The Chanel Boyz

Recording tracks mid-flight, throwing album release cooking parties and receiving inspiration via time travel are just a few aspects of the creative process that illustrate the intention of the Chanel Boyz to create something beyond music — a lifestyle.
The "fashion rap" group opened for Kevin Gates on Wednesday night at The Varsity Theatre, marking the third show the group has played in Baton Rouge in the past six months. And with another show slated for next week, the fashion rappers' popularity appears to be on the rise.
Fashion rap is a genre of music created by The Chanel Boyz that fuses elements of hip-hop and bounce music, although according to the group, the genre is difficult to define or compare with other music forms.
"They ain't ready," said Jeff Buck, University alumnus and Chanel Boyz member. That phrase has become the group's motto, and it fits well with the peculiar origins of its music.
"One day we were all sitting around smoking legal weed, or spice, and our future selves came back in a time machine," Buck said. "They appeared and gave us a mixtape with our music from the future, and our group was born."
The Chanel Boyz is composed of six core rappers: Jeff Buck, Stephen Kaufman, Oriskany Vadamalez, Shane Fields, Matt McKey and Wayne Meadows. There are also two Chanel Girls, Betty Vine and Elizabeth Stringer.
Each member takes turns rapping to the background beat when performing. The group has released two mixtapes, "The Chanel Boyz Mixtape" and "Fashion Musik."
"We released our first mixtape on Aug. 19 of last year, on Coco Chanel's birthday," Vadamalez said.
The group admires Coco Chanel, the founder of the high-fashion brand Chanel, and named themselves after her aesthetic.
The Chanel Boyz is currently working on a greatest hits mixtape as well as a bounce music EP.
"We're excited to add more bounce music influence to our sound," Kaufman said.
The Boyz said their inspiration and songwriting process comes from being themselves and staying fashionable, among other activities.
"I like to do yoga to help my creative process," Kaufman said.
The Chanel Boyz are not currently signed to a record label but have put more of an emphasis on where they are recording than with whom they are recording. Two members of the rap collaborative have fathers who are pilots, and the group recorded several tracks a mile high into the sky.
Music enthusiasts interested in seeing The Chanel Boyz perform can catch their Bounce Night show with DJ Matt Cee at the Spanish Moon on Wednesday. The show starts at 9 p.m. and tickets are $5. - LSU Reveille