REVIEW: ‘AUDACITY’ by Jae Stephens
WRITTEN BY JAMARI SHELTON
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Photo by Andijah T. Simmons
After releasing five EPs over the course of seven years, Jae Stephens’ debut album release is now here: AUDACITY. Born in Dallas and raised in Los Angeles, Stephens went from being a die-hard Beyoncé stan on Tumblr, named “Beyoncebeytwice,” to a self-taught pop star. Before doing so, she built her resume as a songwriter, contributing to songs for Normani, Ashanti, Jennifer Lopez, and even Ne-Yo.
Stephens was releasing her own music during her early years, although she’s since admitted she’s not the biggest fan of her earlier catalog. Tracks like “24K” and “Someone Else” leaned into the polished R&B and pop sound that dominated the late 2010s scene, giving listeners a glimpse of the artist she still had to figure out.
In an interview with The FADER, Stephens explained that she initially felt torn between songwriting and being an artist herself. Songwriting offered a privilege that being an artist didn’t.
“Being a songwriter is much easier. Your job is over when you leave the studio. Being an artist is heavier. I just wasn’t sure I could commit to it,” Stephens said.
That changed in 2022, when her manager entered her into a competition for a record deal with Issa Rae’s newly established label, Raedio. Stephens ultimately won, an experience she described to The FADER as a moment that made her realize other people could see her potential as an artist. From then on, she treated her solo career as something worth taking seriously.
In 2017, she stepped into her own spotlight and began releasing under her own name, eventually carving out a unique approach to dating and love. Her 2024 EP became a staple that she wanted to lean more into as a nostalgic 2000s popstar, and with 11 tracks on AUDACITY, Stephens doubles down on that persona of being unapologetically herself, but not tolerating anything when it comes to men.
While she’s grown more into her style, Stephens undoubtedly is a pop student who attended all the classes she made herself. The songs on AUDACITY, which are all primarily written and produced by Stephens all lean into Stephen’s signature humorous delivery paired with talking about love. After seeing Stephens at Lollapalooza, she delivers that same pop icon energy on stage also.
“Crush” is our opener and follows Stephens’ recipe for being melodic but loud in the same sense. Drawing from the inspiration of intense and heavy hi-hats like Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation,” Stephens sings about how this person has perfect timing as she's been needing something new and fun, and nonetheless incorporates her signature synths in the bridge. In tracks like “No One Knows My Name,” which sound like a 2000s club hit, Stephens brings out that unapologetic sense of herself and who she is. Despite not knowing her name, we all know who she is and what she could be capable of.
Instead of having a boy break down her door on “Attaboy!” Stephens doesn’t leave the bad boy alone. Instead, she’s his trainer. Everyone believed he couldn’t change, but with Stephens’ ‘unorthodox’ methods, she turns him into someone his own mother doesn’t believe. Following “Sugar Trap,” Stephens collects that compensation. The boy slipped up and fell straight for her after going through so many obstacles to get her. Now she has everything: his keys, his jewelry, and his attention.
She has a way of creating songs that are alluring and almost hypnotic with her pop bridges. Just like “Boyfriend Forever” and “That’s My Baby” from SELLOUT, she slows it down with “I Miss The City.” She has zero plans; the guy in question thinks the downfall is her friends and is never taking her out. She tells us she’s sick of being trapped in this relationship and she misses being outside. This is the signature humor and flirtyness Stephens exemplifies. She quite literally tells the guy he’s about to lose her to the streets, and no matter how much she tries to fight the urge and be a good girl…she can’t.
With an album including a sultry introduction, bald jokes, and makeovers, Stephens turns every negative voice from her exes into a petty symphony about knowing exactly who she is regardless of how the relationship is going or who knows her.
Now that her debut album is released, her fans, the Jae-baes or the AUDA-Citizens as Stephens calls them, have one question: When is the tour?
