The Official Chanel West Coast Wiki

If you can’t hear this picture just by looking at it, now’s the time to get familiar.


This blonde-haired beauty has co-starred alongside professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and professional co-host Sterling “Steelo” Brim on comedy clip-show Ridiculousness for 25 seasons and counting.

While most know her for her dolphin-pitched, machine-gun speed laughter, the television star has also spent the last decade promoting her career as a singer, dancer, and rapper.

Born Chelsea Chanel Dudley, Chanel West Coast found her niche embodying the Los Angeles lifestyle–seamlessly fusing valley-girl glamour with pimpin’ shades and gold jewelry.

While she’s typically represented as sweet and sometimes ditzy, there have been more bumps in the road of her multifaceted career than meet the eye.

Young West Coast

Worthy of her stage name, Chanel takes pride in being an LA native. But life growing up in the Valley wasn’t all it may seem. To hear her tell it, young Chanel was selling weed with her mom, pornstar Penny Porsche, to generate the income her father wasn’t providing.

Yet her love for music began with her father, a New York-based DJ. While her early musical experience developed primarily in the eastern US, it was Cali artists like Tupac Shakur who fostered her passion for hip-hop and rap culture.

There’s an elephant in the room, one that only truly colorblind individuals are likely to miss. “White girl rapper” was her keyword in the MySpace days, which is what initially connected her with Scott “Big Cat” and Chris “Drama” Pfaff, and ultimately to Rob. At the same time, she was releasing her first clothing line Valleywood, and appearing in Mike Posner's music video for the hit single "Cooler Than Me”.

Despite his cousins initially taking her for a joke, Dyrdek embraced Chanel’s dreams as a part of the DC company culture. She made her television debut in 2009 on Fantasy Factory, filming just one episode before being asked to stay on permanently as the studio’s “rapping receptionist.”

In her early Fantasy Factory era, Chanel sought to align herself as a skater chick by performing at the X Games and posing for Maxim. “I feel like I’m probably the only girl who can maneuver a skateboard in heels,” says Chanel, wearing a red string bikini.

Professional modeling efforts hindered by her petite stature, the television star is a more than effective social media influencer. Presently, her follower count sits at 3.6 million, and has been in the millions range since the start of her career.

If You Don’t Know, Now You Know

Chanel was hesitant to get into reality television in fear that the reality label would jeopardize her success as an artist. Smarter than the mainstream media credits her for, shedding the reality label was indeed an uphill battle.

Ridiculousness first premiered at the wrap of Fantasy Factory season 5, and Chanel continued on to guest-star on Wild N' Out, participating in rap battle challenges such as “Talkin’ Spit” and the “Wildstyle.” She even landed a brief stint in voice acting on the animated NickToons series Wild Grinders. But that was all leading up to the release of the first project of her career, Now You Know.

The element of surprise was on her side. When I played the first track “Karl” out of curiosity in 2013, my jaw hit the floor. The bar was disputably low, but both the beat and flow surpassed my expectations. Moreover, the artistry was brimming with potential and a fresh perspective, and I caught myself actually rooting for her to make it in the industry.

“Alcoholic” went down as one of her most popular tracks of all time by a large margin, but was backed by singles like “Blueberry Chills” (feat. Honey Cocaine) and “Been On” (feat. French Montana).

The culture loves to joke about SoundCloud rappers in hindsight, but at the time, Chanel was the prototype. Most of her discography took place on the platform in singles available for free streaming. She also posted covers of other songs; when Lana Del Rey released her 2014 single, “West Coast,” Chanel wasted no time in rapping over the track.

“It’s a song that you wouldn’t imagine rapping on,” says Chanel of my favorite unreleased single, “I know this is gonna get some people’s attention.”

It got Lil Wayne’s attention, and Chanel West Coast received the Weezy stamp of approval, signing with Young Money that same year. Placed alongside legends like Drake and Nicki Minaj, how could she encounter anything but success and approval going forward?

