How Coco & Clair Clair Shaped a Generation

Maddie Bogan

Rap/Hip-hop journalist 

The iconic music duo known as Coco & Clair Clair has made a lasting impact on young women in the modern rap and hip-hop industry for several years. If they sound familiar to you, you’ve probably heard one of their songs on TikTok or even Instagram. Although their career exists beyond social media, the attention they receive gets increasingly larger as time passes.

Coco & Clair Clair are more formally known as Taylor Nave and Claire Toothill. Both artists grew up near Atlanta, Georgia, but they connected with each other online in 2013. They initially collaborated via a track they posted on the streaming app Soundcloud. From there, they began to put out music on other streaming platforms. Their first work is entitled Posh, an 18-minute-long mixtape that was released in May of 2017. Posh is truly what established the tone for their bubbly discography. Right away, you can tell that they are influenced by the bedroom pop and rap sound that dominated the 2010s. My personal favorite track is “Outro,” which is actually the shortest song on the album, but it’s still an enjoyable listen.

In 2019, they did a song with Deaton Chris Anthony known as “Racecar,” which tremendously blew up that year due to it also featuring indie pop artist Clairo. Their single entitled “Pretty” is what truly got listeners to notice them. The same applies to a couple of their other singles, such as “Crushcrushcrush” and “Pop Star,” which have all been popular on social media as previously mentioned. What Nave and Toothill fans love about these songs is that they perfectly encapsulate the glittery and exciting feeling of being a Gen-Z woman, placing attention on friendships and dating. You can play their music in almost any situation, from getting ready to go to the club to taking it easy outside. 

Sexy is the name of their first real studio album, which was released in 2022. This project featured some smaller artists like Marjorie –W.C. Sinclair, DETO BLACK, Porches, and DEELA. Inviting lesser-known musicians into the studio shows that the duo is interested in using their platform to help other artists. The most popular tracks on Sexy are “Cherub” and “Pop Star,” seeing as they were originally singles, but “Lamb (feat. Porches)” and “8 AM” are two songs that I think deserve more recognition. 

Their most recent work is an album called Girl. Some notable songs include “Kate Spade,” “Graceland,” and “Gorgeous International Really Lucky.” To me, all of these tracks sound like hanging out with your girlfriends on a beautiful summer day. Girl came out in 2024, and they unfortunately have not dropped anything new since then. I personally am looking forward to when they release their next project, whatever it may be. The reason why I adore Coco & Clair Clair so prevalently is due to the authentic and carefree nature in their discography, and their stark emphasis on girlhood. For the sake of Women’s History Month, I highly suggest giving them a listen if you haven’t already.