Coi Leray Looks Back on Cutting Her Hair: 'I Had a Breaking Point'

Coi Leray gets candid about what she now sees as a career "breaking point" in a new interview.

Speaking with Kaitlyn McNab for the first-ever edition of Teen Vogue’s new MOMENT series, Leray was asked about cutting her hair into a pixie style last year, with the writer singling this out as a pivotal "shift" for the 27-year-old two-time Grammy nominee. As Leray explained, the change marked an escalation of a larger "I don’t give a fuck" attitude she was exploring at the time and has since leaned into fully.

"When I cut it, I was like, 'I don't have to deal with getting my hair done no more! It's going to be easy,'" Leray recalled with a laugh. "I didn't even notice I was going through something. I'm not saying I cut my hair because I was stressed out, but I do think if you look at the timing and how everything played out, it looks like I had a breaking point."

Leray added that she’s grown accustomed to "being judged" by everyone from listeners to industry types, with the 2023 hair change signaling an intentional move into solidifying her place in music with a give-yourself-the-flowers-you-deserve approach.

"I’m planting my own flower garden right now," she said in the just-launched interview, featuring photography by Bea Oyster. "Fuck getting the flowers from anybody else."

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2023 saw Leray roll out her second studio album, Coi, which debuted and peaked at No. 102 on the Billboard 200. While the album itself didn't garner major charts success, lead single "Players" was a top 10 hit on the Hot 100. Later that year, Beyoncé was revealed to be a fan of Leray’s work, saying in a letter to the "Lemon Cars" artist that she considers her "a very talented young lady."

Most recently, Leray shared her Lemon Cars EP, comprised of the aforementioned title track and five others, the Skilla Baby-featuring "Coke Bottle Body" among them. Listen here. Leray is currently on the road with Jhené Aiko.