Gritty Lex is exactly what her name embodies: a bold, unapologetic female who’s ready to take over the rap game. Hailing from Sacramento, California, the rising star is gritty, authentic, and raw, and she’s doing all the work necessary to make it to the top. With the tagline “Gritty In My City,” the former soccer player turned recording artist creates straight vibes for the masses to vibe out to.
When it comes to her sound, style, and personality, the half-Japanese, half-Black is in her own lane — even though her persona and vibe are reminiscent of the lovely Zendaya on Euphoria.
Inspired greatly by the late great Juice WRLD as well as XXXTentacion, Lex carries the same sentiments in pouring her soul into her music, touching on real-life experiences we all can relate and go through.
Most recently, the 21-year-old unleashed the official music video for “Say You Do,” following the momentum of last year’s Mackramento EP.
AllHipHop: What is the definition of Gritty?
Gritty Lex: For me, it’s imperfect. Edgy, raw, authentic, gritty from the dirt.
AllHipHop: When did you come up with Gritty?
Gritty Lex: About 3 years ago. I actually started off as “Gikochinai,” which is gritty in Japanese. Everybody was confused so I’m like “lemme make it easy.”
AllHipHop: I’ve been interviewing a lot of artists out of Sac, some people claim it’s the Bay and some people don’t.
Gritty Lex: Hell nah, it’s not the Bay to me. We’re the valley, but we f### with the Bay tough. Ya know, Mac Dre came young to Sacramento, I think that’s where a lot of misconceptions come [from]. Then we got Nef [the Pharaoh] who’s huge right now in the Bay Area, he was in Sacramento.
AllHipHop: What was your household like coming up there?
Gritty Lex: It was crazy, my mom had me at 16 .We grew up together, moving house to house. She was a single parent basically all my life. It wasn’t as bad, she sacrificed a lot to make sure I was good so I greatly appreciate that.
AllHipHop: Do you remember the moment you fell in love with music?
Gritty Lex: Juice WRLD inspired me to make music. I fell in love my first time ever in the studio. My first song, I thought “yo, I could do this!” It’s crazy.
AllHipHop: I know you used to play soccer, how good were you?
Gritty Lex: Man if it wasn’t music, I would’ve been a superstar in soccer. My mom was actually in a coma so a lot of people were telling me I shouldn’t. I had to teach her how to walk and talk again, all that.
AllHipHop: Crazy, what happened?
Gritty Lex: She had seizures that they couldn’t explain. Her heart stopped 3 times, they had to keep bringing her back to life. She’s in the ICU, she couldn’t breathe on her own. She was hooked to machines, unconscious for months. That’s right after I graduated so I didn’t go play soccer, then there was music. I took off with that.
AllHipHop: How did Juice WRLD’s music help you?
Gritty Lex: A lot of drug abuse. I’d be high and listening to him, it opened up a different realm. I don’t know, it’s Juice!
AllHipHop: Favorite Juice WRLD song?
Gritty Lex: “All Girls Are the Same.”
AllHipHop: What do you like about XXXTentacion? I know he’s a big inspo too.
Gritty Lex: Love X. The edgy, just the rawness. So authentic and not giving a f###, the stuff he be preaching too. If you listen to the podcasts and his interviews, he be talking about some stuff that people don’t normally talk about. I like his message: your whole mental and thinking outside the box thing. When you listen to him, you take a lot from it. It’s inspiring.
AllHipHop: What does it mean to be Gritty in your City?
Gritty Lex: Gritty in my City is tough. It’s raw, authentic. It’s real.
AllHipHop: Are you still residing in Sac?
Gritty Lex: Yeah, I live in Sacramento. I live in Orangevale which is the country of Sacramento, but I’m always moving around.
AllHipHop: What does it mean to have the “Juice”?
Gritty Lex: You got the juice, you got the sauce. You got the flavor. You got everything. You got whatever. Whatever you need, I got it. I got the juice. [laughs]
AllHipHop: Bring us back to that recording session, it’s a vibe.
Gritty Lex: We were hella high. Honestly, I was on shrooms when I made that in my friend’s Airbnb in LA a couple months ago. We made it in the living room. It was a freestyle basically.
AllHipHop: Do you freestyle all your music?
Gritty Lex: Mostly, for the most part.
AllHipHop: What inspired “Say You Do?” Was it a special someone?
Gritty Lex: When I’m saying “you,” I’m talking to myself or I’m talking to God. Other times, you can relate to it in any aspect of your life. “Love me like you say you do” was to my peoples, love me. Show me.
