Chanel West Coast isn’t paying attention to the skeptics as she continues exploring country music.
“I think that there’s just, in general, a lot of people who have negative comments online,” Chanel, 38, exclusively told Us earlier this month when celebrating the release of her new song “Tennessee.”
“I got it when I was rapping and doing hip-hop, and now I’m still getting it doing country. It’s like, ‘No, you’re not a rapper. No, you’re not country.’ And it’s like, ‘So what am I then? Tell me what I am then,’” she continued. “I think I’m just a person who loves music. …. I think that the real music heads can appreciate any genre if it’s a good song, and that’s just how I am, how I’ve always been.”
Chanel built her music and television careers side-by-side as she connected with Rob Dyrdek through her MySpace music page, where she promoted herself as a rapper. She later landed a gig on MTV’s Ridiculousness, which lasted for 12 years.
After leaving the show in 2023, the singer landed her own reality show titled The West Coast Hustle. While she enjoyed filming the show with her family, including fiancé Dom Fenison and 3-year-old daughter Bowie, she found herself at a “crossroads in my music career.”
“I went to Tennessee. I was in Nashville writing with a lot of really cool songwriters and producers out there, and I really felt like I was finally finding my voice and music in country,” she said. “Nashville kind of brought back this fire in me to get back into going really hard with my music, and so that’s really what ‘Tennessee’ is about.”
While Chanel acknowledged there are always going to be “pessimistic people no matter what you do,” she’s also inspired by the support she continues to receive.
“I’ve seen so much love and so much support,” Chanel told Us. “When I’m out there [in Tennessee], people really show me love. I started to feel inspired again being there, and that’s what inspired me to write [my newest] song. That’s why I said I found myself in Tennessee. I felt I found my passion again.”
After spending years in the spotlight, Chanel is used to hearing all sorts of comments from people who don’t even know her.
As she works on new songs and music videos, she’s drowning out any negative noise and focusing on making authentic music that speaks to old and new fans alike.
“I just love making music, so I don’t really care when people have negative things to say,” she proclaimed. “You gotta just look past it and look at the positive comments, and look at all of the people whose lives you change through your music. I get comments every day of somebody being like, ‘I love your song. I’ve listened to it 20 times this week and it just resonates with me so much.’ That’s why I make music — to have other people relate to it.”
