Coi (album)
Coi is the second studio album by American rapper and singer Coi Leray. It was released through Uptown and Republic Records on June 23, 2023. The album contains guest appearances from David Guetta, Saucy Santana, Giggs, Lola Brooke, the late James Brown, and Skillibeng. Production was handled by Leray and Guetta themselves, Johnny Goldstein, Akil King, Feli Ferraro, Tommy Brown, Taylor Hill, London on da Track, Cubeatz, Luis Bacqué, and Rockin wit Slime. The release of the album was preceded by four singles: "Players", "Bops", "My Body", "Run It Up" and "Make My Day". It serves as the follow-up to Leray's previous album, Trendsetter.
Background and promotion
In an interview with Eddie Francis of Apple Music 1 before she announced the album, Leray spoke about her intention with it:I feel like a lot of the headlines kind of overshadow my true talent and what God really brought me here to do. So I just can't wait because this album's going to show that. … And also the second album's going to make people go back to Trendsetter and make them actually appreciate it for the music instead of the bullshit and the negative headlines and Coi Leray always being the topic. This album is all about me.
Leray announced the title of the album and revealed its cover art on May 19, 2023. She revealed the tracklist three days later.
Singles
The lead single of the album, "Players", was released on November 30, 2022. The second and third singles, "Bops" and "My Body", were released on April 27 and 28, 2023, respectively. The fourth single, "Run It Up", was released on June 16, 2023. And the fifth and final single, "Make My Day" with David Guetta, was released on the same day as the album release.Critical reception
Coi was met with lukewarm reviews from music critics. Heven Haile of Pitchfork felt that Coi "might as well be marketed as a covers album. Roughly 75% of the album relies on painfully obvious samples, copied and pasted in with little modification" and Leray "unimaginatively spins songs by men into #girlboss anthems". Haile also felt wrote that when Leray is "not deploying samples of popular songs, she's hopping on the wave of today's popular sounds" and concluded that "the only idea she brings to Coi" is introducing "the younger generation" to artists she samples.Personnel
Musicians- Coi Leray – vocals
- Johnny Goldstein – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming
- Tomer Biran – bass guitar, horn, saxophone
- Shay Meiri – saxophone
- Asaf Bitton – trombone
- Arthur Krasnobaev – trumpet
- Nick Lee – trombone
- Tom Levesque – trumpet
- Saucy Santana – vocals
- Tommy Brown – additional vocals
- Taylor Hill – additional vocals
- Lola Brooke – vocals
- James Brown – vocals
- Pierre-Luc Rioux – guitar
- Skillibeng – vocals
- Joe LaPorta – mastering
- Patrizio "Teezio" Pigliapoco – mixing (recorded music)|mixing]
- Manny Marroquin – mixing
- Joe Grasso – immersive mixing
- Germán "Ayoroc" Valdes – recording, vocal editing
- Johnny Goldstein – recording
- Kahlil Vellani – recording
- Taylor Hill – recording
- Nick Bane – recording
- Aresh Banaji – mixing assistance
- Zach Pereya – mixing assistance
- Anthony Vilchis – mixing assistance
- Trey Station – mixing assistance
- Brandon Peralta – immersive mixing assistance
- Augusto Sanchez – immersive mixing assistance
- Ayanna Depas – immersive mixing assistance
- Giovanni "Blu" Rottier – immersive mixing assistance
- Charlotte Rutherford – creative direction, photography
- Drew Gleason – creative direction
- Coi Leray – creative direction