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Jae Stephens isn’t just living in her own world—she’s building one. Fresh off the wave of her viral hit “Afterbody,” the 27-year-old pop and R&B singer is leveling up and introducing her fans, aptly called JaeBaes, to a new era with her single “Attaboy!”
Born Jordan Adkison in Dallas, the California-raised singer is on the precipice of transforming from a chronically online, underground artist into a mainstream pop girl. She recently completed a sold-out headline tour and will perform at Lollapalooza in July. She’s been featured on Pinkpantheress’s TikTok page and is touring with Khalid in the fall.
Behind the scenes, though, she’s all about the fans. “Literally, all I'm doing after this is going to Goodwill, and then I’m making homemade merch,” Stephens tells Teen Vogue at the start of our interview.
Prior to releasing “Attaboy!”, Stephens capped what she calls her “Sellout era,” including a “trilogy” of two EPs and a compilation project: Sellout, Sellout II, and Total Sellout, respectively. What new world “Attaboy!” signals for the artist has yet to be revealed, but if this newly created (and high-key cryptic) Instagram account welcoming fans to “Auda City” tells us anything, it’s that she is going all-in on the next phase of Jae Stephens––and inviting listeners into the center of her universe.
Ahead of the release of "Attaboy!", Teen Vogue spoke with Stephens about how the track came together, her internet presence, and how she’s cultivating her growing pop stardom.
Teen Vogue: You started out on Tumblr in your teens and still use it. You’re constantly on TikTok and use trending sounds and memes as part of your social presence. How has internet culture influenced your artistry and the way you show up as Jae Stephens online?
Jae Stephens: It's been a pretty natural [progression], especially in building an audience, the Tumblr of it all, and getting very used to posting every thought…. Now I'm having to rewire my brain and work backwards from that a little bit.
It's been very instrumental in getting to know the JaeBaes—establishing that connection, our shared language, our inside jokes. It feels like there's community and a shared culture around it. It's why I respond to comments. It's why I'm not scared to reference things that are happening in pop culture.
At the end of the day, I'm a fan and a stan, just like the people in my comments. It makes people enjoy the music more when they feel like it's coming from a place or a person that they know and understand.
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TV: I think of celebrities like Beyoncé, who’s very private with her personal life, and Hudson Williams from Heated Rivalry. Recently, his team urged fans on social media to respect boundaries. How are you establishing the balance between community and protecting your peace?
JS: For me it's about finding a way to still be authentic and natural that's a little bit smarter. It doesn't need to be nonstop, constant, every day. I never want to stop [communicating], but I do have to pull back a little because nonstop communication can lead to expectations, assumptions, a bit of entitlement from people who are used to hearing from me all the time. Now they get offended when they don't.
TV: There is a clear throughline of confidence in your work, from your lyricism to your essence. Where do you think that came from? What do you tell yourself on the days when you really need to amp yourself up?
JS: It came from a need and a necessity. There's truly no way to do this with no belief in yourself. There's a constant need for delusion if you're ever going to think that you can do this and accomplish this. Nobody else is ever going to believe it if I don't.
That was really the Sellout era. [I was] like, “I'm going to talk myself into this by force.” You see me actually finding it throughout the Sellout trilogy, and really stepping in it by the end. I knew that if I was going to do this, I wanted it to feel very p*ssy facing the world, feminine-forward, and powerful and strong.
That's the only way I am ever going to approach anything. On the days where I'm not feeling all that, I allow myself to not be all that. I am a Cancer at the end of the day.
TV: I was going to ask if you knew your Big Three.
JS: I do, but I'm scared to put it out there because people are like, they be doing brujería and stuff. But yeah, as a Cancer, one thing about me, I got to complain. I got to cry. I got to be depressed. And then after a day of that, I'm going to get over it. But I think it's very important to allow that.
TV: You’ve written for other major names in music—Jennifer Lopez, Latto, and Ne-Yo, to mention a few. How do you approach songwriting for other artists vs. what you produce for yourself?
JS: It's so funny. I haven't done a lot of writing for other people since fully stepping into the Jae Stephens of it all. I would really love to do a session like that again and see if it's changed. Spending so much time around other people's visions and words and ideas really sharpened my own. By the time I started writing my own music, I had my own identity and my own process. I'm ready to do what I want to do, but I know exactly how to do it.
TV: Let’s talk about everything “Attaboy!” What inspired you to write the song? What tone were you trying to set?
JS: “Attaboy!” definitely sees me in that spot of almost, like, a feigned kind of coyness a little, giving just enough away to get what I want back and leaving it there. It [maybe hints] at a bit of a bigger issue with avoidance, but it's cute, it's sexy, it's fun. So who cares?
It was definitely one of those songs where the title came first. I think in lieu of the “Afterbody” of it all, I only really know how to give an affirmation to a man in a maybe slightly condescending way. Sorry. Yes, my A is for affirmations.
Sonically, it's going to be a palette cleanser compared to Sellout. It's going to really wake the JaeBaes up.
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TV: You said the title came first for this one, then the lyrics. Is that typically how you approach writing your songs?
JS: I've never been a super stickler for, like, “This needs to come from my heart and my journal and my diary.” I just love writing songs. If it hits, I'm going to sing it. Starting with the title, it really is case by case, song by song for me. I'm very melody driven, so sometimes that comes first, and the lyrics come second.
TV: For [the “Attaboy!”] visualizer, it's almost like we, as the viewer, are looking at you in this tête-à-tête with this guy. What was the inspiration behind the visualizer, and how did you approach it to represent this bang-the-door-down energy of the song itself?
JS: I wanted it to feel very cat and mouse. I pull him in just enough, but not quite. I really wanted to tell that story… but also [the story of] how I am not just the main character, but the only character, honestly. That is kind of the running theme here: having the audacity to really center myself in that way. Unashamedly.
TV: In general, how do you come up with visuals for your songs in terms of tying the story together?
JS: [“Attaboy!”] is definitely my first time intending a bit of a throughline. I want it to all feel like it takes place in the same world. This girl is the same character, or she's different characters that all bear relation to each other and have a similar story. I think a lot of people saw me finding that process across Sellout, really finding where I was comfortable visually, and what my identity was there.
The visuals [are] not as second nature to me as the music, but I feel like I'm growing in it, and really figuring out how I like things to look and feel in my own story.
TV: Is there anything specific about “Attaboy!” you want to mention that we didn't talk about?
JS: She’s just going to kick you in the teeth. [Laughs.] Jae Stephens is going to kick you in the teeth.
This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity.
