This reality-star-turned-rapper may not claim a spot on the A-List, but the performer has
her toes in both reality TV and music, and has been making a name for herself in show
business for years. Let's go behind that distinctive laugh to discover the untold truth of Chanel
West Coast.
If you think Chanel West Coast has a memorable moniker, then you're proving that the star
was right when she opted to ditch her real name for something more worthy of a successful
celebrity. She told MTV in 2015,
"My real, full name is Chelsea Chanel Dudley. In my opinion, Chelsea Dudley does not sound
like a rapper. So I was like, 'You know what? I'ma drop both of those names and just go
by Chanel."
Granted, Chanel is definitely catchy, but it's also apparently too common, which is
how West Coast ended up with an unexpected and accidental addition to her stage name.
While trying to choose a URL for her Myspace music page early in her career, she found
that like all the best email addresses, no versions of her name were available.
She explained her thought process to MTV, saying,
"So I was like, 'You know what? I'm a West Coast rapper, so maybe I'll just make my URL
Chanel West Coast,'...And then it kind of stuck with me and people started calling me
West Coast like it was my last name, like, 'What up, West Coast!?'"
So be sure to get creative when coming up with your own stage name - you never know
what will catch on.
Chanel was raised by her mom in North Hollywood, and it appears as if the two share a loving
relationship. After noting the values that her mother instilled in her, West Coast wrote
to her,
"I want you to know that no matter what we have been through you are the greatest mom
in the world to me!"
While the star obviously had a special relationship with her mother growing up, the same can be
said for her father, but for a different reason. When West Coast wasn't with her mom, she stayed
with her dad, who lived in New York City and worked as a DJ. When he would perform at clubs,
he would take his eight-year-old daughter with him, where she experienced some very
fond early memories of sitting under the DJ booth while everyone else partied.
The woman who became a rapper explained the influence the experience had on her, saying,
"I've always been around music, and I knew it's what I'd do for the rest of my life.
I didn't have a choice."
West Coast isn't shy about her use of cannabis, even explaining to LA Weekly that some of
her somewhat ditzy demeanor is because she's usually stoned, even on TV.
"We're in Missouri, we are about to go perform at Knuckleheads. Yeah."
In fact, marijuana is something that has been a part of the star's life since she was surprisingly
young, and is something that her family actually relied on to get by. West Coast claimed that
at one point her mom grew marijuana for extra income. It's unclear whether or not West Coast
was aware of her mother's illegal activities at the time, however, the star also revealed
that she started her marijuana habit at the age of 11.
While using cannabis has apparently remained a part of West Coast's life in the years since,
she addressed her use of weed when she was faced with a tragedy in 2020. The star took
to Instagram on Feb. 3 to post a tribute to her friend who had died, writing,
"I will do all I can to make sure to fight against addiction issues and I will try to
help as many people as I can get off drugs because I should've done that for you. I should've
went to rehab with you and quit smoking weed and did whatever it takes to get you on track."
Like plenty of other celebrities, Chanel West Coast had an alternative kind of education.
She was home schooled during the last two years of high school, and with all that extra
time at home she was free to pursue her creative endeavors. That included her blossoming rapping
career, which she started when she was just 14.
The star opened up to LA Weekly about her inspiration, saying,
"When I first started rapping, I was, like, 'I'm gonna be, like, the female Eminem.'"
With that ambition fueling her, her biography states that she took dancing and singing lessons
while listening to plenty of hip-hop to help hone her skills. She eventually took her music
public when she was 17 via her MySpace page, and got a career breakthrough in 2012.
That was when Lil Wayne personally invited Chanel to his Miami studio to play him some
of her music. Apparently, he liked what he heard because he ended up signing West Coast
to his label. Whether or not she grew up to be a female Eminem is debatable, but her work
with Lil Wayne's label means that her name is listed alongside other big time artists
like Drake and Nicki Minaj, which is pretty impressive.
Chanel West Coast may be famous for her work on MTV's Fantasy Factory and Ridiculousness,
however, the rapper thinks that her onscreen gigs may have hurt her music career.
"I'm gonna pee in my pants or something."
She spent years as a supporting character for professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek as
opposed to working on what she was passionate about. Even before taking the job, she was
skeptical whether it was the right thing for her to do. She explained,
"The first thing that crossed my head was, 'Is this going to ruin my chances of being
taken seriously as an artist?'"
Granted, while being on MTV could potentially help the star's hip hop aspirations, the network
apparently refuses to promote her music and she didn't hold back from criticising them,
saying,
"They're so stupid and, like, disrespectful and rude."
When West Coast finally got a chance to get her music in front of her TV-loving fans thanks
to VH-1's Love & Hip Hop, it appeared that her time spent toiling away as a sidekick
helped pay off for her. She was finally able to focus on her true passion and personality.
"In my f---in', I'm up there with Kanye and Drake and everybody else he took down. You
know what I'm saying?"
"Easy! Easy!"
"But listen!"
Chanel West Coast's career as a rapper may have faltered early on due to her TV work.
However, she also might have struggled to find success in the music scene for a different
reason. There happened to be another rapper with a similar image who was skyrocketing
at the same time that the "I Be Like" performer was trying to make her name. That rapper is
Iggy Azalea.
