FEATURE: Spotlight: Coi Leray — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Coi Leray

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SOMEONE who is going to…

be a huge name and has already taking massive strides, Coi Leray (Coi Leray Collins) began posting music to SoundCloud and released her single Huddy along with her debut mixtape Everythingcoz in 2018. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Hackensack, New Jersey, Lerya is the daughter of rapper and media mogul Benzino. I want as many people who do not know about Coi Leroy about her. To do this, there are some interviews and features that are worth bringing in. Her amazing debut album, Trendsetter, was released last year. I think a lot of people were down on the album as it didn’t chart too high. Maybe equating commercial success with worth, it is actually a superb album that did not get the credit it deserved! Perhaps there were too many collaborations. Coi Leroy is a strong artist who is at her best when out front. I think her future music will be her strongest yet. It is clear she is a phenomenal artist with a massive future. I want to start off with something recent from Billboard. Speaking with her last month, it is a shame that articles and press labels her debut as a disappointment or failure. It wasn’t. It just didn’t chart high – which does not mean the material on the album is inferior:

“Last year, Coi Leray’s confidence level was low after her first album, Trendsetter, debuted at No. 89 on the Billboard 200. With a rough opening week, a residue of doubt seeped into her career and caused the affable star to hit the pause button. Despite her dismal debut, acts such as 50 Cent and Nicki Minaj lent support and encouraged her to stay positive, because they knew success was near. Fast forward nine months later, and Leray is smiling again, thanks to the success of her blistering Hot 100 hit “Players.”

“I’m 25, and sometimes you don’t know everything,” Leray says inside the Billboard LA offices on a balmy Friday afternoon. “I look at constructive criticism, even in a negative way. I try to figure out how to learn from it — just taking it and bringing it back even better. You don’t know everything. I learned the power of listening is key.” Leray’s bounce-back is a testament to her assiduous work ethic. Upon completing her Billboard interview earlier this January, she zipped to France for Paris Fashion Week, where she glowed in her see-through ensemble at the Yves Saint Laurent fashion show. Then, she hit the studio to work on new music with Pharrell.

Leray’s resurgence comes via her Grandmaster Flash-sampling single “Players,” a modern-day spin on the 1982 seminal hit “The Message.” Leray’s sing-songy hook and clever quips (“Applebottom make em’ wanna bite”) are TikTok gold, and blasted the record from social media sensation into Hot 100 territory. “Players” also received a jolt from a few remixes, including DJ Saige’s mashup of Busta Rhymes’ 1997 classic “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” and DJ Smallz’s Jersey Club remix. Thanks to the bevy of remixes, “Players” sits comfortably at No. 54 on the Hot 100 this week, a new peak for the hit record.

“This lifestyle is so unexpected,” says Coi while petting her dog Brixx, who accompanied her to the interview. “Being in the industry, it’s so unexpected. You never know what you’re going to wake up and do tomorrow. I have paranoia like, “F–k, what’s next?” You gotta think positively. If I had positive paranoia, it would be good.”

You put out Trendsetter last year and it had some hits. Looking back on it, what grade would it get and why?

I would give Trendsetter like an 8.5. I think the project was amazing, honestly, because “Blick Blick” was such a big moment for me. I feel like we put the focus on that song, and I really wish we could’ve catered to other songs — because there were so many other amazing features and songs on the project that I think are amazing.

I’ve been recording music for three years now, and a lot of those songs were scattered within that time with me being ready to drop. Me being so versatile and doing so many things, I don’t want to take the focus off the music — so I always thought it was important for me to drop so, people don’t get lost in the sex appeal or the dancing or the cooking or whatever it is.

Do you still have that competitive fire?

I don’t have competitive fire. I don’t compete with them, because you just can’t. At the end of the day, I do know that it’s a competition. If I ran track, I’m trying to get first place. I don’t give a f–k if we go to the same school or are on the same team in the same jersey. If they said, “Yo race Coi down the street!” You don’t think I’m not about to try to dust her? This is my sister! Girls with the same energy, it’s like, “Oh you fire? I’m fire and I’ll see you at the top.”

The best thing about this industry, there’s room for everybody. That’s why it’s no competition. B–ch, I could be here and you could be here right with me. At the end of the day, even if we at the top of the mountain, I’ma be Coi and you gonna be you, and we could trade places or I could become someone else. I’m gonna determine my greatness, my destiny, and my future. What’s for you is for you, while we’re at the top together. Steel sharpens steel.

Some of my favorite female artists out right now that I truly love — like, GloRilla is my favorite. I like Ice Spice, I like Cardi and I think Nicki [Minaj] is one of the greatest artists of all-time. I like Meg and I think Doja [Cat] is one of the biggest artists and best female artists as well. Flo Milli too. Lola Brooke is fire. I love her cadence, voice, and energy. There’s so many fire women out there to the point where I love it.

