Chanel West Coast Opens Up About Female Struggle in Male-Dominated Hip-Hop World

The 28 year old was a rapper and songwriter long before she was dubbed the girl with the funny laugh on MTV's "Ridiculousness," where she appears as the only regular female cast member. But Chanel is also up against the patriarchy in her pursuit of her first passion – making hip-hop music – which she says has actually hindered her even more than her skin color has.

"It's hard being a woman in the hip-hop game, but I'm lucky to have good people around me who have had my back," Chanel told TooFab in an interview. "It's actually less about race and more about being a woman."

Chanel, who makes her debut on VH1's "Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood" Monday night, explained that there's a competitiveness among female rappers and hip-hop stars that doesn't exist among the men.

"I think hip-hop doesn't give women as much of a chance as it gives guys," she told TooFab. "I think it's also very competitive with the women, too. I think that we need to come together more. If we came together more, there'd be more of us in hip-hop rather than being so competitive and trying to act like there should only be one of us, because I do know a few female hip-hop artists like that."

Despite having what she called "the greatest job in the world" alongside Rob Dyrdek on "Ridiculousness" and "Fantasy Factory," Chanel said her TV gigs may have stunted her growth in the music biz.

"People for some reason can't put two personalities together," she said. "If you actually go Google... Adele has the goofiest laugh ever. Wiz Khalifa has the goofiest laugh ever, but you know them for being artists. Nobody's gonna care that they got a goofy laugh. Me, on the other hand, you know me for my goofy laugh first, so then going and hearing my music as art... I just think a lot of people like to hate on me."

"I write all my own raps myself, 100 percent," she added. "And it feels good to be able to say that."

So when when radio/TV personality Charlamagne Tha God called her a "wack rapper" back in June on the very platform she's called home for the last 10 seasons, Chanel didn't hesitate to fire right back.

During the heated exchange, Charlamagne and Chanel were engaged in a verbal disagreement when Charlamagne threw the jab.

"You can have opinions, but it doesn't mean they're right," Chanel fired back in the clip (above). "Lil Wayne, who co-signed Drake and Nicki Minaj, is the same person who co-signed me. I've won a BET award with Young Money. I got songs with French Montana, YG, Ty Dolla $ign, Snoop Dogg... Mind you, I did a song with Snoop Dogg after getting into a verbal argument with him because he respected me so much after I spoke my mind to him, he still came back and did a song with me. You don't know my musical track record, so get familiar."

The moment was epic, but according to Chanel, she was over it "five minutes later."

"We're totally cool now. We were cool right after the show," she said. "It's not so much that I took it personally, it's that I knew he was stating I was a wack rapper on a platform where all my fans were watching and millions of viewers were watching. The last thing I was gonna do was let somebody call me a wack rapper and not use that time right there to state the facts and set things straight."

Chanel will be showcasing more than just beef with other rappers, though, on this season of "Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood." Viewers can expect to hear a lot of her upcoming music, including her latest track, "New Bae."

When asked about her alleged feud with Minaj, Chanel said the rumors were "completely taken out of context" and that Minaj's ex-boyfriend Safaree "kind of lets the world know" the truth when he appears on an episode of "Love & Hip Hop" this season.

Chanel also confirmed Minaj "would never" be on the show.

"Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood" premieres tonight on VH1.