music video director *Dave Meyers (basketball) David William Meyers (April 21, 1953 – October 9, 2015) was an American basketball player who played for the Milwaukee Buck ...

, was released on August 18, 2016. CL performed the song live for the first time on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known simply as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2015 to 2023. It is the fourth and final iteration of '' The Late Late Show'', and aired in the United Sta ...

'' on September 15, 2016. The Video also Features a Cameo from Method Man. It was also performed throughout CL's

Hello Bitches Tour The Hello Bitches Tour (stylized as Hello Bi+ches Tour) was the debut concert tour of South Korean rapper and singer CL (singer), CL. The tour visited nine cities in 2016 in the United States and Canada, kicking off in New York City's Hammerstei ...

in late 2016 in several North American cities. She also performed the song at the 2016 ''

SBS Gayo Daejun ''SBS Gayo Daejeon'' (, broadly ''SBS'' '' Battle of the Bands'') is an annual televised music festival that is broadcast by the Seoul Broadcasting System at the end of each year. The program first aired in 1997, and awards were given to musica ...

'', the first time the song was performed in Korea.

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lifted 2016 singles 2016 songs Songs written by Asher Roth Songs written by Teddy Park YG Entertainment singles