Do you believe in fate? I think perhaps we used to believe in such a thing—that there could be only one possible ending... a right one and a wrong one. But if every little decision we make can inevitably change our path, maybe it’s not fate at all? What if it’s just the alchemy of the moment, the luck of the draw, maybe being at the right place at the right time? Or perhaps it’s the coincidence of fate that tethers us to who we are and where we are supposed to be.

The magical properties of destiny are certainly in the eye of the beholder. As for suggesting that musician Coi Leray has played the cards fate has dealt her well? This would be an understatement. At the age of twenty-four, Coi is creating her own hip-hop tracks with inimitable energy, with a swelling fanbase to match. “Music is basically in my blood,” she states with total self-assurance, adding that the art form is an intrinsic experience to her. “I was always around it when I was a child.”

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Music blasting or not, there can come a point where it feels like the same party every weekend. The lights fade, the haze dissipates, and what we believed was novel is no longer. This was the premise for the rapper and singer when creating her platinum hit, “No More Parties”. The Boston-born, Jersey-raised, Los Angles-based artist confesses, “I was just at a point in my life where I was tired of industry shit, going out, and being around people that you barely know. So instead of going to the party, we made ‘No More Parties’. For Coi, it seems like the slight chance of catching FOMO was well worth it as the track has inspired more than 457,000 TikToks at the time of writing this, and garnered her nearly four million listeners on Spotify alone.

In 2022, Coi will be releasing her first full-length album to which she says every second is a projection of herself. On the inspiration of her debut record, she shares, “I write from experience. Everything I feel and everything I go through, you’ll be able to feel and understand what trial and tribulation it is. Whether it’s love, daddy issues, money, or fashion.” While she cannot say too much about the album, she does convey how the narrative of the everyday resonates with her and the dualities of her as an artist—that her lyrics are heartfelt, yet still have her zealous attitude. She adds, “What inspires me is what I am feeling in the moment. I like to write about experiences, so whatever I am going through or whatever I felt within that week, I definitely want to talk about it.”

In the high stakes, highly competitive music industry, there are no doubt new stories with each coming day. When asked about what she has learned about the industry thus far, Coi emphasizes connection. “Communication for sure. This industry is based off relationships,” she states. When asked about what she might tell a younger version of herself, knowing the road ahead, she says, “I would tell fifteen-year me to make sure you stay on top of everything that revolves [around] you. A lot of people put blood, sweat, tears, and time into something that you can’t get back—not only for you but for the people around you. So you just want to make sure you stay motivated and do what you got to do every day to be great.”

As the endless strings of fate continue to lead us where we hope to be, Coi is not an idle passenger on the path towards enlightenment and contentment. She hopes to continue to transcend the monolith of being a rapper, showing that her many layers are truly limitless and unpredictable. She concludes, “I just don’t give a fuck. I do what I want when I want.”