Blac Chyna is a mogul in her own right. Boasting 16.3 million followers on Instagram alone, Chyna, real name Angela White, is an entrepreneur with multiple thriving businesses, a beauty and fashion maven, a reality TV star, a model, a social media influencer, a mother… and now an artist!
In an exclusive interview with Baller Alert, Chyna states, “It’s finally time, I’ve been working on music for a while. I’m finally ready. Everything’s already in line as far as my other businesses, so now I have time to focus strictly on the music.”
The Washington D.C. native got her start as a dancer in Miami, before building her own empire. After years of making music for herself (since 2017), she finally debuted her singles “Seen Her” and “Cash Only,” featuring Trippie Redd. Both videos hit millions of views almost instantly, proof that this is only the beginning of a fruitful career to follow.
Read below as we discuss her new music, hustling to support her kids, best memory shooting with Nicki Minaj, and more!
You have a studio at the crib, right?
Yup, I feel like that’s the best way. We started building up the studio in the beginning of 2018. I didn’t want to be going into different random studios. Especially being a female, I wanted to be safe.
What’s your recording process? Do you write?
Well, I have people that help me. I have an engineer and my producer Tito. I have my bro Mally Mall who helps me. I have my friends, Lola [Monroe] and King Los. It’s a process, but it’s a good process. When I’m at home, and I’m comfortable, I go in with my sweats on and no wig. Just comfy. [laughs]
“Seen Her” hit a million views on YouTube in less than a month. How does that make you feel?
Makes me feel good. When I first put out music, I hope people like it as much as I do. I’m passionate; I wanted the visual to be perfect. I’m happy people are listening to it and giving me feedback in the comments, my friends and my family. I’m excited. It’s a lifestyle. Everything is organic, so I know it’s going to work.
Are you doing this all independently?
Yup, I have full control of everything. I get to move at my own pace and not feel so pressured about doing anything. Especially when you’re passionate, you feel rushed or overwhelmed. That’s the best thing for me.
How did the collab with Trippie Redd come about?
It was good. He came over; we started playing each other records. He played me songs from his new album. I wanted him to hear a song I thought would be a good collab for him. I didn’t want to play “Cash Only” first so I played it last, to see how he’d feel about it. He liked another record, but we went with “Cash Only” because it was organic, and it felt good. He recorded his verse, watching his process was pretty dope. We set up the video, shot it, and that was that.
You switch off between rapping and singing, talk about being diverse.
I’m really excited. I have a few unreleased songs, perfecting it and mixing it. A lot of people think you go in the studio and record it one time; it’s not like that. You gotta keep recording it, adding things, taking away things, going over it. Listening to it repetitively and figuring out if this is it.
I love you and Lola’s friendship too! Bring us back to D.C. when you guys were youngins.
We’ve known each other for a long time; people don’t know that. Our babies are the same age, we’re both from D.C. Lola was actually modeling and doing all this before me, so I looked up to her. She was killing it. She’s in all the videos, that it girl. I thought, “when I get older, I want to do that.” She took me underneath her wing to keep certain people away from me, and I loved it. She’d moved to Atlanta, and I’d moved to Miami, we both linked back up in LA. Been together ever since.
How was Miami?
Miami was cool. When I first came, I thought it’s a dope spot to live at. I went to school in Miami for two years, Johnson & Wales University for business management. Back then, being an exotic dancer and combining all those elements together made me a stronger person in this industry. You have to be a strong person with a business mindset to keep things going. You’re going to have things coming at you every type of which way. All these things compiled made me and helped the Blac Chyna brand.
How much have you made off OnlyFans?
