How Coi Leray transcended TikTok fame
Written by ABR on 10/11/2022
This story originally appeared in i-D’s The Royalty Issue, no. 370, Winter 2022. Order your copy here.
This past spring, right around the time of the release of her debut studio album, rapper Coi Leray fractured her kneecap and tore a ligament. “I was making a TikTok at my house,” Coi says, laughing over Zoom. Her voice is warm, if raspy – a product of spending twelve hours in the studio the night before we speak. A cartwheel into a split went wrong, and suddenly Coi could barely walk. “It’s fucking embarrassing,” she says. But there was no way she could stop her momentum over a broken patella. She was just getting started.
Coi “toughed it out and took the risk” having already committed to performances, festival sets, and New York Fashion Week. One look at her Instagram (or the photos here) will show you her almost dangerous level of determination: she’s been learning fast-paced choreography in high heels.
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“I’m Miss Make-It-Happen,” Coi says matter-of-factly, fresh out of surgery to repair that aforementioned knee. “If there’s a will, there’s a way. I started thinking, ‘How am I going to design this fucking wheelchair if I got to start performing with one? If this shit never heals, what am I going to do?’”
“I never took a vacation. I’ve been working hard since I signed my deal,” she continues. “I’ve done so much, even before my debut album… I just needed a break! You can overwork yourself so much, but mentally you gotta take breaks – especially in this industry.”
Taking a break seems like a futile term in the Coi Leray lexicon. In 2018, the musician burst onto the scene with her debut single “G.A.N.”, and her breakout record Huddy solidified her spot as one of today’s most promising female rap stars. Over the course of 2020 and 2021, Coi rose from TikTok phenom to industry maven. Her 2020 track “No More Parties” was remixed in 2021 with Lil Durk, went viral on that aforementioned social media platform, and is now Platinum-certified in the United States. That remix – and other inescapable tracks like “Twinnem”, “Anxiety”, and “Big Purr (Prrdd)” featuring Pooh Shiesty – are all featured on her debut album Trendsetter, which dropped in April 2022, and which boasts appearances from hitmakers like G Herbo, Fivio Foreign, H.E.R., Polo G and, most notably, Nicki Minaj.
Not one to rely on her iconic co-signs and collaborators alone, the battery in Coi’s back is already propelling her towards the next project. This time, she’s ready to make an indelible mark on the culture and become a household name.
Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts and raised in Hackensack, New Jersey, Coi was a confident and charismatic kid, the only girl in a family of four brothers. She didn’t know then what kind of star she’d become, but she always knew the spotlight was her destiny. “I loved fashion, I loved movies, I loved acting,” Coi says. A savvy multi-hyphenate since a young age, she is boundless with her talent: a musician, producer, dancer, editor, painter, cook. When asked what she can’t do, there’s a pause: “Play basketball,” she finally says. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t learn! And I don’t know how to play a couple instruments, but I’m a fast learner. I really feel like I could do anything.”
Coi’s faith in herself makes her resilient to industry noise, unbothered by naysayers with a precise vision for her trajectory. That unshakeable confidence is what shapes her magnetism. There’s no elaborate strategy: she knows being herself is enough.
“I’m Miss Make-It-Happen. If there’s a will, there’s a way.” Coi Leray
“Self-love is a habit,” she says. “My power comes from my brain, my mind. Mentally, trying to be someone else and trying to keep up with society and what the next person wants you to be will damage your brain cells, and then it’ll become a hard habit to break.”
Coi turned 25 this year, and the rapper says the past few months have been a steady transformation of her womanhood and artistry. “I love who I’ve become,” she says. These days, she has more patience, more restraint, more faith, and more hunger.
“I used to be bitter at one point when I was younger, but that shit don’t make no money,” Coi says. “It stops growth. It’ll fuck up your skin. It don’t help your hair grow. It brings on stress.” By redirecting her energy, she’s able to give less attention to the negativity and more grace towards her work and her support system – those who have believed in her since day one. With a smile so wide you can hear it in her voice, Coi quotes the encouraging words that have kept her going from an exec at her record label: “‘You’re three minutes away from being a global mega superstar.’”
Only six months after the release of Trendsetter, Coi says that the label is ready for her to put out another project. What appeals to her the most is building a body of work and a legacy that transcends the charts and reaches beyond the haze of TikTok and social media; one that makes a lasting impact on other artists and the way the industry operates. She’s not just trying to win the game, she’s trying to change it.
Coi founded her own creative agency, aptly named Trendsetter Studios, to serve the needs of artists and creatives on a global level. Coi wants Trendsetter Studios to first and foremost help spread knowledge – to artists trying to build their brand awareness, and to labels desperately trying to keep their fingers on the cultural pulse of a new generation. As one of the earliest musicians to adopt TikTok into their presence, Coi seriously knows a thing or two about being a viral trendsetter.
“I remember being made fun of,” she says. “People tried to make me out to be a TikTok artist and limit me to just being a social media girl. Now you see in 2022… everybody and their grandmother’s on TikTok. There’s not one major artist not asking, ‘How do I get on TikTok?’ It’s one of those things where you gotta educate your peers, and I’m here to do that, for real.”
Coi speaks about what’s next with wondrous pride, the animated energy of a young woman who knows she’s reached greatness and is ready for more. She’s entered her “superstar transformation” era, and is most excited about her new music, having honed into her versatility to create a signature sound. She wants to let the work speak for itself, but has a message for those tapped in. “You guys are a part of my growth,” says Coi. “Keep watching… we about to go up and go crazy. It’s time.”
Credits
Photography Tyler Kohlhoff
Fashion Lana Jay Lackey
Hair Jonette Marchand
Makeup Nikko Anthony
Photography assistance Nick Tooman and Sabrina Victoria
Fashion assistance Sam Knoll, Hayley Francise and Noah Chantos
Casting director Samuel Ellis Scheinman for DMCASTING
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