AllHipHop: What do you want fans to get from that song?
Gritty Lex: To always show love to your people. On the verse, I switched it up. “Taking risks, we all putting in and I put in my all.” Make sure you put in and do all the work you got to do, make sure your peoples are straight. It’s not a you thing, it’s a team effort. We all gon’ eat and love each other, positive vibes.
AllHipHop: Talk about your own struggle with substances.
Gritty Lex: I think it started with my mom being in the hospital. ‘Cause my dad is a heavy drug addict, like heavy. I always stayed away from it. I was around people that did it but it wasn’t that cool to me, because that s###’s not that cool sometimes. When you see somebody that’s supposed to take care of you… crazy. I stayed away but when my mom got sick, I started experimenting. I got tough on that. I ended up in the hospital a couple times.
AllHipHop: Wow, OD?
Gritty Lex: Off mixing hella stuff. I don’t like liquor like that but I’m starting to just f### with alcohol , because I can handle it and watch myself. And it’s nasty, so I don’t even want to drink it like that anyways.
AllHipHop: How is music a coping mechanism for you?
Gritty Lex: Music’s everything to me right now. It’s like, I really don’t even like talking but in my music, I can share however I feel in that moment or whatever I’m going through in that moment. Or even my friends, whatever they’re feeling. The voice of other people who don’t really have a voice. It’s very therapeutic. I Iove the work. When you love it, it’s not even a job. This is my life, I love my life right now. I’ve never been happier.
AllHipHop: Where was the video shot that?
Gritty Lex: That was shot at my house in Orangevale. There’s some driving scenes, where we shot driving I actually flipped my Porsche over down a hill. My Porsche flipped, I was in a car accident right where the video’s shot right outside my house.
AllHipHop: Were you good?
Gritty Lex: Yeah, it was 4 in the morning, my phone was dead. I was upside down, it was dark and we’re down in the hills. There’s no cars, it’s raining. I just walked 2 miles to my house. My head, I was leaking everywhere. I felt like a trooper. Yeah, I’m not going out today! [laughs]
AllHipHop: 3 things you need in the studio?
Gritty Lex: Good vibes, my phone, and some snacks. Some drugs, some candy. Some party favors. Party favors, good vibes, and my phone.
AllHipHop: Got you, and you freestyle everything or…?
Gritty Lex: Not everything but even when I’m writing, I’m freestyling. I pick whatever was the best and I tweak it later. But I do have a couple freestyles, a couple of my songs are freestyles. I’ll have a hook then I need to do a verse, I’ll freestyle it real quick.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLknInSlkdq/
AllHipHop: Talk about having your own ski masks.
Gritty Lex: I love it. Everything that happens to them comes back to me ‘cause the G is solidified in Sacramento. The street art, we do the tagging. I don’t do it but it comes back to me. So the police, it’s a constant battle for me. The police love me. I’m not even doing nothing but they love me.
AllHipHop: Really?
Gritty Lex: Yes. There’s pictures of people on the Sacramento Police Department page, they’re wearing my merch. It falls back on me ‘cause they think I know something to do with or who the person is, but I don’t. I have a website, so I don’t be knowing. People get stuff from however they get it, I don’t know. It’s crazy, damn.
AllHipHop: Talk about your drip, I see you got some ice on you.
Gritty Lex: These are my custom sweats. I have hoodies and stuff too.
AllHipHop: You make that all yourself?
Gritty Lex: Yes I do. These are rhinestones I do. I sell them. I sell hoodies for $150 with this. If you got it on, you solidified. You paid a little bit, just a little bit.
AllHipHop: One thing you want people to get from Mackramento?
Gritty Lex: A new insight of the city and just a new perspective. New sound, it doesn’t sound like any… I couldn’t compare myself to anybody. I can see some of the comparisons but really, I don’t sound like anybody but myself.
AllHipHop: Any goals for yourself as an artist?
Gritty Lex: To take over the world.
AllHipHop: What’re you most excited for in the new year?
Gritty Lex: Festivals, and concerts, and shows. I’m excited to see what happens, I love the growth.
AllHipHop: Who’s hot right now on your playlist?
Gritty Lex: BLXST. We’re gonna get a song probably.
AllHipHop: What can we expect next music-wise?
Gritty Lex: This year, we’re going crazy. New project on the way,couple projects. Lotta singles, lotta videos. We’re dropping “Blue & Red” the visual next. The blue and red lights, they’re behind us.
AllHipHop: Anything else that you want to let us know?
Gritty Lex: Mmm, it’s gritty in my city. We out here!