As fate would have it, “white girl rappers” were in their heyday; Cher Lloyd of the UK was between albums and still hitting the Billboard charts, Miley Cyrus had recently released trap/R&B album Bangerz, and the Australian-born Iggy Azalea was in the States cooking up The New Classic. At this rate, much of what originally made Chanel’s music unique was quickly overshadowed by the next new thing.

Alongside this interesting time in Young Money history, Nicki Minaj had already begun dominating the pop charts with Roman Reloaded, in which the title track goes:

Nicki, she’s just mad that you took the spot.
Oh, word, that bitch mad cuz I took the spot?
Well, bitch, if you ain’t shittin’ then get off the pot…

In a 2019 interview with radio show No Jumper, Chanel states that she was offered a Cash Money deal during her deal with Polo, but lacked the leverage to negotiate due to financial restraints. “Shoutout to [Polo’s] lawyer, his lawyer goes hard.”

She also indicates she was name-dropped in a TMZ article pertaining to beef between Lil Wayne and Birdman with no solid idea as to why.

Chanel also claims to have had the same manager as Drake and Nicki, but had to stop managing her due to conflicts of interest.

“I don’t think she’s jealous,” she says of Nicki, “but I don’t think she supports other women that much. I wasn’t gonna blast her until Cardi went hard. Come to find out she hates me.”

“There was a dry spell Nicki besides Nicki for a long time,” comments host Adam22.

“[After] what I dealt with, I’m wondering if Nicki was out here stopping everybody from coming-up for a while. We know you be lurking, bitch.”

However hard she tried, Chanel couldn’t quite shake her mostly classy, sometimes a bit trashy Ridiculousness persona. Though she faults MTV for not promoting her more as a musician, it was songs like “Cookie” and “Bass in the Trunk” that were featured over objectively superior tracks like “Creepin” or “Holiday.”

Not the only white rapper on Ridiculousness, Chanel had a prime opportunity to network with stars like Riff Raff and the late Mac Miller.

Always teasing new music, she sticks to her grind by writing rhymes and returning to the TV set. For a true diamond in the rough, the best is yet to come–right?

Making Waves

What is a Hollywood starlet without a few scandals and some industry beef? I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a publicity stunt, but when an artist’s name pops up in a TMZ headline parallel to the release of their second mixtape, fans are left to wonder.

When I saw that Waves had dropped in August 2015, I was ecstatic. Produced by Rich Skillz, the sophomore mixtape included celebrity singles featuring YG and B-Real.

Chanel’s creativity was once again on full display. Many of the lyrics were still elementary, but rappers with cheesy lyrics rise to fame all the time. There was something else holding the record back: the sound quality.

I wouldn’t label myself a die-hard audiophile, but Waves sounds more similar to the previous SoundCloud files than the iTunes quality masters of competitors. The muddy snare doesn’t make for easy listening in any standard headset.

Like the last mixtape and all of her singles, the record was consistently inconsistent. The tracks with good musical composure lacked succinctness. The radio-grade beats and melodies lacked lyrical substance.

For better or worse, the project flew under the radar, and Chanel stood strong in the TV sphere, serving looks with every new episode that aired. In 2016, both mixtapes were published to Spotify, allowing more users to stream the music and add it to playlists. But what do you do if for every fan, there are ten haters trolling your comments?

“Did you check her when she started rapping though?” host Laura Stylz asks Steelo Brim on Hot 97 radio.

“You know who checked her? Lil Wayne when he signed her. He gave her that check. She good.” Steelo goes on to describe her as a little sister. “When I scroll through my Twitter feed I get so much hate for her, and when I look at her page she gets the same hate. I’m like, how do you live with that hate?"

Chanel is never one to shy away from controversy, especially on her home turf. In Ridiculousness season 9, host of radio show The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne Tha God made a guest appearance, and things heated up quick.

“I told her she was a wack rapper,” admits Charlamagne out of the blue between segments.

Chanel confirms that this is true, and states that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if that opinion is wrong.

“Have y'all ever heard her rap?” he asks, opening the floor to the audience. “Good for the people that said no.”

