FIRST PRESS

Some artists hide their influences. Jae Stephens annotates them. On AUDACITY, her debut album, released September 25 on Def Jam and RAEDIO, the reference points are close enough to touch: Janet Jackson's "Nasty" in the snap of opener "Crush," Timbaland's shuddering 2000s production behind "Gymnastics" and "Expensive & Difficult," a harp line on "I Miss the City" that recalls Brandy's "All in Me." On "B4U" she name-checks Ashanti's "Foolish" outright. Pitchfork's Allison Harris called the album a "stellar major label debut."

The long apprenticeship

None of this came fast. Born in Dallas and raised in Los Angeles, Stephens ran a Beyoncé stan account on Tumblr before teaching herself to make pop records (Pitchfork). Her 2017 single "24K" earned a COLORS session. She wrote for Normani, Ashanti and Jennifer Lopez, then built her own catalog through the SELLOUT series (SELLOUT, SELLOUT II and the compilation TOTAL SELLOUT), which produced viral moments in "Afterbody" and "Boyfriend Forever" and a run of headline shows in LA, New York and London that sold out within 24 hours (The Line of Best Fit).

She also did the support-slot work: opening for FLO on their US tour, then a set on the BMI stage at Lollapalooza on August 1 (Rolling Stone). NME, which had already put her on its cover, counted four EPs and a compilation before the album arrived (NME).

The album

AUDACITY runs 11 tracks, co-produced by Dallas Caton with writing from MNEK (The Line of Best Fit). Pitchfork notes that most of it was written and produced by Stephens, Caton and Lita Caputo, and that it sticks to classic pop structure: verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge. What keeps it from feeling like homework is the persona. Stephens sings as a woman who knows she is the prize and finds the whole dating market a little funny.

The singles set the tone:

• "Attaboy!" treats a self-styled bad boy like a dog in obedience class.
• "Sugar Trap," built on Caton's bass-heavy production, was in her words "all about knowing your power and how to use it" (Rolling Stone). NME heard Destiny's Child's "Survivor" in its looping violin riff.
• "Gymnastics" rebuffs men who get too attached, a track NME called "Ciara-esque" and "full of sports references."

The softer turns land too. On "I Miss the City," she leaves a controlling partner and goes back to clubbing with her friends, telling the ex they're "moving way too Kansas" (Pitchfork). Songwriting, she told Rolling Stone, is "the one place I'm allowed to be the villain," a line Pitchfork quotes in its review, and the album uses that freedom without tipping into cruelty.

The world around it

Stephens and creative director Cass Meyers, whose credits include SZA and Megan Thee Stallion, built a visual concept called Auda City around the record, a fictional place where women's convictions take physical form. She also hosts The SELLOUT Podcast, with guests including MNEK and hemlocke springs (The Line of Best Fit). Next up is a UK and European run this autumn supporting Khalid.

The verdict so far

Pitchfork's one reservation is that the record "takes few true risks." That is fair, and it misses the point a little. AUDACITY is a debut by someone who spent nearly a decade learning how hits are built, first as a fan and then as a hired pen. NME called it a "stellar debut album" that is "unmistakably hers." The next record is where the risks belong. This one proves the foundation holds.