{{Infobox musical artist | background = person | honorific_prefix = | name = Lexa Gates | honorific_suffix = | image = Lexa Gates for JD Sports - 02 (cropped).jpg | image_upright = | image_size = | landscape = yes | alt = | caption = Gates in 2026 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age |2001|04|08}} | birth_place = | origin = Queens, New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} | death_place = | genre = Hip-hop | occupation = | instrument = | discography = | years_active = | label = {{hlist|Capitol Records|GoodTalk}} | current_member_of = | past_member_of = | spouse = | partner = | website = {{URL|lexagates.com}} | module = | module2 = | module3 = }}
'''Ivanna Alexandra Martinez''' (born {{Birth date|2001|04|08}}), known as '''Lexa Gates''', is an American musician and rapper.
== Early life == At a young age, Gates lived with her father and sister in Puerto Rico.<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |last=Brisco |first=Elise |date=November 17, 2024 |title=Meet Lexa Gates, the Singer/Rapper Embracing Solitude |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/lexa-gates-elite-vessel-interview-1235165285/ |access-date=February 24, 2025 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> Her mother has previously written songs and sung in cafés as a hobby.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Lamond |first1=Ana |date=October 18, 2024 |title=Bounds Of Imagination: Lexa Gates Interviewed |url=https://www.clashmusic.com/features/bounds-of-imagination-lexa-gates-interviewed/ |access-date=February 24, 2025 |website=Clash |archive-date=January 22, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122034257/https://www.clashmusic.com/features/bounds-of-imagination-lexa-gates-interviewed/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Her mother saved up money from packing cigarettes in Puerto Rico to move back to the Queens borough of New York City, where Gates grew up.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Pometsey |first=Olive |date=October 18, 2024 |title=Lexa Gates is ready to surprise herself |url=https://theface.com/music/lexa-gates-interview-new-album-elite-vessel |access-date=February 24, 2025 |website=The Face |language=en-gb}}</ref> She began playing piano after watching her mother do so.<ref name=":0" /> She participated in singing lessons as a child.<ref name=":1" /> She dropped out of the New York City public school system at fifteen years old, when she was in the tenth grade,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Curtis-Evans |first=Kayla |date=February 20, 2025 |title=Lexa Gates is the Next Rap Princess of Queens |url=https://officemagazine.net/lexa-gates-next-rap-princess-queens |access-date=February 24, 2025 |website=Office Magazine |language=en}}</ref> and later began making music at the age of seventeen.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" />
== Musical career == Gates' debut album, ''Order of Events'', was released in 2020.<ref name=":0" /> Her second album, ''Universe Wrapped in Flesh'', was released in 2022.<ref name=":0" /> In October 2024, she released her album ''Elite Vessel''.<ref name=":0" /> That same month, she locked herself in a glass box in Manhattan's Union Square for ten hours to promote the album.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Skelton |first=Eric |date=December 19, 2024 |title=Lexa Gates Is Making Wildly Honest and Relatable Rap Songs |url=https://www.complex.com/music/a/eric-skelton/lexa-gates-interview-elite-vessel |access-date=February 24, 2025 |website=Complex}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Kyann-Sian |date=October 20, 2024 |title=Lexa Gates traps herself in a glass box for 10 hours to promote debut album, 'Elite Vessel' |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/lexa-gates-traps-herself-in-a-glass-box-to-promote-debut-album-elite-vessel-3804192 |access-date=February 24, 2025 |website=NME}}</ref> She released ''I Am'' on January 16, 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shahzaib |first=Hussain |date=2026-01-19 |title=Lexa Gates Unveils Sophomore Album 'I Am' {{!}} News |url=https://www.clashmusic.com/news/lexa-gates-unveils-sophomore-album-i-am/ |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=Clash Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref> In promotion for the album, she performed a immersive art installation at the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in New York City in which she walked on a human-sized hamster wheel for 10 hours.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Farrell |first=Margaret |date=2026-01-16 |title=Lexa Gates Walks On A Giant Hamster Wheel For 10 Hours To Launch New Album 'I Am' |url=https://stereogum.com/2485631/lexa-gates-launches-second-album-with-second-crazy-stunt/music/ |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bellos |first=Avalon Ashley |date=2026-01-20 |title=Lexa Gates turns endurance into art with 'Her on the Wheel' |url=https://www.amny.com/entertainment/arts-entertainment/lexa-gates-her-on-the-wheel/ |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=amNewYork |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Personal life == Gates has been sober from alcohol since her twenty-first birthday.<ref name=":0" />
== Discography == * ''Order of Events'' (2020) * ''Delirium'' (2021) * ''Hungry'' (2021) * ''Universe Wrapped in Flesh'' (2022) * ''Elite Vessel'' (2024) * ''I Am'' (2026)
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Lexa}} Category:Living people Category:2001 births Category:21st-century American women rappers Category:21st-century American rappers Category:American women hip-hop singers Category:American women rappers Category:Rappers from Queens, New York