V Girls: Lexi Jayde – V Magazine

The precocious viral sensation talks her sophomore EP and healing from heartbreak

The precocious viral sensation talks her sophomore EP and healing from heartbreak

This feature appears in V137, now available for purchase

Lexi Jayde is here to help you heal. Whether you’re going through your fi first heartbreak or wishing an ex would drunk text you, Jayde’s relatable lyrics and dreamy, cotton candy-like harmonies are ready to meet you where you are currently. The confessional pop songs that double as her diary betray a vulnerability that seems well beyond her 19 years. And as it turns out, it isn’t by coincidence. The rising singer-songwriter started honing her craft at a young age. “Being an only child, I didn’t really want to tell my parents everything, and I didn’t have siblings to talk to, so I wrote all my emotions and feelings down. And I realized that I was writing songs,” she shares. Her honest lyricism had a chance to shine when her angsty pop hit, “drunk text me,” went viral on TikTok earlier this year. Uploading a snippet of the chorus to the app on a whim, Jayde had the surreal experience of waking up the next morning to find out it had over one million views. The comments were fl flooded with requests for her to release the full song—and Jayde was more than happy to oblige. More profound than your typical TikTok earworm, the song resonated with listeners on a deeper level. “To this day, I still get so many messages about how that song has helped people in so many different ways,” she shares.

Her 2022 sophomore EP, closer to closure, has had a similar healing effect for listeners—and for Jayde herself. The L.A.-native started the project in the wake of her fi first breakup, drawing from the painful experience to inspire a new chapter in her artistry. She channels a country-meets-pop vibe on the unbothered “hate to be you,” where she reminds a cheating ex “I’ll get over it/ But you have to live with the hell you put me through.” On the stripped-down closing track “someday,” which Jayde co-wrote with EP producer FINNEAS, she croons, “Someday I’ll wake up and not think about/ You.”

Delivering heartache and hope in a sonically-pleasing package, closer to closure is a promising new step in Jayde’s blossoming career. But the young talent isn’t about to rest on her laurels. “I feel like I’ve been waiting my entire life to start writing my debut album,” she says with a self-effacing laugh. Once that project’s complete, she teases the possibility of a headline tour. For Jayde, performing is where it all comes together. “I love meeting fans, connecting with them, sharing my story with the audience, and getting people’s reactions. It’s just the best feeling ever.”

This feature appears in V137, now available for purchase