Lexa Gates Is Making Wildly Honest and Relatable Rap Songs

Lexa Gates is honest as fuck.

She can’t help it. Whenever she hits the studio, she has no idea what to do but write stream-of-conscious lyrics about what’s actually going on in her life.

“I literally don’t know what to write about if not what’s happening in the moment and what I’m thinking,” she explains. “It’s crazy that people would just come up with things.”

Lexa’s brutal honesty extends far beyond the studio. When she sits for an interview and gets asked about her viral Instagram Reels, for example, she can’t bring herself to lie and come up with a PR-friendly story. So she tells the truth (her record label made her do it).

If you ask her about her day-to-day life, she won’t come up with a
cliché answer to make herself sound cool. Instead, she’ll tell you about her less-than-glamorous daily reality: she likes being alone and walking aimlessly around her neighborhood.

Her blunt honesty is what makes the 23-year-old Queens rapper and singer’s music so compelling. On a song like “Stacy’s Chips,” a standout from her new album Elite Vessel, she deadpans an extremely relatable opening line (“I hate all this shit”) before rapping about some of the mundane little problems in her life (her nails are thin and chipped, her boots are ripped, and she’s tired of eating the plain fucking bag of Stacy’s Chips that someone keeps buying and putting in front of her).

Lexa’s songs, which often revolve around the ordinary (but extremely relatable) events of day-to-day life, feel a lot like diary entries. And her sound, which pairs laid-back raps with sneakily soulful hooks that she sings herself, has drawn comparisons to everyone from Mac Miller to Amy Winehouse.

And, hey, to her label’s credit, the viral Instagram Reels are working, too. Celebrating the release of her new album Elite Vessel in October, she locked herself in a box in New York City for 10 straight hours and listened to the project on repeat as fans walked up and listened with her. Clips of the stunt blew up on social media and brought a new wave of attention. What new listeners found was one of the best under-the-radar rap albums of 2024.

Shortly after the release of Elite Vessel (and the box experiment), Lexa Gates came by Complex’s LA studio for a conversation about her childhood in Queens, making the album, the smartest thing she’s ever done, and more.

The interview, lightly edited for clarity, is below.

How’s life?
Life is a blessing. I’m very happy to be here.

You had a meet-and-greet with fans yesterday. What was that like?
It was awesome. Some girl had my song tattooed on her arm, and I got bouquets from my fans.

What song did she tattoo on herself?
“If I die, I die.” She told me that I helped her quit weed and that she bettered her life and shit.

How would you describe your relationship with your fans?
My fans are my baby girls. The boys, too. I love them. I feel like a prophet or a priest, and they can always come to me and cry and tell me anything.

When you aren’t making music, what do you like to do?
I go on the StairMaster for like 30 minutes. And I eat fish. And I walk. When I go on walks, I’ll just walk for hours aimlessly, going around in circles on the block. I don’t do a lot when I’m not working.

What have you been listening to lately?
Molly Santana. And things that I might sample.

When you look for samples, what do you listen to? Older music?
Yeah, I listen to older stuff. I’ve been listening to this one song called “A Woman Needs to Be Loved” [by Tyrone Davis.]

What else are you interested in? What’s your most recent internet deep dive?I like watching people eat cookies on TikTok. I’m also into furniture right now, and spaces and tones. Paulinpaulinpaulin follows me and he’s got these cool couches and stuff. I love fine art right now.

On “Stacy’s Chips,” you start the song by rapping, “I hate all this shit,” which is a very relatable statement. What is something you hate right now?
I hate that I had a five-hour delay on my flight to LA. I hadn’t slept in like four days and I thought I was going to be able to go to sleep right away on the flight. And it was right after the fucking box, too.

The box! You locked yourself in there for 10 hours, right?
10 hours. It was light. I could be there right now. Shit, it was the only free time I had that week. It was great. It was also nice to engage with everybody a little bit. I had a diaper on and I took some bladder control pills and I didn’t pee or poop or drink any water or eat anything, and I was chilling. I was happy.

