Jae Stephens readies debut album AUDACITY, lines up Khalid support tour

The 11-track LP was co-produced by Dallas Caton and features writing from MNEK, whose credits include Beyoncé and Dua Lipa. Stephens frames the record as deliberately confrontational. “AUDACITY is me daring to take up as much space as I want in a world that has tried to box me in both personally and professionally,” she says. “The songs on this album put my ambitious, aggressive, and even at times avoidant tendencies on display; rather than run from it, I’ll always have the audacity to tell it exactly how I see it, even if it can sometimes paint me as the villain in my own story.”

That blend of self-awareness and swagger feeds into “Sugar Trap”, which uses sugary hooks and pointed innuendo to outline a narrator who refuses to lower her standards. Earlier teaser “Attaboy!” took a similarly sharp line, finding Stephens domesticating a self-styled bad boy. Across both tracks, the pop and R&B hybrid that marked her SELLOUT series of EPs feels sharper and more assured.

The Dallas-born, Los Angeles-based artist has been building toward this moment since her 2017 single “24K” earned a COLORS performance. The three-part SELLOUT project – SELLOUT, SELLOUT II and TOTAL SELLOUT – produced viral moments in “Afterbody” and “Boyfriend Forever”, and a 24-hour sell-out run of headline shows in LA, New York and London. She also opened for FLO on their US tour and played Lollapalooza in Chicago at the weekend.

Stephens and creative director Cass Meyers (SZA, Megan Thee Stallion) have built a visual world called Auda City around the album, a fictional destination designed to let women’s unapologetic convictions take physical form. Stephens also hosts The SELLOUT Podcast, where she has interviewed fellow travellers such as MNEK, hemlocke springs, and floweroflove.

The Khalid support run will bring her back to UK and European stages this autumn, with dates to be confirmed.

AUDACITY artwork