For Lexa Gates, stepping onto the Gov Ball stage felt like coming home. The 25-year-old rapper and singer, born Ivanna Martinez, grew up in Astoria, Queens. She had just returned from a month in Los Angeles when she played the festival, not far from her old neighborhood.
"It feels cool. I feel comfortable," Gates said. "I feel like they're going to understand what I'm saying because they're from where I'm from."
Gates started making music at 17, a few years after dropping out of high school. After years of recording at home, she released her major label debut album "Elite Vessel" in 2024, followed by "I Am" this January. She'll spend the summer touring Europe and working on new material.
"I'm about to go to Europe for a tour and I'm just working on an album. I kind of want to chill," she said. "I wish I could chill, but this is fun."
She wants her next project to be more experimental. "I'm just trying to have fun with making music again, not feel this pressure," she said. "Everybody's popping off for things they thought nobody would care about because it's something somebody might say is weird or too out of what they're supposed to do."
Gates wore a vintage-inspired corset top on stage, a choice she said felt right for the moment. "It's kind of like armor, but also soft," she explained. That mix of structure and ease mirrors a shift in fashion history. In the early 1900s, designer Paul Poiret loosened the corset, letting women move more freely - a move that changed lingerie from a tool of restriction to one of expression.
As surreal as Gov Ball felt, Gates said her real "pinch me" moment came when she started making money from music. "I'm not really shocked by anything. I feel I'm very jaded," she said. "I'm like everything's whatever at this point. I wish I was more excited about it. Maybe when I'm in a PJ or something, I'll be like 'Oh, this is nice.'"
Originally reported by WWD