Coi Leray: It's all about new music, rap feuds and talking fave rappers with Apple Music 1

East Coast rapper Coi Leray has plenty to talk about these days. With new music officially brewing and ample activity happening in her life, it’s only right she takes a moment to chop it up with Apple Music 1’s Ebro Darden for a must-see - and hear - ‘Rap Life Radio’ discussion.

Coi Leray joins Apple Music 1’s ‘Rap Life Radio’ to talk everyting

From her self-titled Coi studio effort to living in New Jersey, it’s more than 20 minutes of all eyes and ears on Miss Leray.

Coi Leray on Self Titling Her New Album…

I feel like even just self titling it Coi, I want people to understand everything that is just about me. At home they call me Coi, Coi Leray is my brand. But my mom, everybody, you or anybody here in the room, I would want you to call me Coi 'cause it's a personal thing.

Coi Leray on Receiving Backlash for her XXL Freestyle…

…with the whole XXL freestyle, I'm going to be honest, I'm not a freestyler. I sit down, I started writing on pen and paper first of course, and then elevated to my phone and then on laptop, just writing on the notes. But if I do freestyling, the most freestyle I'll do is melody passes where I'm not even thinking about…I do a lot of melody passes. I dropped out early. I was very smart but I could say that my vocabulary was not the best. And just metaphors and similes, that's why rap is very powerful because it is like a gift, a talent. And my process was just taking my time and actually really having to write it down, look at what I'm doing and being able to be like, "All right, this don't make sense. Might have to stop and define the word. Might have to look up RhymeZone real quick and see, yo, learn a new word while you're doing that.” So when I did XXL freestyle I'm like, "Yo, I'm going to just f***ing go out there and do whatever." 'Cause I know these people not freestyling like... I don't know, maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I don't, maybe they're writing it before. But I'm like, "I'm going to just go in there and just have fun.”

Coi Leray Reflects on The Controversy Following Latto Name-Dropping Her In a Song and Shares Her Thoughts on Rap Beefs…

It's not a sensitive conversation. I feel like it wasn't more about the body, it was more of mentioning my name. I feel like at the time of how everything went and just... I'm about positivity, you know what I mean? For real. And I wasn't sure where it was coming from. And not only that, I feel like the problem with our community today is we be so quick to trying to change things but we don't do nothing to actually change anything. You feel me? So if we're going to say we're going to stop talking about bodies, then don't mention anything about my body. Just period. Don't compare me to nothing, don't think about nothing. We not smoking on anything, it's disrespect. And where I come from I just don't like that. You know what I mean? And as a human being, as a person, I have every right to say what I feel. But as I learn, not every action needs a reaction. Sometimes no reaction is a reaction. And I just hope my advice to the girls out there just moving forward, find a better way to... I don't know, it's starting to get old. The rap beefs are for the guys. You know, I don't even think they should do it. Us artists, we kind of control the narrative. So if we just spend more time pushing that narrative we won't give these headlines and these blogs no reason to go ahead and push this negative narrative. That's something we got to come together on. 

Coi Leray on Being Entrepreneurial and Her Teen Years on the Streets of Jersey...

So my mom started working late in the bar and she would do three to one o'clock in the morning, three o'clock, two o'clock in the morning. My older brothers, I'm the only girl, my older brothers was out in the streets doing what they needed to do. Every man for themselves. And me, my mom trusted me so much I could do whatever. And it was at a point where my mom couldn't give me what I want, she couldn't give none of us what we wanted financially. So I felt like she was able to give us what we want by the freedom and just trusting us and letting us kind of figure it out. So yeah 13, I lost my virginity very young. Between 13 and 14 I started selling drugs. I dropped out of high school 16, didn't finish ninth grade. And I always worked, I worked at sales and I had my own apartments. I ended up working... I'm so smart, I feel like I was born a genius. I swear, I feel like if they test my IQ it's something high. Yeah, and I always just been on my own. I feel like that's what made me who I am today.

Coi Leray on Her Rap Trajectory and The Rappers She Looked Up To...

...growing up I've always loved music. Whether if it was Lil Wayne No Ceilings, every single one. Of course when Drake came on that was major. Drake, I feel like him singing and rapping and all this stuff... One of my favorite rappers, when I say like, it's Jadakiss… just pure bars. And even just Fab, French Montana. So those were like, just coming up, being from the East Coast, those are the rappers I would look up to. But I also had a voice. And I was also from, I guess, my childhood and being in a diverse world and school. And when I would watch Twilight I would go download the whole soundtrack as well. I was really, really musically inclined. I feel like that's something in my blood for sure.

Coi Leray on Addressing Her Father on the Track “Man’s World”...