Can you explain what the concept was, for people who didn’t see it?
Can we bleep stuff out? Well, I went to [redacted] building and I spoke to [redacted] and he told me that I need to make TikToks: “Reels are great, but we need TikToks! TikToks. TikToks…” And I was like, “How about I lock myself in a fucking box for 10 hours?” And then we actually did it and it kind of worked out for the TikToks. So everybody’s happy.

So fans could walk up and listen to your album, while you were also listening to it inside the box?
Yes, they heard what I heard. It was just the album on a loop over and over and over for 10 hours.

What was it like listening to your own voice for 10 hours straight?
That’s what I do every day anyway. I love it. I was happy. People were like, “Oh, you’re going to hate that album.” No. I love it.

OK, let’s go back to the beginning… What kind of a kid were you, growing up in Queens?
I’m an older sibling, so I was pretty domineering. My mom worked all the fucking time, so she wasn’t really home, and I didn’t really go to school, so I was raised by wolves a little bit. I did whatever I wanted.

Why wasn’t school for you?
I just hated it. It made me feel unimportant. I don’t like being one person in a room with 3,000 or whatever. I hate that. I hate the cafeteria. Everybody was dressed bad. That shit was just not for me.

Do you think it was the right decision to quit school, looking back on it? I mean, it seems like things worked out for you…
Yeah, I think it did. Depending on what your goal is in life, school can be a form of mind control to train people to be in the workforce. Also, I think you can only know so much. Like, you’re just in school learning about rocks… [Laughs.] That’s when I left, with my stupid ass. Like, if you’re in school, just learning about fucking English and history, when are you going to think about the stuff that you like? When are you going to think about the person you are? There’s no time for that. So I don’t really like that.

When did you start making music?
I always played piano and sang songs, but I didn’t start recording music until I was 17.

Did you use to sing around the house?
Yeah, we used to all sing together. We would dance together. We would get up on the counters and pretend we were doing a show. We would do shows, too, in little cafes and shit.

What kind of music do you remember listening to back then?
My mom would always play house music, and she would play fucking Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang. She would be like, “Oh, there’s something in this music. It’s evil. It gives you a headache.” But she would still play it. She liked it.

Did that make it seem cooler to you?
No, it made me not like it at first. I didn’t really like rap, but then when I grew up a little bit more, I saw beauty in it. And I guess the answer to your question would be Chance [The Rapper] or Childish Gambino or Mac Miller. But that could just be because people say that to me all the time. I don’t know.

Yeah, your YouTube comments are full of people trying to compare you to other artists. Like, “Oh, this is Amy Winehouse meets Mac Miller meets Earl Sweatshirt meets MF Doom.” What do you think when you see things like that?
I like it when it’s artists that I like. All of those sound great. I don’t really mind it, but I’m going to keep working until they’re saying that about me to someone else. I don’t think that I’m like any of them. I think I’m in my own lane.

I’ve seen people compare your rapping style to Odd Future, too. Did you get into Tyler and all those guys growing up?
Of course. I love Tyler. I used to write “Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All” on bathroom stalls when I was a little kid. I think I was 13 doing that. I liked the donut and the cat. I had that app where you could put the cat on top of pictures. I really love them. Super inspired.

Who are some artists you like that might surprise people?
I listen to Aphex Twin. I listen to Wii Sports racing theme music. I listen to movie soundtracks with violin. I listen to everything.

How did you start recording your own music?
I made a diss track about some dude. I just felt this fire in my heart and I felt drawn to write. I was talking shit about this dude, and it came out like rap. I was angry.

Did you teach yourself how to record the song?
I was dating some kid at the time and he taught me how to record myself and how to put it up. So I started doing it, and I was getting more plays and listeners than he was. He was mad. People liked it.

Did people online know who the diss song was about?
No. All my exes just disappear.

The way you said that sounds ominous.
Yeah, dude. It’s ominous for me, too. I’m actually concerned.

When did you figure out the kind of music you wanted to make? When did you find your voice?
Immediately. If you listen to my old stuff, it’s really not that far from how it is now. I’m just more refined.

