Album Review: Coi Leray, 'Trendsetter'

Considering a sizable number of people struggled to take Coi Leray seriously as an artist, it's been a long road to Trendsetter. From viral videos of dead crowds and questionable stage shows to TikTok anthems like "No More Parties" and "Twinnem," Coi Leray has had quite the journey to her debut album. The daughter of former rap media mogul Benzino, Coi Leray arrived in the midst of the tidal wave of new female rappers. For some, Coi was female rap's answer to Playboi Carti. Wordless Auto-Tuned exclamations and skittering mush-mouthed delivery separated her from the glossier packaging of her peers. Featuring what looks like a B-list hip-hop festival lineup, Trendsetter is an album that wholeheartedly betrays its title. The album finds Coi drowning in a whirlpool of collaborators with greater star power and countless overdone pop-rap trends. The glimpses of Coi's artistry that she grants us are too brief and sporadic to make any sort of lasting impact in the midst of the onslaught of music packed into this 20-song record.

Just a glance at the album's guest stars reveals that Trendsetter never truly had the chance to be Coi's album. Nicki Minaj, Lil Tecca, G Herbo, Young M.A, NAV, Fivio Foreign, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Pooh Shiesty, Lil Durk, Polo G, Yung Bleu, and H.E.R. all stop by to offer their own takes on the trends that the album follows. There's an innate disconnect between titling the album Trendsetter and Coi going out of her way to craft songs that not only follow countless trends, but also do absolutely nothing to innovate on those trends. "Aye Yai Yai," finds Yung Bleu and Coi trying their hand at an Afrobeats crossover peppered with dancehall influences and drowned out brass. Their complete lack of chemistry leaves the song feeling awkward and flat, a result that she's able to avoid on stronger duets like "Thief In The Night" and "Overthinking." The former, which features G Herbo, dives headfirst into Chicago rap with a back-and-forth structure that highlights the pair's chemistry against the sputtering synths. The latter, a surprisingly enjoyable duet with H.E.R., finds both artists flexing their versatility as they reach a pleasing medium between H.E.R.'s guitar-centric R&B balladry and Coi's Auto-Tune-happy anthems of vulnerability. "Tell me why you so stuck in your ways / Now you say I'm the one that you missing," they croon together. The sequencing of "Thief In The Night" and "Overthinking" is one of the rare moments where Trendsetter begins to tell a story of relationship insecurity and anxiety as opposed to the musical equivalent of an Instagram photo dump. At the album's halfway point, Coi plugs in "Twinnem" and "No More Parties," two of her most recognizable hits. Placing these songs together in the middle of the album is a heavy-handed reminder of what drew us to Coi in the first place — her infectious fervent energy. Unfortunately, that energy is muted by six consecutive collaborations that find Coi playing catch-up and second fiddle over and over again.

Trendsetter finds its footing when Coi grants herself the space to exist on her lonesome. "Heart In A Coffin," a wonderful moment of reflection concerning a shattered love story, flies high thanks to gloomy piano and Coi's malleable tear-streaked vocal performance. There's also "Hollywood Dreams," "Too Far," and "Anxiety," a trio of tracks where Coi details the pressures of her musical ambitions, her mental health battles, and her aspirations for her career and life. On these songs, Trendsetter finally feels like Coi's album; she's open and revelatory in a way that very few of her peers are. Even though that vein of downcast contemplation is clearly her pocket, Coi can't help but revert to trend-following. Whether it's an ill-advised pop-centric attempt at drill alongside Fivio Foreign and Young M.A ("Mountains"), or forays into the acoustic guitar trap of A Boogie wit da Hoodie ("Mustard's Interlude"), they are all terribly bland and far from memorable.

Coi clearly has some level of talent, but this faceless overstuffed album does little to properly showcase that talent. Her acute knowledge of social media and knack for catchy hooks and melodies will secure her place in the music industry's ecosystem, but if she has any hope of truly cementing her spot as an artist, she'll need to go back to the drawing board for her sophomore album.

Key Tracks: "Too Far" | "Overthinking" | "Anxiety" | "Blick Blick" | "Heart In A Coffin"

Score: 55