I feel like I have to tap every subject. I go through so much, I always write through experience. So whether if it's about relationships, love. With Man's World, I get very vulnerable I feel like. I wouldn't say it's a letter to my dad, but it's more like an open journal. And just instead of social media and things like that, it's about putting it in the music. So I did that with Man's World. I feel like Man's World helped me find that balance for sure, 'cause I was always too afraid. You know, you don't want to hurt nobody. I don't want to hurt nobody. That was always my main thing. I always want to say what I want to say, what I want to feel. But I don't want to hurt nobody. I don't want this to be a bad business move and let my emotions get in the way, regardless if it was a song or not. But I'm 26 now. As I get older and you learn to forgive and you have a lot of great people around you... Like, I'm surrounded by a lot of older people too. I always been the youngest in my camp since a kid. So they just guide you and teach you and they're able to give you the advice. And now I could just talk about it and tell my truth without hurting anybody. I feel like I've mastered that. I mastered of telling my truth without hurting anybody and being able to just still be very positive while doing it. Yeah, it's not easy. But first step is forgiving. And I had to forgive my father regardless of what we've been through. I haven't told my story. A lot of people don't really know me for who I am. There's so much narratives online what these people make out to be, though they don't know what I've been through. And I'm fine with that 'cause they will know my story. And luckily I'll share more. And hopefully he loves the song, he hasn't heard it.

Coi Leray Reflects on Her Relationship with Her Father Growing Up…

Me and my dad ain't had that relationship. He was always so busy and on the road, he never sat down and told me how, you know what I mean, things were or whatever. What he was going through, how he was feeling. I had no clue. He was Mr. Cut-you-off-real-quick, break it. Yeah, I don't even know how it was gone, still to this day.

Coi Leray Tells Apple Music She’s "One of “Them Ones”...

I really feel like I'm one of those ones. I feel like I really am. There's like one Lil Wayne, there's one Drake, one Madonna, there's one Nikki, one Kim, there's one of ones. And these is icons. There's one Tupac, there's one Biggie, there's one Jay-Z, there's one Beyoncé, there's one Rihanna. And every single one of these artists got something in particular about themselves that stand out for them, each and every one of them. Not only that, they all got self-titled albums as well. So I feel like, yeah, this is mines. I'm one of them ones.

Coi Leray on Working with David Guetta…

Shout out David Guetta… he believes in me so much. He come to me he's like, "Yo, I got this crazy..." He goes, "I got this crazy idea." Pulls up his phone he's like, "Just listen." He's like, "Just listen." And then it's like he's showing me, (singing). What's so ironic is this same thing is trending right now on TikTok, the sound for some reason, it's the video of her actually on stage. It's crazy. So I'm like, "Yo, let's kill it. This is fire." He's like, "Yo, I know you will crush this." Him putting it in a beat, they add the drums, everything is happening right on the spot. Once it's made I go in and I just do my melody passes. And then after we... You hear a lot of the words and lyrics and stuff, 'cause I do be saying some shit while I'm doing my melody passes. But yeah, and we come out and we make those songs.

Coi Leray on Criticism For Using Too Many Samples

I feel like sampling, there's nothing wrong with sampling. For some reason a lot of people try to use me for the example of a lot of things. They try to make me an example out of things… I don't think sampling is bad at all. I feel like I get where people might say, "Yo, you're doing too much with the sample. It was good how it was originally." Right? That's what they said. They're saying that all over the internet recently. But I feel like the young generation needs to be taught that. So that's why I say I don't mind being an example. I don't mind having them records and really having amazing records, tapping in with history. 

Coi Leray on Her Relationship with Saucy Santana…

Yeah, me and Saucy, that's someone who we have a genuine, nice relationship outside of music because we've met, obviously. I forgot where we met, probably two years ago, maybe a year ago when he first came out. But we had Fashion Week together, he was with me all with Fashion Week, sat next to each other all the time. I love him. He has amazing energy, he's so talented. And he's one of those people that, he'll get you a verse over. If he f**k with you and love the song, he going to get to the studio. And yeah, I'm in fashion. I'm a fashion girl, he's a fashion girl. So it's like, it's only right to have one of them runway songs with both of us on it and just going crazy. 

Coi Leray on Why She Loves Lola Brooke and Collaborating With Her on “No Angels"…

When Lola hopped on it, oh my God, you don't understand. I'm obsessed with Lola. I really am.And that's why I'm not worried about her at all. At all. I think she's going to be super big. I think she's also one of them ones, for real... I don't know, I love her. I can't wait to do more songs with her. I can't wait to shoot the video to this. I can't wait to just see her journey.