A lot of artists delete their old music, but I noticed most of your old songs are still online.
Yeah, they’re on SoundCloud. I grew up in that SoundCloud age of people blowing up on there, and there’s a song about the guy who taught me how to make music called “Bring Me Down.” I can hear it in my head right now. It had a hundred thousand plays on it, and I was just some 18-year-old girl that made that shit in the kitchen. That was really nice to see.

You’re a very good singer and rapper. What made you want to do both?
I just love the juxtaposition of a deep voice and then a high voice. I love the girl and boy dynamic in a song, and I just wanted to do both by myself, so I figured I would just do rapping in the verses and singing in the hooks.

Sometimes you produce your own stuff, too. How’d you get into producing
Well, I was a pianist, and I just taught myself how to do everything. I went on GarageBand on my mom’s laptop and I just got to work.

Which do you like better: producing your own music, or working with other people?
They both have their own merit. It’s a little hard for me to work with other people, because I’m very used to being completely isolated and working on my own, but there are certain times where I feel safe to open up.It’s never really the way it is at home, though, because at home I get crazy. I could just throw myself on the floor. I could look terrible. I could fuckin’ throw up in a bowl and write right next to it. I can do whatever the fuck I want at home, but in front of other people, it’s not like that.

How would you describe your own music?
It’s kind of sexy and scary and honest. It’s colorful, but at the same time, it’s supposed to have this horror movie vibe.

What are your favorite things to write songs about?
Love. Anger. The future. Life.

How do you write songs? What’s the process?
It’s like a flow state. I write everything: the full verses and the full hooks. I’ve been writing on paper lately, and it’s really just a stream of consciousness. It’s exactly what I think. I write it and then I go to the mic and I say it.

That makes sense, because you have a very honest, conversational style.
Yeah, I literally don’t know what to write about if not what’s happening in the moment and what I’m thinking. It’s crazy that people would just come up with things.

What is one of your favorite lyrics you’ve written?
I was going to say, “If I die, I die,” just because that girl had it tatted, but that’s a strong one. Or “I might just smoke this shit to make my man mad,” but that’s just in my head because I have to make all these shortform content videos where that’s playing, and it just never leaves my head. So I guess that means it’s working.

You post a lot of those videos where you dance to your songs. When did you start making those?
I’m signed to a label and they’re telling me, “Make content, make TikToks, make Reels, make videos, do something.” And basically this man called me and kind of threatened me. He’s like, “Oh, well if you don’t want to do TikToks, then you can always go get a 9-to-5 and figure things out.”

So it was really like a passive aggressive video of me at the park trying to just listen, and that’s how it all started. I was just saying, like, “Oh, my team is forcing me to do this.” I didn’t even know what I was doing. I was climbing up the scaffolding, giving an ice cream to a homeless guy. I don’t fucking know. I was just like, “OK, if y’all need TikToks and my life is in jeopardy, then I’ll just do it.”

In a lot of those videos, it looks like you’re holding back a smile. Like you know it’s kind of a silly or ridiculous thing to be doing…
I’m actually not. I was not about to smile. In all of those, I’m mad as fuck. I hate doing that. I mean, I like it. I like the results of it, but it can be very tedious and frustrating and dystopian, too, to be like, “Hey, can you hold your phone up and record videos of me in the middle of the fucking street?” And then I have to look at myself and it’s just like, “No, not like that.” I don’t know, I just want it to look perfect. That’s where I get those poses and everything. I’m just, like, being… girl.

I feel like they have worked in some ways. Like, SZA reposted one of your videos, and people have found your music through them. What was your reaction to SZA sharing your video? Have you spoken with her?
I haven’t spoken with her, but that was awesome. I was happy.

When was the first moment you realized people were paying attention and you were picking up traction?
Probably now. After the box, now people are paying attention. Or maybe it’s the album. I just always feel like that. Like, “Oh, it’s working.” Everything’s great.