Chanel wastes no time clapping back: “I won a BET award with YoungMoney, I got songs with Tyga, YG, TY Dolla $ign, Snoop Dogg… I can’t be sweet and funny today because he doesn’t know my musical track record… so get familiar!”

Charlamagne persists, “People can say Wayne signed Nicki and Drake, but they always leave out Lil Twist and Tyga.”

All observations about Charlamagne’s music career aside, watching the episode made me uncomfortable for several reasons. This time, Rob nor Sterling jump to her defense, leaving the sole woman on stage to fend for herself.

But she takes the incident in stride, just as she always has. “It’s all love,” she tells TMZ. “Charlamagne was just mad because he looks like a Ninja Turtle.” She’s vibing in her signature rounded shades, joint smoldering between her fingers. “He’s a funny guy, and he just boosted my views and followers.”

“I just have a lot of ignorant haters who judge me before taking the time to listen to my music… I just felt like I had to stand my ground.” She then states that Charlamagne had invited her onto The Breakfast Club and she was willing to accept.

But for many, the struggle of wanting to break the mold and be taken seriously is relatable, and Chanel’s music offers a hopeful glance at a better future.

“If you’re persistent and efficient, you get rewarded.”

That’s what everyone wishes for.

"Hold Up, Let a Bitch Get Her Words Out”

Chanel's reality career continued as well through both MTV and a recurring spot on season 4 of Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood. It’s hard to say what about the show’s conflict is staged and what isn’t. But art imitates life, and Chanel’s storyline seemed pretty realistic given what we’ve seen so far.

While her music was by no means inferior to that of any other artists on the show, she faced the same criticism from Hazel-E as she did from social media for her “wanna-be hood look.”

Rapper Safaree had seen Chanel “laugh on a couch” but was hesitant to work with her until she proved herself. Nevertheless, the pair connected through Nikki Mudarris and LAHH featured a release party for their music video “New Bae.”


Still hoping to level up her lyrics, Chanel enlists Nikki with introducing her to producer A1 Bentley, who boasts credits writing for Kid Ink, 2 Chainz, Jeremih, Omirion, and more.

“I thought you was just a host,” says A1, shifting in his seat.

“That’s kind of like my day job that pays the bills. Music is what I do.”

His retort: “Then music should pay the bills.”

As the air in the room gets thicker, Chanel sticks with her original sales pitch. Bentley then cuts her off, revealing that they had already met years before in a session with French Montana, but she had curved him when he tried to schedule a session.

Chanel, defensive yet back peddling, rattles off her track record. But her appeal once again falls on deaf ears.

“Charlemagne said it, right?” prods Bentley.

“No, I had to tell him what it was.” She proceeds to talk her shit, “Charlamagne has went at some of the biggest rappers in history. I’m up there with Kanye and Drake and everybody else now. If you're dissing Chanel West Coast, then you’re just putting me up there with the motherfuckers you’re dissing.”

LA is every bit as small as it is massive. Following the episode’s release, Charlamagne reemerged on The Breakfast Club segment “Donkey of the Day” to once again voice his opinion by “giving people the credit they deserve for being stupid.” And despite the hopeful report she gave to TMZ, Chanel was not present in the studio.

“We all have donkey moments, but some people are so consistently stupid that they’re just the donkey form of human beings. Chanel West Coast is the latter.”

He addresses Chanel’s comments from the LAHH: “I have been very specific about any reason why I wasn’t feeling Drake and Kanye about something, but those guys are extremely talented. Just like with you Chanel, I think you’re a lovely person, but you’re just a wack artist. Okay?"

In this session, Charlamagne maintains his composure, restating only what he has stated a thousand times before. But a month later, he circles back around.

“I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of Chanel West Coast. I feel the way Meek Mill’s judge feels about Meek about Chanel West Coast.” No one checks him this time, and he continues at length.

“You have a terrible attitude, young lady. There is a thin line between what’s confident and what’s delusional; you’re delusional. I truly believe that there are voices in your head. That voice in your head is the devil, and the devil is what? A liar.”

