Coi Leray Collins, better known as Coi Leray is an American rapper and singer. Inspired by her father, media proprietor Benzino, from the hit reality show Love & Hip Hop, Coi began posting her music to SoundCloud and released her single “Huddy” and her debut mixtape ‘Everythingcoz’ in 2018. In 2021 her hit song “No More Parties” featuring Lil Durk gave the artist her big break.
Since the song was extremely popular and gave Leray her first Billboard Hot 100 entry, the artist somewhat struggled to create her own identity, but certainly quieted all of the critics through her latest album ‘Trendsetter’ which was released on April 8, 2022. The album consists of 25 songs and is 1 hour and 5 minutes long. It also has a number of features from Nicki Minaj, Yung Bleu, G Herbo, NAV and H.E.R., just to name a few.
A song that I thought was a great listen was “Aye Yai Yai” featuring Yung Bleu. The song brings somewhat of a Caribbean flavor and that fits Yung Bleu’s voice perfectly. Both singer’s voices compliment one another which brings out the true essence of the song. I think this could be a great collaboration for years to come as both artists continue to plot the course of their careers.
A song that I think gives the album a good up-tempo sound is “Anxiety”. It gives some insight in to the Popstar’s personal life as she suffers from anxiety. Although it sounds sad, the song is extremely hyped. Coi’s rapping and singing style gives this song the energy you would need at one of her concerts.
Another great track on this album which was much needed for her fans and for her creating her own identity was the “Be Me” snippet off of a podcast that the artist did with Wallo267 and Gillie. This song shows the artist’s intentions to be herself and illustrates her drive to be the biggest artist that she can possibly be. The placement of the song on the album is perfect as well at number 11 which is right after Coi’s biggest hit “No More Parties” featuring Lil Durk.
‘Trendsetter’ resonated with me because of the different styles Coi has which should connect with every listener. It takes a lot of effort to bring this type of energy to every song and she proved that she is a breath of fresh air amongst a multiple of generic, industry plants who all sound identical.
