Despite five albums under her belt, Queens-born rapper Lexa Gates makes a defining, autobiographical statement on her sixth LP, 2026’s I Am. From the first moments of the doo-wop-leaning opener, “It Goes On,” Lexa showcases the way she’s developed and matured. She looks back fondly on the stumbling blocks and false starts she encountered along the way. After all, she’s here, she’s strong, and she’s doing her best work. All the tribulations must have been for something, right? On that aforementioned opener, she spits, “Life’s looking so bright/Everything’s all right/Nothing’s really that hard/Keep your head high, take the shit light.” She practically raps with a smile while delivering these lines. Even when Lexa finds herself down on her luck, she uses her current status as a star of New York rap to put things in perspective. On “You’re Better Off,” she recalls, “Came from the dirt, sprouted wings and I’m off to the moon.”