After spouting every synonym he can think of for “trash” he then airs a clip of Chanel shouting at club security.

“You’ll never be more than security! Security loves to hold down whoever the fuck they can! You wish you could spit bars like me! You wish you could be on TV like me! Go let in some irrelevant escort-type bitches who want to suck dick!”

“I don’t wish violence on anyone, but Chanel West Coast needs to get beat up,” Charlamagne concludes. “She deserves a light drag. One good ass-whoopin' would bring her back to reality–at least about her gangsta.”

The Breakfast Club itself is of mixed reviews, but no one can decry its influence on hip-hop entertainment. And while no one (so far) has pushed their luck with an assault charge, Charlamagne effectively upgraded her title to Donkey of the Year. One step forward, two steps back.

America’s Sweetheart

Despite a ten-year run creating music, Chanel West Coast has yet to smash the charts. As any artist could tell you, one of the most significant factors in rallying a fanbase is radio play. While sexism is all too common in any industry, rap is still a male-dominated genre and hip-hop stations are especially slow to feature rising female talent.

Sure, Instagram was popping as always, but Chanel wasn’t ready to let her legacy boil down to memes and viral booty pics. Sick of being recognized for her twerking videos over her mixtapes, she took to Twitter to address her followers.

“I make music. That’s what I’ve done my whole life. What I did before being on TV, what I’ll do after being on TV. It’s what I do in my spare time, what I do to deal with my emotions, and it's what makes me happiest. SO if you don’t like my music or support it PLEASE unfollow me”

She lost a lot of followers, and while it’s hard to get an accurate count, it couldn't have been less than thousands on each platform. But in her own mind, she never lost a true fan.

“I’m almost 1000 percent sure people literally lie on my name based on how people treat me sometimes,” she shares on her Instagram story, “I’m the nicest person around, the least of a ho, so generous and loving, so hardworking, yet I get these vibes like someone out there shitting on my name. I cannot figure it out.”

She kept the faith, and in 2020, Chanel West Coast surprise dropped her first studio album. Back to the drawing board, she switches up her flow and manipulates samples and cuts to create a concept record. Being a former choir student, she showcases her vocal versatility by trading a few more rap bars for song verses.

“White Picket Fence” addresses her critics head-on by poking holes in any rhetoric still attempting to portray her as privileged and entitled. For the first time, she starts dissing the social media culture. Haters are her motivators.

The cohesiveness of the album’s parts have improved, however incrementally. But it’s hard to ignore the obvious, which is a white girl rapping for a style that doesn’t match her voice. That, and there are still bars to the tune of, “I don’t want your man, nah, he a weenie.”

But as far as the recording industry goes, this is technically her official debut. Is there more to be heard, or at least some juicy beef around the corner? Probably.

Flooded with exasperation, she writes in her 2021 single “Time & Space”, Can you blame me for being tired // all of this bullshit that I been took in stride // maybe I’m foolish for wanting that good life, the good old limelight.

She maintains full disclosure, asserting her refusal to give up. “I gotta get ready for war if I’m ever gonna make it // “If you got a dream you gotta pay for it, you gotta be ready to love it and take the hate for it. // If you lose your faith you gotta pray for it.”

When all is said and done, If she has but one fan, it’s me. And while she may not be quite as famous as she wants to be, she’s spent a decade mastering the ability to write about her struggle openly and vulnerably. It takes talent to fail upward and to maintain relevancy against all odds.

With her new baby ready to take the limelight, Chanel has set her sight on new horizons. In June 2022, Chanel released the news that she and her boyfriend, model Dom Fenison were expecting a baby girl! Bowie Breeze Fennison was born November 2, 2022 at 10:22 AM. And yes, she already has her own Instagram.

While Chanel West Coast left Ridiculousness, she announced her upcoming reality television series on MTV. Regardless of what the future holds in terms of her career, the best is yet to come. As long as Charlamagne keeps beefing, we’ll keep getting albums.