Coi Leray may have blown up this year with the TikTok favorite “No More Parties,” but the 23-year-old New Jersey rapper is no greenhorn. While her appearance on The Tonight Show to perform the breakout hit on Thursday constituted her television debut, the performance itself was more polished and professional than many, with an off-camera band performing a dazzling arrangement, engaging staging that played into the theme, and the sort of swaggering confidence that comes with putting in the work to be a star.
The charisma exuded by the second-generation rap star (her dad is Benzino, the Boston rapper who famously battled with Eminem in the early 2000s) is what prompted her inclusion in Uproxx’s “Rappers To Watch Out For In 2021,” bolstered by her slick performances on mixtapes Everythingcoz and EC2.
I first caught on the wave with her 2018 video for “Huddy,” a hard-hitting thumper that showcased Coi’s quirky personality and a real gift for penning blunt witticisms. While “No More Parties” is something of a departure from the more straightforward bars and rhymes on “Huddy,” the seeming disparity between the singles actually highlights her versatility as an artist. That’s why she’s suddenly in such high demand, with features on Yung Bleu’s “Thieves In Atlanta,” DDG’s “Impatient,” and TruCarr’s “Beat It Up,” as well as a cameo in Mooski’s “Track Star” video — her star power is shining through the TikTok trending, revealing an artist who is destined to be more than just a one-hit wonder.
Watch Coi Leray’s television debut with “No More Parties” on The Tonight Show above.