![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Lexa-Gates-by-Austin-Babbitt_4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLexa Gates refuses to stay in one lane. Between rap, performance art, and radical vulnerability, the Queens-born artist is turning endurance into her signature\u2014and redefining what it means to be fearless.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lexa by Austin Babbitt<\/p>\n
Following her European Tour, we caught up with Queens-born rapper, singer and producer Lexa Gates<\/a> to discuss her meteoric rise, her genre-defying sound and the creative vision behind her acclaimed new album I Am. Blending elements of alternative R&B, hip-hop, jazz and pop, Lexa has carved out a singular space in today\u2019s music landscape with a fearless approach to experimentation.<\/p>\n At just 24 years old, Lexa has already built a devoted following through her deeply personal storytelling and boundary-pushing performances. From her viral 10-hour glass box endurance piece supporting her debut album Elite Vessel to her latest performance artwork celebrating I Am, where she walked on a wheel until the album\u2019s midnight release, Lexa continues to explore themes of resilience, ambition and emotional endurance beyond the traditional boundaries of music. With acclaim from artists including SZA, Clairo and Amin\u00e9, Lexa Gates is emerging as a new voices of her generation while staying true to her own artistic path.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Lexa by Austin Babbitt<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You grew up in Queens in a Colombian-Puerto Rican household. What are some of your earliest memories of music, and what was always playing around the house?<\/p>\n Just, like, early 2000s hits\u2026 house music. Not even that many things, actually, in Spanish. I mean, it was just my mom, and she\u2019s Colombian.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n How has New York shaped your identity?<\/p>\n That\u2019s a good question. It has made me just a very\u2026 guarded person, but it\u2019s all a facade, like, this hard exterior. It\u2019s just inspiring to be here and there\u2019s no place like it. I can\u2019t live anywhere else, so that\u2019s pretty, like, important to that.<\/p>\n The chaos of this place, it literally is a reflection of how I feel inside, and it\u2019s the only state I\u2019m comfortable. Which is, I don\u2019t even know if that\u2019s good.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You blend so many sounds naturally. Who were the first artists that made you think, \u00abWait, music doesn\u2019t have to fit into one box\u00bb?<\/p>\n Childish Gambino and Chance the Rapper. I used to not really like rap, but it feels like the way that they did was more like fun and creative and less, like, mob deep, like Wu-Tang, heavy, it just felt fun and silly, and I thought that I could have a shot at doing that, too.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Performance Art Installation, \u201cThe Wheel\u201d Held at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery NYC<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n New York is such a character in your music. What parts of Queens still live inside your work today?<\/p>\n Where I\u2019m from, Astoria. And just all of the city. What parts live in me? There\u2019s just too many things to even say. You know? It\u2019s the people, the pee, the sound of the train, the water from the AC falling on my head, the ambulance fucking blaring. But then, people hugging each other and friends hanging out, and the duality of it, being just beautiful and unbearable at the same time.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You spent 10 hours walking on a wheel for \u201cI Am\u201d. What\u2019s the weirdest thing you\u2019ve ever done in the name of art that nobody knows about?<\/p>\n Whispering manifestations into pineapples and leaving them under the full moon.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You seem drawn to endurance, whether it\u2019s the glass box or the wheel. Why are you interested in pushing yourself physically as part of your art?<\/p>\n I think that\u2019s what we all have to do to achieve greatness. Like, we just have to kind of put ourselves in a position where we have no choice but to prevail through whatever circumstances we\u2019re in.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Performance Art Installation, \u201cThe Wheel\u201d Held at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery NYC<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The wheel installation was about cycles and repetition. Tell us a bit more about the background and motivation around your album \u201cI Am\u201d.<\/p>\n It was just me being stuck in a vicious cycle, but trying to speak myself out of it with positive affirmations, and hopefully it worked.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You\u2019ve become a style icon for a lot of fans. How would you describe the Lexa Gates uniform in three words?<\/p>\n Clean. Sexy. Professional.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You\u2019ve built a very recognizable visual world around your music. How important is clothing in helping you tell a story before you\u2019ve even said a word?<\/p>\n It\u2019s really one of my favorite things. Like, just all of my stuff, I jokingly say this all the time- people say that money can\u2019t buy you happiness and that it\u2019s not everything, but we\u2019re kind of just here to buy stuff as human beings and customize our characters, and our life, and our whole world. It\u2019s not even about money, but it is true. Like the things that you bring into your realm of existence are decadent to your life. What I\u2019m wearing turns me into a different person, you know? So it\u2019s very empowering to just find the most fire shit wherever I am and put it on.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You\u2019ve played everywhere from Village Underground to Boiler Room. Which city has surprised you the most with its energy? Any places you are excited to play for the first time or just visit?<\/p>\n I love Amsterdam. It\u2019s really cool. It feels like you\u2019re high being there. And there\u2019s not even a way to describe how it is. It just, so different from everywhere I\u2019ve been. And I want to go to Antarctica, but it\u2019s not going to be for a show.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Touring can be romanticized from the outside. What\u2019s the reality of life on the road that nobody talks about?<\/p>\n This makes me think about that video of Michael Jackson where he\u2019s like, \u201cI love the tour.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s fun. Just travel in general is a lot on the body, and touring is stressful because you\u2019re just constantly running out of time, and have these expectations to meet by all these people around you, and they\u2019re here for you. But everything depends on you, and I still love it. I really do. But again, it\u2019s kind of just like the New York and the endurance thing. It\u2019s me pushing myself to do more than I even can or should do as a human being, but it\u2019s all good. It still gets done, and seeing all the fans and the actual show is so worth it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You\u2019ve been called an artist to watch, but who\u2019s on your own \u201cartists to watch\u201d list right now?<\/p>\n I love Steve Lacy<\/a> and Trim<\/a> so far.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, what are you looking forward to this year?<\/p>\n I\u2019m just looking forward to making more music and putting things out whenever they\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Lexa-Gates-by-Austin-Babbitt_3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LG-R1-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LG-R1-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n