Coi Leray on Low Album Sales, Body Shaming, and a Lesson From Benzino
Written by SOURCE on October 14, 2022
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.”
You can watch Leray’s full interview above. She also discusses the advice she received from Missy Elliott, blowing up on TikTok, and what she has in store next.
