Get To Know : Lexa Gates

New Wave Magazine caught up with New York based singer-songwriter/rapper Lexa Gates, four months after the release of Elite Vessel. Multifaceted and fusing multiple genres into her sound, it’s hard to place Lexa in one genre upon first listen. Gates first began composing melodies and singing at the tender age of 9 and later took her talents to SoundCloud, and eventually dropping her debut tracks in 2019,  which were followed by full bodies of work. The 2023 single ‘Angel’ reached a wider number of listeners, giving the 23-year old artist a larger following and fan base, captivated by her striking lyricism and musical agility.

Her latest project, the critically acclaimed label debut Elite Vessel, was released in October of last year. The introspective 12-track body of work from the 23-year-old Latinx artist takes listeners on an emotional journey as she explores themes of identity, determination, and ambition, against an eclectic sonical background. Featuring collaborations with artists such as Alé Araya and Billy Lemos, the album had an immediate impact on listeners worldwide, debuting on both the Billboard Heatseekers chart and the Current R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.

For Gates, there are no limits to what she’d do for her art. After spending ten hours in a transparent box in New York City to promote the release of Elite Vessel, she has become renowned as an artist who is branded by dedication and passion, not typical marketing strategies that most would settle for. From being a teen making beats in her bedroom and all the way to her label debut, Gates has maintained her level of individuality within an industry that tries to catagorise creatvity. Gates stands by the essence that surrounds Elite Vessel - acting on ideas and inspiration immediately, and letting her artistry flow out from her with no limits or bounds in sight.

Five projects in, and only 23 years old, what have you learnt about longevity while being this young? 

Just like any other 23 year old, I feel old. You always think you know everything and that time is running out, but it’s nice and refreshing to hear that I’m still a baby. 

My mom’s birthday is coming, she's turning 45 and I'm telling her that she’s so young and has so much life ahead of her -  and yet I still feel old so it’s very weird. 

You blend a lot of genres, and produce, write, rap and sing - how has being so sufficient in all of these practices refined your sound? 

I feel like I just do what I think will be fun, and what makes sense in the moment. It’s always a very spontaneous process, and not planned out at all. I write in a flow state, whatever comes off the top of my head. In my next state, it makes so much sense, but then later, it's like “What was that?”  

The visual for ‘What You Wish For’ follows you in an alternate reality where you’re in a waiting room surrounded by restless onlookers. As time progresses, the environment becomes increasingly unsettling. 

As an artist, do you ever feel like you’re living in an alternate reality?

Absolutely,  I feel totally out of touch with reality in this industry all the time. It's very extreme and sometimes not relatable. The song is about me getting what I wanted, but then realising that it turned out to be a lot more work than I thought it would be. 

Even being in the waiting room drinking a bunch of coffees, the concept was on my end, centred around running out of time, which is funny since we touched on my age and me being so young yet feeling so old. 

In life everybody is reaching for something, but once you have it, you realise it’s not actually going to change anything. So you have to just appreciate where you are,and what you have now. The grass may look greener on the other side, but if you walk over to that other side and stand there, what's the real difference? 

You’ve said that understanding beautiful things ruins them. While pursuing a musical career, what's something that hasn't lived up to your expectations? 

I don’t really have expectations, so I guess nothing. But I agree with the sentiment about how understanding beautiful things ruins them. I always felt like that about school, I didn’t know why I needed to know all of that stuff for me to live real life and just exist.

With music too, it goes back to what you were saying about me being versatile while creating, doing different genres and rapping and singing - I never thought about creating any of my music within any type of structure, it’s just always been free form. 

The same with me doing an album activation without knowing what it meant, and it’s the same within the industry. You meet people who ask if I know who they are, and I’m like ‘No, I  don’t know who you are, and turns out I didn't need to know,’

I’m still here, so that's a beautiful thing in itself. 

What is the most New York-like quality about you? 

I guess the fact that I can't control my mouth. 

I have no problem just spewing out the first thing that is on my mind anywhere at any volume. It's a blessing and a curse … very New York.

