Jae Stephens released '24K' at 19 in 2017 and earned a COLORS performance off it, then went fully independent two years later with f**k it i'll do it myself, an EP she wrote and produced entirely herself as a statement about not needing anyone else's help. That self-sufficiency has stayed the defining trait of her career since.
SELLOUT and its follow-up SELLOUT II built her a cult following on the strength of 'Body Favors' and 'WET,' the latter named one of Elle's best songs of April 2024, and she's opened for FLO on their North American tour and performed on Saturday Night Live alongside Khalid — a 'futuristic R&B pop' sound that pulls as much from Mariah Carey as from The Neptunes and Timbaland.