Coi Leray says rapper Benzino (her dad) used to wake her up at 3 a.m. to clean the house.
Coi Leray, in an interview with the Angie Martinez in Real Life podcast, shared the story of her life while growing up and all the challenges she faced that shaped her into who she is today.
The interview started with Coi Leray expressing her excitement and joy for being there, as she normally doesn’t do interviews.
Out of curiosity, Angie Martinez, the host of the Angie Martinez in Real Life podcast, asked her why, and she [Coi Leray] said the Internet has a way of twisting and mincing people’s words or the headlines to farm engagement. Angie concurred with her concern, saying she understood.
Because a person could be out there spilling their hearts and most vulnerable aspects of their lives, hoping to connect with their fans, meanwhile, the media is looking forward to twisting it to suit a narrative and shove it down fans’ throats, making it hard for people to connect or share their stories.
Away from that, Coi Leray, who’s the daughter of rapper Benzino, whose real name is Raymond Leon Scott, was a producer, executive, and co-owner of The Source magazine, a hip-hop publication that gained fame in the early 2000s.
He is popularly known for his feud with Eminem, which went on for some years.
His daughter, Coi Leray, took after him [Benzino] in the music industry as she is determined to carve her own identity in the industry.
Coi Leray, whose real name is Brittany Collins, started her music journey in 2017 with her debut single “G.A.N.” (Goofy A** N****), which caught attention for its lyrics and delivery, building a foundation for her career.
In 2018, she released her mixtape EverythingcoZ, which solidified her career even more and gained widespread love from her fans.
What gave her a solid fan base was her 2018 single “Huddy,” which gained significant traction and fame, earning her a deal with Republic Records, marking a solid starting or turning point in her career.
Despite all the hard work and consistency she put into building a name for herself, she faced several challenges and backlash from the beginning of her career from fans who believed her success was based on nepotism and skepticism.
It’s in that light that she thought it wise to grant the interview and share her story and humble beginnings with the world.
In the interview with the Angie Martinez in Real Life podcast, she revealed she grew up in New Jersey but was born in Boston. Her parents were married for 10 years. Even though she doesn’t remember quite a lot about her childhood, she remembers seeing her father own a magazine, and play music at home while her mom just stayed back flexing from his money.
Though she doesn’t have a deep relationship with her dad, she remembers how strict and how much of a disciplinarian he was.
“Also, my father was one of those people who will come home and just make you… He wasn’t home all day, but like he’ll come home and be like, ‘Clean this house, like clean this house. Like I don’t care.’
He will wake you up at 3 a.m. in your sleep and get you cleaning whatever. So it was things that I definitely respect that I learned from my father and my mom, though I never really had to really experience it.”
And when her dad and mom separated, her dad moved to Miami while she stayed back with her mom. This posed a great challenge to them, as their mom now had to adjust since she was a housewife who never really had to work.
This lapse pushed her to lose her virginity at a very young age (13 years) consensually. She started partying, smoking, and drinking a lot, and it ended up forcing her to move out at 16 and start life on her own. But she and her sister would visit their dad [Benzino] during school holidays for vacations, and he would support them.
She saw her father hustle a lot, a trait she thinks she took over from him too, but things just didn’t always go right as the hip-hop industry is based on relationships. Even though her dad hated to admit it, now that she’s older and into the game, it only makes it even more true. The anger he had for some things that happened in his time burned some bridges for him.
And when Angie Martinez asked what her dad [Benzino] was angry about, Coi Leray said she couldn’t say it because her dad never told her either, and it’s been two years since they both spoke. There are a lot of things her dad and she doesn’t agree on, but she still loves him, and sometimes, to be in a perfect relationship with others, there are a lot of things you need to fix inward first.
Despite the backlash and hate she received from fans at the beginning of her career, everything she did right always seemed to be wrong in the eyes of her fans. She revealed she’s always been a confident person before the fame. But the fame and how much hate she received, made her question herself and who she was; if she was really good enough, if she sounded good enough, if she was too skinny, or if her teeth were too big. Fans even made her question her gender, as they said she looked like a boy.
And when asked again by Angie Martinez if this affected her inwards, she said, “Yes.” It did affect her, but she was more mad at the fact that she had no control over the whole situation. She couldn’t say what she wanted because it would only escalate the whole issue, thereby keeping her in a tight spot against the world.
Despite all, she still stood her ground and was able to buy her mom a house and is working on her hair brand, Coi Leray Braids, Baby Hair Brush, hair products, and braided hair. That’s what matters to her: living in the moment and ignoring distractions.
