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Jae Stephens: 'Beyoncé's B’Day is literally perfect. Not one skip!' | My Life In 20

5 June 2025, 17:12 | Updated: 10 June 2025, 14:56

By Sam Prance

To celebrate the release of her new single 'That's My Baby', we asked pop icon in the making Jae Stephens to take a trip down memory lane to answer our 'My Life In 20' questions.

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20) What album could you listen to 20 times over and not get bored?

B’Day, also known as Beyoncé’s loudest album, is literally perfect from beginning to end. Not one skip! And there’s so much hooting and hollering that you’ll never get bored.

19) What topic could you talk about for 19 minutes straight without notes?

Anything pop culture, unfortunately, especially pertaining to the pop girlies of today and yesteryear. I know it’s a bit of a useless skill but I’m PopCrave personified.

18) What was the most important thing to happen in your life when you were 18?

At 18, my mom and I travelled to London for the first time and I did some of my first sessions! I’d never been so far from home making new music with strangers every day. I feel like that was really the beginning of my professional career! As well as my obsession with the city that I lived in for so many years.

17) Who was your crush at 17?

It was 100% Zayn Malik who at that point had been the reigning champ for about four years. The question is what about Zayn wouldn’t make you fall for him?

16) What can you remember about your 16th birthday?

True to my chronically online heritage, my Sweet 16 was held on Habbo Hotel. All my Tumblr followers came and packed out a room and sent me a bunch of gifts. My mom still clowns me for this but I got a lot of attention and it was over and I was in bed by like 10PM, so that was an ideal birthday party to me!

Jae Stephens - SMH (Official Music Video)

15) What did you hate at 15 which you love now?

Uggs…I used to think they were so ugly and now I own 3 pairs.

14) What TV show were you obsessed with at 14?

I was a huge Gleek. I don’t know why I liked it so I can’t really elaborate.

13) 13 is unlucky for some. Do you have anything that you’re superstitious about?

I do feel like I got oddly very strict with my pre-show rituals while on tour. I don’t eat, I do exactly 30 minutes of my vocal warmups and steaming, and I don’t talk to anyone. I’m convinced my worst show was when I had a sandwich and did an interview before going on.

12) If you could live the life of any other person for 12 hours, who would you be?

I’d lowkey wanna be Blue Ivy…young, rich, fabulous, Beyoncé’s manager and protégée. I feel like I’d learn a lot! And I’d Venmo myself a little something for when I switched back to my own body.

11) Who was your best friend when you were 11? And what’s the first thing you remember about them?

I was homeschooled when I was 11 so it was definitely my mom, bless her heart. We were arch enemies whenever she had to teach me fractions but we were besties the rest of the time.

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10) Which bad habit do you hope to have quit in 10 years time?

Being so negative! I’ve been a bit of a Debbie Downer most of my life for some reason but I’ve made some good progress in being delusionally optimistic this past year and I’ve seen a huge difference in the opportunities it's led to. Hopefully in 10 years time I’ll be unstoppable.

9) What was your biggest fear when you were 9?

At 9 all I cared about was being a star. I think I was lying awake at night hoping I’d get a callback for a Disney audition I’d gone on (I didn’t).

8) When you were 8, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Beyoncé. Take a shot every time I say Beyoncé.

7) Which of the seven deadly sins are you most guilty of? How does it manifest in your life?

I’m a bit of a glutton…I live to eat and eat to live. I’m pretty sure the only reason I go to the gym is so I can feel justified in eating deep fried Twinkies or something which is so not how it works.

6) You can invite six people to your dream dinner party, who would you invite?

Beyoncé, Hilary Duff, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Brandy and my mom. Basically, all the women that raised me. I feel like it’d be a ki.

Jae Stephens - That’s My Baby (Audio)

5) Name five things you can't live without.

Lipgloss/lipliner (they count as 1!!), headphones, my air fryer (I’d starve without it), my digicam, autotune.

4) Describe yourself in four words.

The sexy comedic relief.

3) Your top three songs of all time.

Wtf that’s hard! My answer would probably be different tomorrow but right now I’d say 'Latch' by Disclosure, 'Me Myself & I' by Beyoncé, and 'Angel in Disguise' by Brandy. Perfect songs I never get tired of!