Jae Stephens is Tired of the Sad Girl Sh*t
High on the release of her debut album, Jae Stephens gives The Culture Crypt a first-class ticket into the world of AUDACITY.
Jae Stephens in 2026. Image property of Cass Meyers.
Few artists possess an undeniable star quality that shines through even before their big break. If you haven't heard of Jae Stephens, she's the full package and then some. From exceptional music and immersive, world-building visuals to seasoned references and an infectiously radiant personality, she has it all.
Known for her unique fusion of pop and R&B, sharp tongue-in-cheek lyricism, and a naturally humorous persona, the California-raised singer-songwriter was launched into virality with her 2024 hit single "Body Favors". The addictive, loop-worthy track garnered millions of streams across platforms, earning her a devoted cult following and leading to the birth of her SELLOUT EP series, which eventually culminated in a 12-track mixtape, TOTAL SELLOUT.
She was widely praised for her revival of what felt like a void in culture: the unapologetic, ambitious Black pop star truly determined and hungry for their spot. And while it's easy to look at Jae now and see the sleek finish of an immaculate "R&B/pop star diva", the powerhouse spent nearly a decade behind the scenes forging the artist we see today.
Before taking centre stage, she was as a songwriter, penning tracks for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Ne-Yo, and Ashanti, and even had a stint as a background vocalist in 2019, where she sang alongside Khalid on Saturday Night Live during his breakout year. Alongside this, she'd been releasing her own music since 2017, securing a record deal with Issa Rae's label, Raedio, and Def Jam Recordings.
With such a stacked resumé, it was only a matter of time before Jae's ascent to stardom. And now, following the fresh release of her debut album AUDACITY, she has officially announced herself with a brazen, cohesive and disruptive body of work—a masterclass in artistic growth and identity building.
Across 12 tracks, she crafts an exquisite sound palette, with an array of bouncy, bass-heavy sonics (courtesy of producer Dallas Canton), smooth vocals, and her witty stream-of-consciousness lyricism. The album is prinkled with cameos from fan favourites in the Black pop soundscape including writing and co-production credits from MNEK on the introspective "I Miss the City" and a Slick Rick-inspired voiceover from the "Queen of England herself" PinkPantheress in opener, "Crush".
With the heavy-hitting lead singles "Attaboy" and "Sugar Trap", she pulls listeners headfirst into her world, where she subverts gendered romantic narratives, and is unbothered by the prospect of playing the villain. In doing so, she channels the toxicity we're so accustomed to associating with men, proving that she can play the game too.
Fresh off a morning rooftop Pilates session in New York, Jae dials in with The Culture Crypt to discuss the making of AUDACITY, letting go of "sad girl" tropes, and why she'll never shy away from owning her desires.
The Culture Crypt: AUDACITY's lead single "Attaboy" feels like you came in swinging and the whole project has that same energy. Why was it important for that to be the first statement?
Jae Stephens: I felt like "Attaboy" had to be first because I was a bit scared of it. It felt very aggressive, very in-your-face. It's a departure from what I've been doing—it's a similar but more elevated plane; slightly bigger, bolder, more audacious."
AUDACITY feels like the perfect title for this project. Did you set out knowing the world that you wanted to build?
"Honestly, no I didn't! I've never really made a project from beginning to end. SELLOUT really came into its own from one to two to finally TOTAL SELLOUT. With this, I sat down and was like, 'I know I want to make a project.' All I knew was sonically I wanted it to be cohesive, but I didn't know in what other ways that would manifest. It really was revealed to me while making it. I would write a bunch of songs, come back to them a month later, and be like, 'Oh, these all have a very similar theme of just feeling tired of being locked down, caged, misunderstood, and limited.' I wanted to be bold, brash, swing it around, and have the audacity."
Since the start of the SELLOUT era in 2024, you've been on an incredible run. Looking back now, what did that era teach you that you carried into AUDACITY?
"I think it just gave me a really good sense of self. It was such a building block from song to song, EP to EP. You can gradually hear and see more of me coming into my own across the project. A lot of the songs on the first SELLOUT were tracks I wrote for someone else that nobody took. By the time we got to TOTAL SELLOUT, those songs were all written for me. By then, I was deeply embedded in them and had a lot of final say in the process. And the same with the videos. You're seeing me figure out how to make $5 and a dream stretch, and then the next week we had $10!"
“I wanted to be bold, brash, swing it around, and have the audacity. It really took shape in that way in hindsight, which was an interesting process because I’ve never done it like that before.”
You have this one particular riff that you do across your music that's instantly recognisable. Does it just happen naturally?
"It's purely whenever it rolls off the tongue. When I lived in London, I was writing with a producer named Slinger—he does all of Ashnikko's stuff. We wrote together all the time, and he was the first one to point it out: 'You know you do this riff all the time?'. When I moved into doing my own personal projects and taking them seriously, I liked having something I can stamp, like my own producer tag or a motif that people recognise over time."
Across the album, it feels like you're really flipping the script on men. Was it important for you to tell stories from that perspective?
"Absolutely! I had a message in my heart—dealing with relationships, feeling misunderstood and misheard, and being frustrated with that. Putting it in song form really helped me understand it better, even the bad parts! Like on 'The Distance' where maybe I'm not the most reliable narrator and I'm the bad person. I had fun making it into a story. I actually put that track and 'I Miss the City' right in the middle together; they blend into each other because they are opposite sides of the same coin. I had fun allowing myself to tell that story and see both sides."
When people finish listening to AUDACITY, what is the one thing you hope they understand about Jae Stephens?
"That she has the audacity to say the uncomfortable things and stand behind it, even if it doesn't always cast her in the best light. I hope I can encourage more women to walk in that feeling. I don't want any more of the 'sad girl' shit. We need to take our power back and own it."
Stream AUDACITY below: