Jax's key to TikTok success: "It came down to just not actually trying that hard and being yourself"

Braverijah Gregg

Jax tried to break through as a singer/songwriter for years -- she even tried going on American Idol. But it took TikTok to help her break through with her female empowerment anthem, "Victoria's Secret." The song first went viral on TikTok, and Jax says the groundwork she laid on the app during the pandemic was the key to her eventual success.

"TikTok for me was the coolest thing because I was kinda making goofy content that was my actual personality [during] the pandemic," Jax tells ABC Audio. She says for years she'd "stunted" her real personality online.

"Y'know, people in the industry have told me I needed to be a little more mysterious and less cheesy and stuff like that," she adds. "So the whole 'posting unapologetically who I am' thing was really nice and comforting."

Jax worried that people who looked to her for "goofy POV [videos]" wouldn't pay attention if she started using TikTok to post her songs. But much to her surprise, the opposite happened.

As she explains, "A turning point for me was when I released 'Ring Pop' about being broke and in love at the time -- and people started actually listening to my songs. That was, like, the coolest thing in the world ... as a songwriter who's been hustling it for so many years."

Then came "Victoria's Secret," and suddenly Jax had her first hit single -- and had learned a valuable lesson.

"It came down to just not actually trying that hard and doing it in your living room and being yourself," she notes. "And I prayed for it my whole life ... [but] while I was praying for it, I was not being myself. And then the moment things started working was when I stopped trying to be something else." 

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at 6:00AM by Andrea Dresdale Permalink