One of the most surprising bits of news revealed during the lead-up to the new 2NE1 album "CRUSH," scheduled for release on midnight on Thursday, would have to be frontwoman CL's contributions to the album as a songwriter, a first for the pop star.

CL, who turned 23 on Wednesday, composed the lyrics and co-wrote the music for the songs "If I Were You," "Baby I Miss You" as well as the title track off of "Crush." She also co-wrote the lyrics for the song "MTBD" with YG producer-in-residence Teddy Park.

In an interview on Wednesday, on the eve of the album's release, Teddy told the Korean publication Star News that CL's contributions on "Crush" are just the tip of the iceberg.

"There are only three songs on this album [that CL co-wrote both words and music for], but there are about 20 songs she has written so far," said the 35-year-old producer.

"She works very quickly and produces good music. She does this despite the fact she's quite young. She's very talented. She often shows me her songs, and I can say without a doubt that she is good at producing and has her own musical sensibility."

Teddy added that the versatility of CL and her bandmates allowed them to try a plethora of different sounds on "Crush."

"2NE1 was able to showcase electronic, hip-hop, R&B, reggae and more," he said. "But it doesn't look messy. It naturally blends all the different kinds of music."

But despite his apparent satisfaction with the album, Teddy refused to speculate what the commercial outcome of "Crush" will be.

"I often fail to predict correctly. The listeners will judge the album," he said.

"But you can keep your expectations high for each song on this album. We put so much thought into them."