You recently sold-out a headline show at London’s Village Underground. How was London’s crowd, and where is your favourite place to play? 

On this last leg of shows, London was my favourite. I also loved Portland, Oregon. I loved New York too. The crowd was great, and I felt very much understood by them. Plus, it was around Thanksgiving time so it felt extra special. 

I love London. I was just there recently, and was talking to my friend about the similarities between London and New York.

There's a demeanor in both cities where people come across as rude, or having a straight face, but they’re actually a friendly person, and it's just a coping mechanism or  defence that you have to wear on your face to survive life in a big city. 

Is elevating your songs to perform live daunting because you already do so much in your studio recordings? 

No, it isn’t - I love the whole process of turning songs into live recordings.

I was listening to ‘Stupid’ this morning, and it made me feel even more hyped up to know that there’ll be a  reaction of a crowd to a song that I also love in my personal life. 

I love performing live, it's such a great aspect of being an artist. I do get new ideas while performing live, not usually for other songs - but maybe sometimes subconsciously.

When I go into the studio I guess I know I'll have to perform a live rendition at some point, so I keep that in mind, because it’s a different landscape. There are times where I forget to add something into the song, and I decide to add whatever idea I’d had while I'm performing it live. I'll just sing that part with a microphone at the show, even if it’s not in the studio recording.

You've been named ‘Artist ToWatch’ for the year ahead by several publications like Complex and Apple Music, as one of Zane Lowe’s 25 for ‘25. Do accolades and co-signs often come with pressure for you to perform to a certain standard?  

No, not at all. As an artist, if you believe in yourself so much, other people will believe it too. I don't feel surprised by anything, and I'm very grateful for it. I don't really care, in a positive way, as in it doesn't spark fear in me. It just comes with the territory. 

Four months removed from Elite Vessel, what has having that project out in the world done for you? Is there anything you wish you changed now that the project has been out? 

I still love the whole album, I love all of it. The best thing about this job is literally the music. 

I will go through different phases in my life and all of the same things will still apply with new people and new locations and new faces, and that's how it is for literally everybody who hears it as well.  They all hear it wherever they're at. They think about the person that they love, or the places they’ve been, or the things that they have seen that the music makes them think of. That’s just art, it imitates life.

You can hear from your flow in your rap that your work is created effortlessly.  

Where do lyrics often come from? And do things flow out, or is writing a process for you? 

It just flows out. 

I could never feel like it wasnt right, because it's almost not even coming from me. It's like, from God. Not even in a Christianity sense. Just a source -  I’ll hear something, and then words come into the picture. It's not a conscious thing. 

That's what Elite Vessel is too - when being a ‘vessel’ so to say, the best thing you can do is just act on whatever ideas you have immediately, and that goes back to not being able to control my mouth and I know that will take me far if I’m doing it in the right way.

You locked yourself in a box for ten hours to promote your album. Most artists just post on social media. Are there limits to what you would do for your art/music?

No, there aren’t any limits when it comes to my art.  I feel like we need more artists to just go insane, and do things like cutting off your ear, like Van Gogh. 

We’re really missing that in the world. Everybody is so afraid and constrained by fear of what others are gonna say about what they’re doing, and that’s just not very artistic. 

Things that aren’t that serious become that serious. At this point everyone hates on everything, so you may as well just do what you want, with no limits whatsoever.

What's the last playlist that you made? Give us a sample of a few tracks from there.

I always have super long 15 hour playlists. 

I’ve got ‘I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow’ by The Escorts.

‘Black And Tan’ featuring Lancey Foux by YT. Everyone was bumping that in London. ‘Hello’ by Erykah Badu is on there too, and ‘Come Live With Me’, by Dorothy Ashby. 

Three words you'd use to describe your sound to someone who's never listened to your music ? 

Hypodellic. Sexy. fire. 

If you could speak to yourself pre-music career, what would you tell a younger Lexa? 

Nothing , I wouldn't tell her anything , she’s got it and it’s all good. She’s doing great, and I’d tell her that it all works out. 

Listen to Elite Vessel, out on all platforms now :