Chanel West Coast

Chanel West Coast
Chanel West Coast poses for Pure DOPE in 2013
Born	Chelsea Chanel Dudley (1988-09-01) September 1, 1988[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Rapper singer-songwriter actress model television personality
Years active	2009–present
Website	iamchanelwestcoast.com
Musical career
Genres	Hip hop R&B pop
Instruments	Vocals piano
Labels	Young Money Cash Money Republic[2]
Associated acts	Honey Cocaine Snoop Dogg Robin Thicke Shanell Riff Raff

Chelsea Chanel Dudley^[3] (born September 1, 1988), better known by her stage name Chanel West Coast,^[3] is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, actress, model and television personality. She came to prominence for her roles in MTV's Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory and Ridiculousness.^[4]

Early life

Chanel was born in Los Angeles, California but growing up, she split her time living between North Hollywood with her mom and New York City with her father.^[3] Chanel's father is Russian which is mentioned in Ridiculousness and also was a DJ, where he took then eight-year-old Chanel into nightclubs throughout the city.^[3] Chanel took singing and dancing lessons at a young age.^[3]

Television career

Chanel was introduced to television personality Rob Dyrdek through mutual friends in 2008,^[5] Shortly afterwards, Dyrdek offered Chanel a position as his receptionist while he was appearing on the MTV reality series Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory.^[6] The series was later renewed for a second season by MTV.^[7] The third season of the series premiered in 2010, and featured a total of twelve episodes;^[8] The fourth season began airing in 2011.^[9] That same year, Chanel appeared as Sheila in an episode of the MTV series The Hard Times of RJ Berger, marking her acting debut. She later became a main cast member on the series Ridiculousness, in which Dudley, along with Dyrdek and Sterling "Steelo" Brim, review online internet videos.^[10] In 2012, Chanel appeared in both the fifth season of Fantasy Factory and the second season of Ridiculousness.^[11][12] That same year she began to voice the character of Flipz in the animated series Wild Grinders.^[13] Dudley continued to voice the character into 2013, when she also appeared on the third season of Ridiculousness.^[11] The sixth season of Fantasy Factory was announced in 2013, and the fourth season of Ridiculousness premiered on January 2, 2014.^[14]

Music career

2009–2014: Now You Know

Dudley began recording music in 2009, and began collaborating with numerous artists. That year, she appeared on the song "Melting Like Ice Cream" by Tiffanie Anderson.^[1] The following year, she collaborated with rapper Somaya Reece on "Tramp", released as a promotional single by Reece.^[1] She later appeared in the Planet Hollywood song "PHAMOUS", collaborating with Midi Mafia on the project. In 2011, Dudley confirmed she had signed with Polow Da Don on his record label Zone 4, though she later left the label without releasing any material. During this time, Dudley began releasing her own material for free download online, later recording a music video for the song "I Love Money".^[15] She also began performing songs such as "Cookie" at various night clubs to promote the material.^[16]

Lil Wayne signed Chanel to his label Young Money Entertainment in 2012. She released her mixtape Now You Know in 2013.^[17] The mixtape featured Evan Ross, French Montana, Snoop Dogg and Robin Thicke. Riley Sky of Dropkick Divas Media gave the mixtape a grade of B-, saying "Now You Know accomplishes [the] mission" of "[selling] West Coast as an independent woman, its hip-hop-inspired vibe makes "Now You Know" fiercely individual".^[18] Chanel promoted her mixtape by going on two headlining tours; the Punch Drunk Love Tour and the Now You Know Tour. She also released a music video for "Been On", featuring French Montana.^[19]

2014–present: Debut studio album

In 2014, West Coast confirmed that she had begun recording her debut studio album set to be released in 2016, which was originally projected to drop in 2014.^[20] The first single, called "Blueberry Chills" featuring Honey Cocaine was released on January 15, 2014.^[21] The second single off the album, "New Feeling" was released on January 29.^[22] The third single off the album, "Miles and Miles" was released on October 29, which features West Coast providing vocals for the first time. In 2015, West Coast released a new song that was featured on Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory called Bass In The Trunk.^[23] West Coast will be the supporting act for Riff Raff's JODYHiGHROLLER.COM TOUR; through Kentucky to California, January 28–29 and February 2–16.^[24]

Personal life

In 2012, Chanel filed for bankruptcy. In the bankruptcy filing, she owed $543 on a credit card, $1,000.00 on her Dish Network cable bill, and over $9,000.00 in legal fees. Her debt was discharged by the presiding bankruptcy judge in June 2013.^[25]

Chanel has a pomeranian dog named Weezy and her dog has appeared on an episode of Ridiculousness. Chanel claims her dog's name derives from Lil Wayne's alter ego Lil Weezy, claiming that "(she) loved Lil Wayne".^[20]

On August 4, 2015, Chanel was placed under citizen's arrest at the 1OAK night club, held until Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies arrived, and later arrested her for battery.^[26][27]

Filmography

Discography

Compilation albums

Mixtapes

References

External links

• Chanel West Coast at the Internet Movie Database
• Chanel West Coast Official Fansite