Why do you think people are gravitating to your music?
I honestly don’t fucking know. I guess it’s just the time put in. I really give everything that I am to the music and the art and expression. Every single day when I wake up, it’s the most important thing. I feel like when you’re an artist, you need to be curated in every choice you make, every day, all the time. So I’m constantly trying to do that, so that it can help somebody.

What’s different about your new album Elite Vessel, compared to all of the other projects you put out before it?
This is my first label album, and it was different because I had more resources and I finally got to have some fruition after all of those albums that you’re talking about. And I really felt like everything might work out.

Was there more pressure, too?
Yeah, there was more pressure, but I’ll eat that shit. I’ll take it to the face. I don’t care.

How was your life different this time around?
I’m on a schedule now. I live on a grid. Also, there’s always fucking cameras on me all the time. It’s fucking with my brain, but in a good way.

One of my favorite songs is “Stacy’s Chips.” When did you write that? Where did that come from?
I wrote that in LA, and me and my manager had just started to get to know each other. So she had to do the rider, and I was vegan, so she would just put Stacy’s Chips and Sabra hummus. After working all day, I would get back to the hotel and there would just be fucking Stacy’s Chips, dry as hell. So I was in the studio and that’s it: “I hate all this shit.” Like, oh my God, this stuff, man… [Slowly exhales.] What a blessing. What a blessing. [Laughs.]

Another favorite of mine is “Yourself.” What’s the story behind that song?
The sun was setting in the studio and I was just talking about somebody that I was with. It’s like a projection. I only care about myself. I only fucking think about myself. And he only thinks about himself. That’s what everybody does. It’s only natural.

At the end of the first verse on that song, you say, “I used to have a couple things, but threw ’em in the trash. The time is up, your baby got a mustache.” What does that mean?
Everything that you’re excited about and everything you want, you get it. And then it turns into nothing. So there’s really no point. That’s just what life is. It’s just clothes and shoes and then it’s worthless. Even if it was something super expensive, what the fuck are you going to do with that? You know what I mean?

And then “the time’s up, your baby got a mustache”? Shit is just passing fast. I like the visual of a baby, and then a mustache. Boom. That’s a grown man. That’s it. That’s how fast it happens.

I also love “I Just Can’t Be Alone” with Billy Lemos. How did that song come together?
Again, I was with somebody, but I was just like… I just can’t be alone! I’m just all lusty and sick of being cuffed. I mean, I broke up with that person and I haven’t done anything. I haven’t been with anybody. So I can be alone. I’m alone.

You have a signature look with your eyeliner. When did you start doing that?
When I was like 10 or 11, I would go on Omegle and put on a bunch of eyeliner on, and people would be like, “What the fuck? Are you emo, bitch?” [Laughs.] And I just kept on putting it on. I would go on there and I would twerk for grown ass men.

Has the eyeliner changed since then?
It has gotten so much better. It was just as exaggerated, just all on the lid. But now it’s branched out. It’s actually supposed to be like wings. They’re birds. It’s two birds and they’re flying and I paint them every day. I feel like a painter.

Is this an everyday thing? Or is it just when you’re doing music stuff?
It’s damn-near every day. But yeah, on a day off, I look like I’m from Queens.

What is your purpose as an artist?
I’m a prophet. It’s just to create the world inside my head. I don’t know. My purpose as an artist? Shit. I know my purpose as a person…

What’s that?
To get my family up. To be rid of generational curses. And I guess with the art, too, it’s just to help people. It’s an act of service. Also, just to use my life to the fullest. Because yeah, the baby got a mustache. I’m going to fucking die anyway. I might as well do everything I can, and I don’t know how to do anything else. So this is great.

What is something about your real life that might surprise people?
I’m by myself all the time. I’m super isolated. You’d think, you know, rapper, artist… Like what? I be at the club or some shit? No. I don’t do any drugs. I don’t drink. I don’t do anything. I just walk.

What’s the smartest thing you’ve ever done?
Spend all my money. Spend all my savings.

What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done?
I’ve never done anything dumb in my life.

What is one thing you want people to know about you right now?
I’m a virgin.

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