I hope everybody continues to get their flowers. When I’m focused, I’m focused on me and when we run into each other, hopefully we collab and make a lot of girls come together and show unity. What’s the thing where Miley Cyrus was singing with Rihanna? You remember when they was all on stage? It was like Beyoncé, Shakira, Rihanna, Fergie, Miley Cyrus. It was one of the best moments in female history. It was just unity. All the fire top b–ches on stage singing at the time same time. I’ve never seen that in the past eight years”.

In October, COMPLEX featured the sensational Coi Leray. Maybe, after some low album sales for her debut, many might have written her off. It is clear from Trendsetter that she is someone who is going to have a very long and successful career. For anyone who has not heard Trendsetter, do go and spend some time with an incredible artist from a truly original artist.

“Coi Leray wants respect put on her name.

During an appearance on Amazon Music’s Bars and Nuggets podcast, Leray addressed the criticism she faced over her debut studio album Trendsetter. Though it delivered multiple viral hits, the star-studded record underperformed on the charts, as it entered the Billboard 200 at the No. 89 slot with 11,500 album equivalent units earned in its first week.

Despite the low figures, the 25-year-old is confident Trendsetter is still the “best album of 2022.”

“They try to shit on my album. My album’s about to be gold. Let it be gold and you got to let them know,” she told host Bimma, the Storytella at the 50:50 mark above. “You got to champion you. They said the first week it sold 11,000 sales. It’s so crazy, because out of all the albums that drop, nobody like, goes viral like that, like…but of course, Coi Leray is perfect [for] headlines. It’s like, cool. I keep their lights on, they keep my lights on. I don’t mind the blogs doing whatever they gotta do, right? But y’all gonna respect me. Y’all gonna appreciate me.”

Leray argued that an album’s success isn’t strictly based on pure sales, as platforms like TikTok and YouTube can turn records into major hits. She also highlighted everything she’s achieved over the past two years, most notably securing big-name features—like Nicki Minaj, Lil Durk, G Herbo, and Fivio Foreign—for her first full-length. “I have some of the most hottest artists in the world on that project that I got organically, myself, just being myself,” she said at the 51:30 mark. “Shout out to everybody that is on my project. All those features is, each and every single last one of them, people believed in me and they see my talent for what it is.”

She went on to point out that she had hit Billboard charts before Trendsetter’s release, and has since earned multiple platinum certifications and award nominations. “Obviously, the music was good,” she said before addressing her haters. “They try to knock you down and really try to poke you and poke you and poke you. And it’s better when you poke at them.”

Leray said her main focus is being there for her family, rather than paying attention to her critics. “You think I care about what people like? I can fucking take care of my family,” she explained. “I’m the big dog now. I fuckin’ wear the pants. I take care of family. And that’s what God put me here to do. I’m going to continue to do that.”

Coi also touched on her rocky relationship with her father, Benzino, whom she’s called out several times over social media. Though she declined to get into details about the “internet shit,” she admitted there are many things she appreciates about her dad, specifically his approach to music-making.

“At one point my dad was doing music and I’ll be like, ‘Damn, like, he’s always at the studio,’ and I was like, ‘Yo, you doing this music, like, are you are you OK with the fact that it’s not on the radio?’ He said, ‘Yo, I do this for me. I don’t do this for them or them. I get in the studio and I make my music because this is what I want to do.’”

Elsewhere in the interview, Leray opened up about being body-shamed and how she has since learned to love herself more. She recalled reading comments criticizing her physique and the toll it took on her confidence.

“The skinny stuff did bother me just a little bit, just a little bit, because I’m such a good person, and I really look in the mirror and don’t think there’s nothing wrong with me. I don’t know why. I just don’t fuckin’ think so,” she said at 30:00. “I just look in the mirror, be like, ‘Damn, girl.’ I feel like everybody should do that. Like, you got it. And of course, I’m a girl, of course I want a bigger butt. But I also like the big butt I got now. It’s a little cute big butt. I shake that shit…I go crazy”.

