Is Chanel West Coast Actually From The West Coast?

Chanel actually grew up splitting her time between the West Coast and the East Coast. The daughter of former adult film actress Jamie “Penny Porsche” Dudley, she chose to spend time with both her parents after their divorce when she was very little, bouncing back and forth between her mom's North Hollywood home in California and her dad's New York City pad.

According to her website, Chanel has fond memories of her time in NYC, where her DJ dad, who is of Russian-Jewish descent, would sneak her into "packed nightclubs" at just 8 years old. The Fantasy Factory star, who took up her "West Coast" moniker around the age of 17 while she was managing her music page on MySpace "during the height of its popularity," often shares stories about the "thrill" of hiding beneath the DJ booth so that nobody would spot her there.

The Ridiculousness host even talked about it on Instagram in May, backing up her claims with photo evidence.

"Been lit in the DJ booth since 8...swipe to see pics lolll last pic is me in the DJ booth with my dad at work at like 3am in NY," she wrote.

Check out her post below!

Chanel opened up about that part of her childhood in an interview with Trend, reminiscing about how she would help her dad carry vinyl record cases while accompanying him on his gigs.

The rapper recollected trying to tell her dad what songs to play, explaining her ultimate goal: "I remember just dreaming of one day, my dad pulling out my record to play."

Watch her tell the story in the video below!

In other interviews, the artist has shared that her parents enrolled her in singing and dancing classes at a young age.

"I've always been around music, and I knew it's what I'd do for the rest of my life. I didn't have a choice," she's been quoted as saying.

While her dad's profession was certainly a huge influence on Chanel's career choice, the "Alcoholic" singer also credits her mom for going into music. The star, who was homeschooled after attending two years at Taft High School in Woodland Hills, told L.A. Weekly that she started listening to rap at 11, while also picking up a weed habit at the same age.

Chanel, who has shared that her mom used to grow marijuana at one point to pay the bills, talked about the drive behind her career with Trend: "I make all of my music, because I want to be successful and make [my mom] proud."

"She's proud that I'm able to help her out with the bills and stuff," she added.

Watch the full interview below!

The Love & Hip Hop penned a sweet tribute to her mom on Mother's Day, thanking her for her constant support.

"Thank you for all you have done for me in my life to make me the woman I am today. Thank you for being there for me when nobody else is,” she wrote on Instagram, sharing the above photo of them posing in a flower field.

Chanel, who's been rapping since she was 14 and making a career out of it since 2009, has often talked about her musical influences which stared way back when she was teen. In various interviews, the “Time & Space” singer has credited both Tupac Shakur and Lil Wayne as major inspirations, saying that it was Shakur's song "How Do U Want It" that first sparked her passion for rapping.

While she aimed to become "the female Eminem," as Chanel told L.A. Weekly back in 2014, the singer doesn't want to confine herself to a single genre, taking a cue from Gwen Stefani on how to keep her style in constant change.

"It's something I'd love to do. I love all types of music, I'd rather start with hip-hop and then maybe cross over into more pop-rock," Chanel told Trend. "I really aspire to be an artist like that that can basically do anything."

It's also noteworthy that Chanel worked with Lil Wayne at the beginning of her music career, signing with his record label, Young Money Entertainment, in 2012. The artist remembered her mentor on his birthday in 2020, thanking him in a heartfelt Instagram post given below.

"Thank you for believing in me when so many have doubted me!" she wrote in the caption. "You are truly the GOAT and where that term even came from! (Facts) Hip-hop and music period owes so much to you."