MTV star raps for fans at Fatty’s

By Sophia Phillips

DeKALB | A crowd of about 300 people danced to party music Thursday night, waiting for rapper Chanel West Coast to take the stage in the Novak Room inside Fatty’s Pub & Grille, 1312 W. Lincoln Highway.

Chanel, 28, performed six songs including “Been On,” “Alcoholic” and her newest single “Notice.”

She is best known for being a co-host on the MTV show “Ridiculousness,” and for her appearances on “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory,” on MTV.

Being on MTV has made Chanel recognizable. Austin Ricker, junior physical education major, said he came to see Chanel because he watches her show and knew who she was from it.

Though there were people who had not heard much of Chanel’s music before deciding to come to see her perform, the dedicated fans went to her meet-and-greet at 7:30 p.m. at the Holmes Student Center before her set at Fatty’s.

“I listened to a few [Chanel West Coast] songs before I came here,” said Brittany Redalla, senior communication major. “But I’ve seen her on ‘Ridiculousness,’ like, a lot.”

Even though her TV career took off before her music career, Chanel is not new to the music industry.

Chanel began taking singing and dancing lessons at a young age and made her first Myspace music page to share her music when she was 17 years old, according to her website.

“I’ve been doing music way longer than I’ve been on TV,” Chanel said to the crowd before performing her song “Been On.”

In 2013, Chanel was signed to Young Money Entertainment record label by rapper Lil Wayne, according to the record label’s website.

Chanel’s debut mixtape “Now You Know” was released in 2013, and her second mixtape “Wave” was released in 2015. She also appeared on Young Money’s compilation album titled “Rise Of An Empire” in 2014.

The night was filled with students and fans there to see Chanel have a good time in town and on campus.

“I don’t like to go out to the bars much, but it was something new in town that was exciting,” Redalla said.

It seemed like Chanel enjoyed performing for Fatty’s as much as the crowd enjoyed watching her. She even started chanting “NIU” with the crowd.

“You guys are so lit,” Chanel said to the crowd. “Y’all make me wish I went to college.”