At 25, West Coast was frustrated with her career at that point and argued with her producer
on whether or not she needed to change her image to be more like Azalea. In comparing
the artists, a profile from LA Weekly in 2014 somewhat cynically noted,
"The two have plenty in common. Both cultivate an image that is equal parts baller and cheerleader;
both borrow hip-hop tropes to somewhat boring effect: Middle-class white women rapping about
their struggle to acquire labels and diamonds is about as edgy as a Sex and the City movie."
Ouch. Despite their similarities, Azalea was the more dominant artist at the time since
she was riding high on top of the Billboard charts thanks to the hit singles like 'Fancy'.
Given her years spent in the entertainment industry, one would think Chanel West Coast
knows plenty of influential people in the business.
"Lil Wayne, who co signed Drake and Nicki Minaj is the same person who cosigned me.
I won a BET award with Young Money, I got songs with French Montana, YG, Ty Dolla Sign, Snoop Dogg-"
After all, her network had to have gone up a notch when the rapper was signed to Lil
Wayne's label, right? Not so fast.
She opened up to Billboard about the experience that same year, saying,
"I went to Miami, played him my music, and I just remember...he sat back and said, 'Man
that s--- was stupid.' I was like, 'Yo. Wayne thought that s--- was stupid.'" She added,
"As soon as he said that, I knew I was in."
However, West Coast apparently wasn't as in as she thought. Despite her professional affiliations
and position on a notable label, she apparently never had Wayne's actual number. Beyond that,
at the time of the 2014 profile, she wasn't feeling the love from the other artists on
the label.
As a songwriter, you might assume that writing a song about another star is a touching tribute.
But not all celebrities feel that way, particularly Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone. That became
clear in 2019 when Chanel West Coast released her song "Sharon Stoned" as well as a video
that featured the musician dressed up as the actress in her iconic roles. In turn, Stone
sued the rapper.
Stone wasn't pleased with the fact that West Coast had used her name and her likeness without
her consent and felt that this was another example of West Coast using a celebrity's
fame to help her own career.
West Coast released a statement in response, saying that she was surprised since, according
to her, Stone was supposed to be a part of the project. According to Chanel,
"Sharon pulled out of participating in the music video the day of the shoot after months
of conversations, in-person meetings...two dance rehearsals, and even had her own ideas
that she shared with myself and my team for the collaborative on the video."
As of December 2019, a settlement appeared to be in the works, which means that she might
be able to sort this out. Either way, they probably won't be working together any time soon.
Chanel West Coast is clearly living that Hollywood lifestyle, and in November 2019, she bought
herself a house to match that enviable image. The reality TV star and rapper picked up a
home worth over a million and a half dollars in the Hollywood Dell neighborhood. The three
bedroom, three bathroom house was built in the 50s but had been recently renovated.
The star took InTouch on a tour around her home in March 2020. When guests arrive, they'll
find that the house contains an attached two car garage, high-end appliances, skylit hallways,
and a private balcony off the master bedroom. The house may be on a small plot of land but
it features a beautiful backyard.
Other features of the space include neon décor, gold accents, foliage-covered wallpaper, and
black paper towels that don't actually work.
When it comes to making money, Chanel West Coast's ventures aren't limited to her work
in rap and reality TV. The star has also been involved in two streetwear clothing lines
and a cannabis subscription box that was curated by West Coast herself.
West Coast used her background as the inspiration for Valleywood, a line of T-shirts and sweatshirts
that she launched in 2019, telling Seventeen magazine,
"I came up with the name because I was born and raised in the Valley, but I'm still in
the Hollywood scene."
She described the apparel as overall casual with the potential to look dressed up depending
on the accessories. Despite the fact that Valleywood doesn't seem to have been a grand
success since the website was inactive as of May 2020, the star tried to take on the
fashion scene again with The LOL Cartel. If you like tie-dye and marijuana leaves, then
this is the line for you.
Speaking of marijuana, West Coast embraced that aspect of her brand again by teaming
up with the Daily High Club in September 2018 to offer a cannabis subscription box to celebrate
her birthday as well as an upcoming song release.
One of Chanel West Coast's lyrics in her song, "I Love Money," says,
"I don't care if you understand the meaning, but I won't stop pilling 'til cash hit the
ceiling."
That's pretty accurate considering she happens to have her fair share of funds. Thanks to
West Coast's various professional endeavors, the multi-faceted star has earned a modest
yet impressive fortune. In fact, she's worth around $3 million as of May 2020, according
to the Celebrity Net Worth.
Even without her rapping career, she makes quite a bit of money. She reportedly earned
$81,170 as a full cast member of MTV's Fantasy Factory, took in an alleged $142,050 as the
co-host of Ridiculousness, and supposedly made $174,830 for voicing the character Flipz
on the animated series Wild Grinders.
While this all sounds impressive, her value was estimated at $6 million from a different
source a year earlier than Celebrity Net Worth's estimate. Did the reality-star-turned-rapper
lose some cash? Or are these estimates just rough guesses? Either way, we're sure West
Coast has no plans to stop signing more lucrative deals to boost up her bottom line.
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