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Sexy and remarkably bold, Jae Stephens is a Bratz doll come to life. Playing with color, cunt, and volume, the Pasadena native exemplifies the pleasure in being fully embodied. Following a decade worth of success as a songwriter, she’s now in her popstar era, with her debut album AUDACITY set to establish her place among a new generation of female artists who decenter men and prioritize self-exploration. Slated for release September 25th, it’s a sonic whirlwind.

OnesToWatch got a chance to sit down with the songstress just a few weeks ahead of AUDACITY's release to talk about maximalism, finding men uninteresting, and navigating pop stardom as a Black artist.

As a ’96 girl, I can tell this album is made by a diva who grew up in the 2000s. Was it a conscious effort to maintain that energy? 

Every song has a very clear callback or inspiration. I think they come from different eras, different times, different divas. I think “Expensive and Difficult” probably is one of those where I'm living my early 2000s white girl wasted fantasy. Very Hilary Duff, she was very much on the mood board for that one. “Crush” as the opener is very New Jack swing adjacent to me. It's very early ‘90s Janet to me. It's not something I try to do on purpose, out of fear of being redundant and creating something that's already been done before. But I do feel like my influences and what I love and who I love is so strong. I'm such a student of music and these women, that naturally comes out. But I'm having fun finding a way to make them all make sense on one project. 

It’s so vibrant, so colorful. Right now we’re in this clean girl era that has led to a very important counterculture, where women are defending being maximalists. I'd love for you to speak to how you define your femininity through that lens.

I think “Expensive and Difficult” is kind of the thesis. As a woman, I have previously struggled with that. This is such an interesting question in regards to the femininity of it all, because I think a lot of this album was written out of spite. It was written as a result of feeling too difficult, too expensive, too much, too loud, too audacious all the time. I wanted to flip that on its head and be proud of having the audacity to be that bitch that is sometimes a bitch. It's all in a means of standing up for myself and knowing what's best for myself and wanting to be free to be myself. I don't think that's always encouraged as women, especially not as Black women, in this industry. It's been a journey, but this has been me owning it and having fun with it and having the audacity to do it. My version of femininity is being the one who wears the pants. Having the balls, being the dog sometimes. It’s been a struggle dealing with men who aren't okay with that and dealing with people in the industry who struggle with it. But this album was me reckoning with it.

What helped you step into that fully? Because that is every woman's journey, coming back to her loudest expression of self. 

I think just a lot of hindsight, especially with writing these songs. I'm not a very like, “This is my life, this is my diary, I need to write this song from the pages of my heart.” I've never been like that. But I went through this period of feeling so terribly misunderstood. I'm writing all these songs and I look back and I'm like, “That was so true.You actually meant that. You were going through something, you were irritated, you were frustrated.” As the album takes shape, I start realizing that these songs that I wrote months ago all have something in common. How I was feeling, how I was wanting to be perceived, what I wanted people to know and understand about me. I realized that was my message and I wanted to really streamline it and drive it home so that I will never be misunderstood again. And if I am misunderstood, it's your fault. 

It's going to be so important for the girls coming into themselves to hear a project like this and be given permission to be more audacious. 

I hope so. I think the only way to get a message like that across is through maximalism as well, which is why I have really enjoyed working with a producer like Dallas Caton. Someone commented on one of my music videos once it sounds like the producer used every sound on his computer, and that’s exactly what he does. I really appreciate the idea of just throwing everything at the wall, whether it be the production, the lyrics, the melodies, the vocal production. Doing all of it to the loudest of my capability, because that's just the easiest way for me to get the message across, and I don't want people to shy away from that. 

Who were the women that you felt gave you permission to be audacious?

I mean, definitely the divas. I've always been inspired by women who at a point in their career said, “Fuck everyone.” Whether it be Janet during her Control era, or Beyoncé during her B’Day era, or Mariah when everybody thought she was done and made the biggest album of her life. Britney, time and time again, reaffirming her independence and who she is as a woman and as a creative. I just really love those kinds of eras and pop stars journeys. I feel like that's what really drives me to be like, “Actually, no.” Other than that, the way that my parents have raised me, my mom especially, has just always been like, no is a full sentence. You know better. I very much move on my own time, maybe to the dismay of other people. I know my own right answers, and my mom has always been very encouraging of that. I know my own sense of self and she's always tried to make sure that wasn't diluted, even though it got diluted in middle school due to the powers that be. But she's always fought to bring it back to me.

Wait, I need to acknowledge you mentioning the middle school of it all, because I have a theory that every bad bitch survived middle school trauma. The women that I see now who are so loud in themselves, they had to go through a fight to preserve that.

Yeah, it's definitely a journey. I don't wanna be spiteful or jaded, I've never been that way. I think people will listen to my music and tell that I enjoy playing the villain a little bit. I enjoy being an unreliable narrator. But middle school was a hot mess. But like I said, I appreciate my mother for really trying to preserve my sense of self. Now it's realized, but it was a journey. She needs a medal of freedom. 

You are a pop star in a way that a lot of Black women have’t been allowed. I think people don't even recognize B’Day as a pop album because Beyoncé is a Black artist and they’ve therefore labeled it R&B. How have you navigated that kind of pushback?