I made a little bag. We don’t really talk about how much money we make; we just make it. All of this is a hustle for the bigger picture. I’m on OnlyFans so I can support the music because that stuff is not cheap at all. Getting studio time, engineers, wardrobe, marketing, I’m using all these different hustles to support that and my kids. That’s the ultimate goal: to keep up their living of how they’re living now. I don’t want to be that parent where they have this now; then, when they get older, they don’t have it. I want them to always be accustomed to the way they’re living. I’m a single black female supporting my kids. I don’t get any child support, so I have all these things like Blac Chyna’s Closet, The Dynasty Group, my music, the OnlyFans, Lash Cosmetics, promos that I do for other people, other companies to keep my household together. That’s my main focus.
How far do you want to take this music career?
Super far, there’s no limit to it. Music is music. Music’s always going to be a part of our lives until the day you die, period. Beauty’s never going out of style. Now, if I keep up with the rest of these artists like Jay Z, Beyonce, Rihanna — if I could keep up with the time, I’ll be timeless. I don’t want to be stuck in a box or a timeframe.
What motivates you to get up every morning? Is it your kids?
Not only do they motivate me, but they wake me up. So I’m getting up regardless. King will be 8 in October; Dream will be 4 in November. I have an 8-year-old and a 4-year-old, crazy.
How do they feel about mommy making music now?
You know what, King isn’t as vocal as Dream is. She’ll tell me, “mommy put on your music.” I’ll play it; she’ll be dancing around. Dream likes my song! I bring them in the studio sometimes.
They need to have some type of vocals on your songs.
Dream’s going to be a singer. She does it now. She takes her iPad and puts on the Aladdin movie; she kills Jasmine’s part. She’s obsessed with it; it’s so funny to me.
What’s your favorite food?
Crab legs and anything with shrimp. I love seafood; I eat seafood every day. I got to chill out on shrimp, though. I’m actually about to bring back Cooking with Chyna; I used to do that all the time when I was pregnant with Dream on my Snapchat. I used to cook, cook, cook. I still cook, but I don’t post it. I’ma get back into it.
What’s your favorite thing to cook?
Anything really. I always use a lot of onions, garlic. I love onions. I really love to grill. A lot of people don’t know how to grill; the food be burnt on the outside then not cooked on the inside. I’m good.
What’s your favorite song you’ve been in?
“Miss Me” with Drake, because that’s what made me go here as far as the industry. I was already doing my modeling, but when Drake shouted me out on “Miss Me,” it went [schoop]. Then Nicki Minaj “Rake It Up,” because we shot the video. The video was super fun; I had a really good time.
What was the best memory shooting with Nicki?
I was on 3 different sets with her. I was on “Good Form,” but I actually had to leave the video because I had to go be with the babies. When I saw the video, I’m like damn, I wanted to be there so bad. I was her stunt double when we first met in 2010, for the “Monster” video. It was a closed set with Kanye West, Rick Ross, and her. The video never came out because it was so gory.
Can we expect a collab with ya’ll?
I’d love it, shoot. I love Nicki. I went to the studio with her and played her my records when I first started; she said, “I like more of the singing, softer side.” She’s always been supportive. Even when I posted “Seen Her,” she reposted it. She’s always shown me love through the years; she’s always been the same with me.
A lot of artists and celebrities have been reposting you. How does it feel to have so much support? Not everyone gets that much support organically.
It feels really, really, really good. I’m glad people are showing me support. This is really major to me, especially people who’ve been doing this for so long. I still, as an artist, want to put in that work so people can understand I’m serious too. These people have been doing it for years. I don’t want people to think, “oh, just because I’m Blac Chyna that I’ma get so much love.” I want people to respect it.
How do you — being an artist, mother, business owner — how do you do everything? Are you super organized?
I’m super organized; I write down everything. Of course, I have help. I have my staff, a nanny, my makeup artist Alex that helps with the creative directing. Over this year, I was able to build a team strong enough to bounce ideas and stay motivated. If you surround yourself with people that’s motivating, and they want more in life, it’ll trickle off to you. If you’re around people that don’t have the same dreams or mindset as you, they’ll pull you down. I’m grateful for the team I have around me now and the people who care for me, want to see me win just as well as I want to see them. That’s where the balance comes in, then hand it off to the next person.