I would urge everyone to check out the music of Coi Leray. I reckon that this year will be a pretty busy and active one for her. After a debut which, although it sold low, promised a lot, I think will see her step on and release a fairly quick follow-up. It is clear there is a lot of passion and determination in her heart. Leray is someone everyone should keep an eye out for. V Magazine featured her and underground rap legend and D.J. Angie Martinez in October. They spoke with one another about their early inspirations, come up in the genre, and hopes for the future of Hip-Hop:

“A rising force in the rap game, Leray connects with underground rap legend and DJ Angie Martinez as the pair speak on their early inspirations, come up in the genre, and hopes for the future of Hip Hop

“CL: I’ve always just been a hustler and was inspired to just make music. I mean, in my lyrics I always write through experience and all my music is [inspired by] experience and just my life. And I'm able to really use [music] as not only a journal, but a place to really escape and give my fans something that they can also listen to and relate to as well and help them get through what they're going through. Do you feel like New York influenced your sound coming up?

AM: Oh, definitely. Absolutely, you create what you know. And I was really influenced by New York rap artists, especially of the '80s and early '90s. By the time I had started playing around as an artist and in the studio working on my first album, all of those influences started to come up—I was inspired by all of what was happening in New York and also just what was happening in the city. We made a song called "Live at Jimmy's." Jimmy's was the popping spot back then. Even the artists that I featured on the album and the sound of the beats and all of that is definitely influenced by this city.

CL: I read somewhere that you kind of came up with Lil' Kim and were both nominated for a Grammy together?

AM: Yes, we were nominated for a Grammy for "Ladies Night," which is so crazy to me because literally that might have been the second or third song I'd ever been on. My first one was with KRS-One and Redman. Imagine your first song ever is with KRS-One and Redman—mine was! And then later they had been doing this "Ladies Night" song, Un Rivera was putting it together. And he called and asked if I would do it because they had just heard me rap on this other song—I think this was maybe just the second song I was ever on. So yeah, they called and I got to be on set with Lil' Kim, Da Brat, Missy Elliot, and Left Eye and just have this wonderful experience that would stay with me for a lifetime, man. I mean, it wasn't just the girls on the song—the girls that showed up for the video, Mary J. Blige, TLC—it just was such a dope representation of all the women in the industry, and we had a great time together.

She’s amazing, she of course is an icon. I have so much respect for her. I literally can remember the first time Biggie told me on the radio that he had this girl and she could rap, she rapped like a dude, but she was sexy—he was describing her in such a way like nothing we'd ever seen before. And when Lil' Kim finally did come out, obviously, she didn't disappoint. She superseded anything, but Big always had that vision for her. I really remember him being on the radio and describing what type of artist she was and telling New York that they should be excited about her, and it's just crazy to see how she over-delivered. Now I’m curious, you’ve been so successful recently, have you had to face any obstacles? Especially as a female in this industry?

CL: Entering the industry, as a young Black female artist, I really didn't worry about too much. I guess that was because I didn't know so much and I really wasn't so deeply in it in the beginning. I really didn't overthink anything, I didn't think about anything. I just knew that I wanted to be a good person, I knew I wanted the world to see me. I knew I had to apply pressure, I knew there's so much competition out there, so no matter what, you just gotta keep going. I kept that [spirit] and stuck that with me. And I kept my team with me, I’ve had the same people since day one and it ended up turning out really, really good.

AM: I definitely agree with you, I didn’t really think about it coming up. When I was getting into the business, nah, there were definitely not a lot of women. But I just never thought about it. When I was starting Hip Hop, radio was starting at the same time, so I was in this new genre of radio. When I was starting, commercial Hip Hop radio was really just beginning, so I was just happy to be part of launching that. And in New York, I just loved what I was doing so much. I did it with blinders on and I was probably naive to maybe if I was being treated differently because I was a woman or if there were things that were going on around me. I worked so hard, I just had blinders on. I didn't pay attention to the noise. But, you know, I had to develop ways to just be around guys all the time.

AM: So what would you say your goal is with the music you create? How do you want your listeners to feel?

CL: I feel like the goal that I have when I make my music is just for the shit to be fire and obviously get off what I need to say. I’ve actually been in the studio non-stop for the past 60 days straight, working on amazing music back to back to back to back, coming up with so many amazing things. And sometimes as an artist, my goal here—I'm trying to be here forever and it's a lot of strategy and trusting, it's a process to that super stardom longevity and I feel like I'm just slowly taking my time. I'm in the right place and I just can't wait till people hear this new music because it's amazing. And when I make my music, it's for me, but it's also for everybody. I don't get in the studio and be like, “Yo, I'm about to make a song, how can I make people like me tomorrow?" Like no, I get in there and I just be myself always, 10 toes, and just create and whatever goes from there leaves the room. Whether it's a hit, whether it's a single, doesn't matter what it is, I'm proud of it”.

One of the big names people need to keep abreast of, the phenomenal Coi Leray is primed for major stardom. Even if some discount her stunning debut album, she will build up stronger. Already inspiring so many other people, this year is set to be a big one. If you are not aware of her music and wonder, then go and check her out…