Rising rapper Coi Leray was riding high after releasing Trendsetter on April 8. Leray even called out her fellow 2021 Freshman Class members on the day the album dropped. Unfortunately, early reports forecast the initial sales numbers for the project will be below the 20,000 mark.
“Coi Leray ‘Trendsetter’ on pace to sell 11K first week,” tweeted DJ Akademiks on Tuesday evening. Many of the replies to Ak’s tweet suggested that projected sales total was underwhelming for the amount of talent featured on the album.
Trendsetter included contributions by Nicki Minaj, Yung Bleu, Fivio Foreign, Young M.A, G Herbo, H.E.R., Nav, Lil Durk. Polo G, Lil Tecca, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and Pooh Shiesty. Plus, the Platinum-certified single “No More Parties” lives on Leray’s debut album.
FRIDAY 4/8 🆑🌎
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this project and thank you for believing in me ❤️🔥 https://t.co/AF3AtggbUL
The supposed 11,000 first-week units for Trendsetter caused a lot of conversation across social media. On Wednesday, Coi Leray began posting messages on Twitter that seemed to be reactions to the negative feedback about the expected low sales.
“God has been the best father to me. I can’t complain about anything. My debut album is amazing and not one song can you say is bad. [It’s] been 5 days. I understand Coi Leray is so viral & works good on blogs headlines but trust me, it’s all part of the game, just ride out and stay [focused],” tweeted Leray.
The 24-year-old Republic recording artist later added, “One thing y’all should know about me, I don’t fold under pressure. This lil body got thick skin baby. Only me can stop me.#trendsetter 🆑🌎💖 ALBUM OUT NOW!!!!”
Benzino & NLE Choppa Address The Trendsetter Backlash
Coi Leray’s father, Benzino, also got caught up in the sales controversy. The former owner of The Source magazine denied he was responsible for the @iambenzino Instagram page which recently posted disparaging remarks about Trendsetter.
In addition, Memphis-bred rapper NLE Choppa offered support for Coi Leray and downplayed the importance of first-week sales. Choppa also shouted out New York City’s Fivio Foreign whose B.I.B.L.E. album is looking to open with around 29,000 first-week units.
“First week numbers [don’t] determine if [an] album [is] good or not. Literally says ‘FIRST WEEK.’ I’ve yet to have [an] album that just goes crazy [the] first week but I’m sitting on 2 gold projects and another one working towards that.
@FivioForeign @coi_leray y’all craft is beyond perfect‼️” NLE Choppa tweeted yesterday.