By force. It literally is just a means of force. You have to know yourself, you have to know exactly what you want to do. I was very fortunate to enter being a signed artist as someone who's already been in the industry for ten plus years as a writer. I know my way around, I know my people, I know my process, I know what I want to do and what I don't want to do. As soon as I was on the other side of things being a signed artist, I saw how quickly it was to be told, “You should try this, you should do this.” If I hadn’t already had such a strong sense of what I've spent the past 10 years doing and building, it would have easily gone astray. I can see how that is so easy of a box to fall into, because so many people will try to put you into it, and I think that’s from fear. All of this backwards thinking, this is how it's always been done, this is how we did it 10 years ago, this is what'll work for you. I know what I like, and I know that there's an audience that is hungry for it and wants to see it. They want to see themselves in it and hear themselves in it. Even people that don't see themselves in it, like white girls, I still think that Black girls have something to offer them. So I’ve just been driving that understanding home. It could be as simple as being like, “No, I'm actually not gonna release that song. Actually, we need to release this one. I'm not gonna finish that song. Why would I finish that? It's not getting finished. You can't make me put it out if it's not done. You don't want me to release that one? I'm gonna leak it. Now my fans are asking for it every day. Because they know the same thing that I know, which is that this song should come out.” Then it comes out and it does really well. Now you have no choice but for me to release more like this. It's literally by force until people start realizing that I know what I want for myself and there's an audience for it. Black girls in this industry are not encouraged to be that headstrong. Especially in a space where we're already the minority. If I'm willing to fight for anything, it’s this. 

What do you say to the “you hate men” accusations? 

I don't hate men. I don't think about them enough to hate them. I think anybody who listens to my music would be able to tell that I don't hate men. I just kind of disregard them. They're not really a priority to me. They are treated as second class citizens a little bit. That has become a bit of a running gag in the AUDACITY of it all, so I've leaned into it a little bit. I have no reason to hate men. I love my dad, he's great. My brother's okay. I’ve been listening to Olivia Rodrigo's new album, which I think is spectacular, and I feel like at this point in my life, that is probably the closest I'll get to a breakup album. My response to my breakup was not like, sad and crying. It was just like, “That was so annoying. Why did I waste my time on somebody who didn't understand me? Now I'm irritated and I'm gonna be more me than ever.” That's my general outlook on dating. I just love being by myself so much, so I tend to write about men as more of an inconvenience than anything, or an afterthought. Maybe I'll meet a man one day who seems like less of an inconvenience than usual. That will be my next challenge, figuring out how to write about that. 

So many new pop artists are making music that is very de-centered from the male gaze, it’s so wonderful to witness.

Yeah, I feel like the closest I got was probably “That's My Baby” on SELLOUT. And even that was written purely from just vibes. I didn't really have anything going on when I wrote it. I was annoyed when my boyfriend at the time heard it and thought it was about him. I was like,

“I didn't even know you when I wrote this. Don't flatter yourself.” I do feel like whoever you're dating should be the least interesting part about you. I grapple with those feelings and emotions on the album, feeling like bogged down by the concept commitment, which is maybe a sign of a bigger issue. But whatever.

You have been through so many iterations of your career. What makes this particular moment special? I feel like you're the most in control you've seemingly ever been. 

I have been through many iterations like you say, but I don't realize it until you say it. I feel like I've been asleep for a lot of my career. I’ve been very passive until SELLOUT. It was always like, “I wrote this song, nobody else is gonna put it out. I guess I'll put it out.” One foot in, one foot out. It didn't become super intentional until recently, and it's been very validating seeing what can happen when I approach something with intention and put my all into it. That also does make it a lot harder, because I'm very invested and it's a very emotional birthing process. Every time I release a song, it's like the worst week of my life. But it's been really nice seeing what can happen when I try, and when I believe in something. Now I'm working on the part where it's fun in the moment instead of hindsight. Because when I look back at SELLOUT, at the time I was just like, “This is flop tropical. This is horrible.” I'm trying not to be that way now. I really want to appreciate the fact that two years ago, I would have been desperate to be doing what I'm doing now.

You had to step into your masculine, which is so important. 

Yes, I felt like I really had to. I owed it to myself. I was at a point in my career where I had done everything but try. Like, I might as well. What do I have to lose? I had done everything but put myself out there fully. You know, like I I couldn't honestly say that I had given it my full.

I would hope that once this album does roll out, it's not the worst week of your life, but a celebration of your brilliance. Can you let us into the creation process?

I think for me, a lot of it lied in finding that core group. Coming from a songwriter background, I'm very used to the speed dating of it all. Every day you're in a new session with new people making a new song. As an artist, the best way to find that comfort in your own sound is to just hunker down with your trusted people. The majority of this album was written with my best friend Lita, who I just saw before coming here. We've written together forever. We're friends outside of that, and that helps, because we write like we talk. And then Dallas, who produced every song, I consider a musical soulmate of mine. He is the other half of my brain. It’s made for a very easy process where we can literally try everything, and if it sucks, then it sucks. But most of the time it doesn't, you know? I never thought that this could be as fun as it has been. Feeling free to write about being a piece of shit with my best friends who also know how to make it sound fire. I can't really imagine doing it any other way. 

You can tell you were having fun, that's why it resonates the way it does. I would say it's giving summer, but you’re actually putting it out in the fall.

You know what's funny? I did feel like SELLOUT was giving very much summer, but this album sonically is a bit colder, sharper, more metallic in its maximalism. “Attaboy!” literally sounds like trash cans banging together. I think it gives a bit more fall, not in a sad girl way, just like, she’s a bit icy.

Last question what are you most excited about for this next era?

I'm most excited about reaching new people. I'm excited about people getting a full picture of me as an artist. I'm really proud of the story this album tells, and that's not something I've ever done before on a project. I had a very clear understanding of what I wanted to do and where it was going to go and what it was going to say. Cast me as a villain, cast me as an unreliable narrator, because I feel like that's real. I’m just proud of how I documented this time of my life. I hope that it opens up a lane for Black girls to sound like whatever they want. I don't think that this album can be put in one box. Anyone that tries, it will say more about them than me. I want the album to disrupt a little bit. I think it's gonna elicit a very important dialogue. 

Listen to AUDACITY below: