Chanel West Coast is locked out of her hotel room. She has lost her room key. Her phone just died. The concierge dude at the front desk isn’t being very helpful and is two seconds from being cursed the eph out as a result of his nonchalance. Fortunately for concierge dude the blonde bombshell standing before him – the cute chick with the nice laugh and mean flow recruited by urban legend Lil’ Wayne to entertain the world via his Young Money Entertainment imprint - has an interview to do or concierge dude would have gotten the business. “I’m still a little wasted from my birthday party last night so I’m not even trippin’,” Chanel explains. “Let’s talk.”
Chanel is a few things. All woman is one. A wild party girl is another. A cool Cali girl you can smoke with, and read spoken word to, is a third. But real is the most consistently accurate. Chanel West Coast is just real. Born and raised in the city where Crips c-walk and Bloods soo woo, CWC is open and honest when sharing the scattered details of a single-parent upbringing and unsettled childhood which were no walk in the park. She ain’t no Disney kid. She’s a driven 25-year-old hell bent on being heaven sent. Chanel is that good.
Her debut mixtape “Now You Know” knocked lady rap back on its Louboutin heels. Delivering 18 original tracks written exclusively by Chanel and produced solely by longtime collaborator Rich Skillz, the project actually feels more like an independent album. Even with an impressive menu of A-list features including Evan Ross, French Montana, Honey Cocaine, Ty Dolla $ign, Robin Thicke, and even the Snoop Dogg father himself, Chanel still shines both lyrically and conceptually. Hip Hop’s Goldilocks from the land of the Loc’s is a bona-fide rap artist in addition to being a known MTV personality. And no one works a ballroom better – when CWC and her “Blondentourage” are four or more deep it’s a nice problem for the party to have.
Nicknamed “Young Bonnie” due to her familial relation to iconic Bonnie-and-Clyde heist queen Bonnie Parker, CWC was born to hustle. It’s just in her blood cuz. Now all eyes are on Chanel and she is ready to claim the stage and engage the spotlight. We talked hot Vegas nights, haters who don’t listen, new music, and not giving a phuk in this Pure DOPE Magazine exclusive.
Written by Tone Swep
Photographer: Erick Sanchez
Creative Director: Lauren “LaLa” Walton
Stylist: Eric Burns Hair: Paula Walton MUA: Amanda Busche
Location: R8D Studios in North Hollywood, CA.
Date: August 16, 2013
Read an Excerpt from the Full Length Interview
(ToneSwep: TS) You partied in Vegas for your birthday. Who was in attendance? What was the night like? You have so much to be thankful for and happy birthday by the way.
(Chanel West Coast: CWC) Oh my God! Thank you! I don’t know if you can tell, Tone, but my voice is almost completely gone. I can’t even believe I’m still alive we partied so hard (Laughs!). I chilled with everyone and we went in. I kicked it with Shanell from Young Money, and Tyga. It was real cool. I’m still a little wasted, prolly why I can’t find my damn room keys. I’m locked out of my room right now and sh!t.
(TS) I like Nicki, and Azealia Banks, and Iggy Azalea, but being from the West Coast myself it feels good to now have our femcee from the left coast. I feel like you give us bragging rights in that category now – sorta like Tyga, Kendrick, and Odd Future do on the male rapper side. How’s it feel to be representing Cali in that lady rapper category?
(CWC) First of all, thank you. It feels amazing. It’s funny because when I chose my name it was almost an accident. I was on MySpace trying to figure out my rap name and there were so many phucking Chanel’s (Laughs!). So I just added the West Coast being from LA. I just bumped into the name. I’m happy I can rep where I’m from. My dad lives in New York, and he didn’t want West Coast in the name. He wanted me to change it. Glad I didn’t.
(TS) The Nicki Minaj comparisons are inevitable, and you have mentioned your fondness for Lil Kim and Gwen Stefani in previous interviews. But yo, I keep hearing this blend of Trina and Fergie from you. Like this badass Hip Pop chick.
(CWC) It’s funny you say that, because when I first started rapping I listened to a lot of Trina and Fergie. So I’m sure their styles influenced me. But my first CD was “No Doubt”. Gwen Stefani is the main icon I look up to. I just love how she went from Rock to Hip Hop. She’s the main idol I admire, and the artist who inspires my music and fashion to this day. And as far as rapping, I think you can tell my voice from any other chick rapping. My voice and my production are what makes me stand out from the crowd.
(TS) I listened to songs like “Mazel Tov”, “Karl”, “Bigger Than”, and you are surprisingly very lyrical. You’re on their spitting and each song has its own concept whether it’s love, money, a club song, whatever. They’re songs not freestyles. I was expecting some dingy a$$ beach-party white girl.
(CWC) (Laughs!) That’s real. Glad I surprised you. Honestly, I’ve really grown as an artist. I’m keeping it real with you right now. I was rapping before any of these other white girls were rapping. I think I influenced a lot of them. I’ve been writing poetry since I was 14, and was in Hip Hop dance at 7. I’ve grown a lot as a rapper. Lyrically, I wasn’t as good as I am now. My producer Rich Skillz is really the first to keep it real with me and tell me to step it up. He told me there is a lot of competition between female rappers and influenced me to work harder and write more. After that, I was always in the studio. And I also told myself to stop being high as hell when writing. I write sober now, mostly in the morning with a hot cup of coffee and with a clear mind. I only write when sober, but I can still lace it when I’m phucked up because that’s a different thing. But I need to have a clear head when writing songs and ideas.
(TS) Why didn’t “I Love Money” make the mixtape? That’s a banger and the video is just as popular. Is that more of a keeper and lead single to an upcoming album, or?
(CWC) I put out I Love Money to generate hype and buzz. I had so much other DOPE music that people hadn’t heard, and I already had so many songs on the mixtape. I guess I should have put it on the mixtape though. I already had 18 phucking songs. What was one more going to do (Laughs!).
(TS) Who have you gelled and bonded with most since joining the Young Money family?
(CWC) Well… I wish I could hang out with all of them more. Really I’ve kicked it with Wayne the most. He discovered me and signed me and we probably talk the most. I’m really cool with Chuckee, Chris Richardson. Christina Milian is my girl. And Tyga, that’s the homie.
(TS) Everyone is waiting on a Wayne, Drake, or Nicki collabo from you, but I think you teaming up with Tyga on some LA sh!t is going to be the craziest. You both have so much energy and similar audiences.
(CWC) Yeah, and we’re cool as phuck. It needs to happen soon. Me and Honey (Cocaine) have a song together on my mixtape and he phucks with Honey hard. He and I were just in the club talking about doing a song together. That sh!t needs to happen soon.
(TS) Your TV fans love you as the brash blonde with the fun-loving laugh. They are fans of “Ridiculousness” and “Fun Factory” and your animated voice-over character Flipz on “Wild Grinders”. But Hip Hop is a different, edgier, grimier, more lawless and real world. How do you balance feeding your two very different audiences?
(CWC) It’s been pretty hard actually, because Fantasy Factory and Ridiculousness are more family based shows. On there, I’m just having fun and making witty comments, but they don’t grant me the opportunity to show my true personality. I’m in character on those MTV shows. So now it’s hard, because when I show my true self some people are alarmed that it isn’t the Chanel girl from those shows. And then there’s the haters like, “Who’s your ghost-writer b!tch?” And I’m like, seriously. I mean, if you put Rihanna on Ridiculousness she would be acting the same way I do. Just laughing and having fun. It’s not the time or place to be ratchet or hood or drunk or high or cursing up a storm like I normally do.
(TS) You have arguably the brightest future of any 25-year-old in entertainment. Signed to the hottest label in urban music and a personality on the hottest network in teen-to-twenties television in MTV. You feeling any heat from the haters or has everything been cool thus far?
(CWC) The negative comments only come from people who haven’t heard the music yet. People don’t realize the phucking cookie song (Eat My Cookie) is something that we made for the show. It is supposed to be funny. Then they listen to my mixtape and a few of my other songs, and after 16 or 17 songs, they hop on board.
(TS) You have mentioned in previous interviews that your upbringing did not include any silver spoons or crystal staircases. Talk a little about your early childhood. How was life growing up?
(CWC) In my elementary school years my mother was doing a lot better. She was a single mom and worked hard. Around when I was like 11 or 12 she lost her job and we hit hard times. We were on welfare. I was 14 when I got my first job and I’ve worked to support myself ever since. Me and my mom used to hustle weed together to pay our rent. I can’t remember the last time I’ve gotten money from either my mom or dad. I moved more times than I can count. We moved like every four months. So I’ve always been supporting myself, and now I am supporting my mom too.
(TS) You attended Taft high school in LA, same school as Eazy E and Ice Cube, and also Lakers guard Jordan Farmar and actor Wilmer Valderrama. What’s in the water over there on Ventura Bully? Taft has churned out a diverse collection of talent.
(CWC) (Laughs!) I have no idea but that’s really, really funny. Lisa Kudrow and America Ferrera went to Taft also. I don’t know but I will say this, Taft is a unique mix. Street kids get bused in from the hood. Then the kids who live in the hills behind the school also attend. They have the best arts programs and sports teams and it’s just a place where a lot of kids who didn’t have it handed to them on a silver platter tend to excel.
(TS) You expose so much of yourself on television and in music. What do you keep close and personal?
(CWC) There are things about my upbringing and life that I don’t talk about. I don’t talk about relationships. I like to say, I’m not single and I’m not married yet. I date, but I like to keep that side personal. The couples that get exposed are the ones that don’t make it when you’re an entertainer.
(TS) You candidly discuss relationships good and bad on songs like “Without You”, “Ain’t Got to Worry” and “Punch Drunk Love”. What has been your experience with love thus far?
(CWC) All of those songs, especially Punch Drunk Love, are coming from a real place. Every single song isn’t about just one person. They are a blend and combination of several scenarios and different relationships I’ve been in. I’m more of the long-term relationship type, so I draw from my own real experiences when writing those songs.
(TS) Who will he have to be? What will he need to have? In order to snatch Ms. West Coast away and make her hang up that player cap?
(CWC) A sense of humor for sure. I can’t stand a real attractive guy with no sense of humor. If you can’t make me laugh, you suck, because I laugh at everything. And obviously you gotta have your sh!t together. I can’t be dating a bum. Just someone who is on my level or above. But we can grow, we can work and build something. Put something together. He doesn’t have to be ballin’. I just would want someone who wants to ball. You know, a guy who isn’t satisfied with not making it.
(TS) What is DOPE about you? What makes you a DOPE GIRL?
(CWC) I think that because I don’t try. I just am. I’m a diverse person. That’s makes me DOPE. I’m just me. Anyone that has known me since middle school knows I’ve always been this same person. And I really just don’t give a phuck. I say that. I show that. And I own that.
Go Behind-The-Scenes with Chanel at her DOPE Magazine Cover Shoot
Follow Chanel West Coast on Twitter
Visit Chanel West Coast‘s Official Site
Visit Chanel West Coast‘s Young Money Profile Page
Download Chanel‘s Hit Mixtape “Now You Know“
Watch Chanel‘s Hit Video “I Love Money“
[…] I’ve been watching too much MTV and I just basically want to be Chanel West Coast because she is so adorable and her style is amazing.(Also she’s freakin’ related to […]