Amidst touring the country and partying all over the world, the Atlanta rap duo Coco & Clair Clair began work on their upcoming album, Girl. The first single, “Kate Spade,” came after a night out in Amsterdam, according to Coco, who tells Clair Clair: “We were super drunk. I can’t remember what we did exactly, though. But was that the night we got McDonald’s?” Clair Clair thinks so. “Yeah, that was the McDonald’s night. I think we had probably been bar hopping.” They tell PAPER that, after cracking open whiskey back at their pad, they got to work.

As the follow-up to 2021’s Sexy, the pair says this one pushed the limits of what they’ve previously done. Inspired by the scenery and tour life, the two finished the album between Amsterdam and Joshua Tree. Amsterdam, Clair Clair says, “revolved heavily around going out at night and allowing ourselves a little taste of a vacation, and then by the end of the night, when we all get home, there was an unspoken understanding that we’d go in the studio for a couple hours and try to make a song.”

Coco adds that Joshua Tree was a welcome reprieve as crunch time drew near. “It’s crazy that we felt peaceful there, though, cause I remember that was when the album was due.” She adds, ”Imagine if we felt we had crunch time but in a fun-ass place like Amsterdam.

Of the album itself, Coco says “I feel like we surprised each other a little bit on this project.” Clair Clair adds that the album at times is more serious than Sexy, or, at least, an evolution of their established sound. “Some of the lyrics on this album are a little more serious, or at least in reference to more serious memories, whether a listener would know that or not.” As to why they were inspired to grow in that direction, Clair Clair says, “I think performing certain songs live opened my mind up to Oh, maybe I don’t want like four choruses on a song, or maybe we don’t need a huge, repetitive thing, you know? Songs that might be really easy to make or the kind we were making on our very first album years ago.” She continues: “I think we, or at least maybe I, felt like I was too familiar with them and wanted to try and create songs with different structures. And there’s a lot of that on this album.“

So what’s new on Girl? Clair Clair tells PAPER: “There’s a song where we both sing the whole time. There’s a song where there’s no chorus. There’s just two verses. That was inspiring for me, learning that I wanted to switch things up a bit. It opened up the world to trying things we may not otherwise try.”

For more on the new album, the story behind “Kate Spade,” and even McDonald’s, read PAPER’s full chat with Coco & Clair Clair below.

There’s this irreverence that is embedded in your music. Where does that carefree fun energy come from? Is that something that was the foundation for your friendship? Or is that something you both evolved together.

Clair Clair: That’s what attracted to Coco at first — how fun and outgoing she was because we’re both shy, obviously. But Coco was a true party girl when I met her, and really showed me the ropes of going out, and she would take me out every weekend.

Coco: I feel like now, the roles have reversed, I feel like Claire can hang more than I can hang, which is so good.

Clair Clair: You’re like, I put in my time as a party girl. I’m cool.

Coco: I think I started three or four years earlier than Clair. So she’s got some years on me. I’m retired.

Clair Clair: Gonna say, it’s funny, cause I’m older than Coco by a couple of years, and we talked about this the other day, but when we were talking about going on tour, or what we wanted to do in the next few years, I was hesitant I was like, “Oh, my gosh! Another tour like that sounds hard!” and Coco was like, “Look like I’m almost 30 like I gotta start touring while I can.” Bitch, I am 30.

Coco: It’s so funny.

How does your friendship shape the creative process? Do you find yourself expecting what the other is going to be into? Or do you still sometimes surprise each other on this next project?

Coco: Oh, I feel like we surprised each other a little bit on this project.

Clair Clair: Yeah, definitely, we did. I think we’re always surprising each other. If anything, getting more comfortable doing it the closer we get, especially when it comes to music and collaborating because it’s obviously a vulnerable thing. And some of the lyrics on this album are a little more serious, or at least in reference to more serious memories, whether a listener would know that or not. So even just like the fact that Coco and I were able to write and record these songs, not only in the same room together, which I normally never sing in front of anyone, I get really nervous. But we also had a third person there, a producer. And I think it was a really inspiring and eventful experience working on these songs together because I think we both surprised each other with what was inside of us and where we were willing to go.

I was reading in Culted how you said you were shocked that it seemed like this time around, people really got what you guys were going for more than it felt like in previous projects. How did that change the way you recorded the album?

Coco: I feel like this process was super relaxed, because we said we weren’t planning on making this album. At first we thought we were gonna be doing a little cute cover EP. But I feel like, after the last tour, we were so both so inspired that it was just like in us. Kind of like hibernation, just waiting for us to get back into album mode. And so as soon as we did, it was very effortless. It just rolled out, because I think those ideas were just there already. We were already brainstorming and thinking about it, but didn’t know it.

So I read that “Kate Spade” was finished after a night out in Amsterdam. Is there any particular thing about that night out in particular that led to the song?

Coco: We were super drunk. I can’t remember what we did exactly, though. But was that the night we got Mcdonald’s?

Clair Clair: Yeah, that was the Mcdonald’s night. I think we had probably been bar hopping.

Coco: Bar hopping, and then there was whiskey at the house. We opened it up that night, and the song happened.

I would love to know what your go-to drunk Mcdonald’s order is.

Coco: The thing is, I feel like European Mcdonald’s is actually good. I don’t think I would do American.

You were hopping between Amsterdam and Joshua Tree for this album. Did you have a favorite place in particular, to work on it between Amsterdam and Joshua Tree.

Clair Clair: No, I think they both were great places. They balanced each other out. Amsterdam was our intro to making the album. That’s where we started, and like with the “Kate Spade” night, it revolved heavily around going out at night and allowing ourselves a little taste of a vacation, and then by the end of the night, when we all get home, there was an unspoken understanding that we’d go in the studio for a couple hours and try to make a song. And so that’s where something like “Kate Spade” comes from, because we’re shit talking all night and laughing and giggling. When Raven (Artson) leaves the room, we’re like mischievously recording jokey freestyles, and then he comes back in and loves it, and it was more chaotic.

By the time we got to Joshua Tree it was very peaceful. I think we were more organized and sure of the direction things were going. The two places were perfect. I like the chaos, and then the relaxation. It’s a good background story on the album, and how it came to be.

Do you think that push and pull was where some of the deeper or more serious lyrics, or different approaches to some of the songs, came from?

Clair Clair: Yeah, definitely. The songs come from all over the place. We both used some older ideas we had been wanting to use for a while. Some of the stuff was freestyles. I feel like Joshua Tree probably had an effect on how we were writing, just because we were in such a peaceful state of mind.

Coco: Yeah, it’s crazy that we felt peaceful there, though, cause I remember that was when the album was due. It was actually crunch time. So like, it was like, Okay, no fucking more, we have to do this. But it was still peaceful. So I’m glad cause imagine if we felt we had crunch time but in a fun ass place like Amsterdam.

You’ve said this album is more of a baby girl as opposed to the last album, which was a baby boy. I’m wondering if this baby girl is real. What kind of clothes are you buying for her?

Coco: Honestly, my baby’s gonna hate me so…

Does the baby have a name?

Coco: Oh! Not Yet.

Clair Clair: Actually, we both have crazy baby list names that baby is gonna have like 12 crazy names.

Coco: I don’t believe in buying baby clothes, though, because they grow so fast. So I would put my baby in like how the Simpsons baby is, just cloth all the time.

Clair Clair: That’s what I was gonna say, I would just wrap the baby in like a big cashmere blanket until it needed shoes and tops.

Photography: Nicole Steriovski