“It's a drug for me. for sure.” Binghamton, NY native La Stax doesn’t just derive energy from live performance; it’s more akin to a high. Rather than stalking back and forth on stage and paying more attention to the phones and cameras recording potential “content,” La Stax comes alive once in front of a crowd. His only goal is forming real human connections and giving a show that you won’t soon forget. At just 22 years old, La Stax is a relatively new artist, but his love for music began at a young age.

Born Maximus Stanton, La Stax’s musical journey started when one of the greatest rappers of all time was on a historic run. “It was The Carter III. I was like eight or nine years old,” he recalls. “Way too young to know all the words to the whole album. That was my go-to. Just rapping with my brother in the car and saying all the bad words. I just remember it so clearly. That was definitely the initial push.”

While he excelled in sports, baseball and football could not hold his attention as firmly as music did as he grew older. “My love for each sport fell off,” he says. “I didn't wanna practice anymore. I just didn't love it. But music came, and it was the same love, but it just continued and continued, and all of a sudden, you're six years in, and you still love it like you did day one.”

But with little musical infrastructure in upstate New York at the time, La Stax had to figure out how to put that love into practice on his own. Like many other young artists, he started out trawling YouTube for beats and making unpolished songs. “I was making shitty music in my room,” he remembers with a laugh. Later, he’d spend more time on YouTube learning, focusing on digital audio workstation tutorials, eventually mastering Logic, FL, and Pro Tools. Becoming a self-sufficient producer, in addition to a talented songwriter and performer, supercharged his artistry.

Being able to create a song from beginning to end opened up his creativity, resulting in a genre-bending style of music that nods to his influences, like the aforementioned Lil Wayne, Travis Scott, Drake, Ye, Kendrick Lamar, as well as Bryson Tiller and Kaash Paige. The common thread among his influences and art is the ability to put real emotion into every song. “It's so raw for me. It's like whatever I'm feeling, who knows what will come up when I hop in the booth,” says La Stax. “I don't even know. It's just like a natural thing at this point.”

However, his journey was not without adversity. While still in high school, he endured an extended period of tragedies that included the deaths of a beloved coach, an uncle, and his close friend dying in a car accident over the course of six months. “It was all these different things that piled on top of each other,” he says. “And I had all these emotions built up. I got it out through this outlet that I love.” Being a self-contained act meant that the music could be incredibly therapeutic for him, as he did not have to answer to anything but his own emotions.

As he began to improve as an artist, he moved to NYC for more opportunities and had some of his first live performances. His first show, in particular, was a transformative experience. “It was a competition showcase, and I didn't tell anybody that supported me to come,” he recalls. “I just got up there, and I murdered it, and everybody was giving me all this praise, and I ended up winning. I just really felt like the stage is where I shine.” That win led to more performances and open mics, with continued positive feedback giving him momentum.

Now, with the confidence befitting an established artist, La Stax is ready to separate himself from the rest of the field. His authenticity, originality, and creativity are in full bloom and displayed in songs like “Deep in the Soul,” and pop appeal is evident in “Wherever You Are.” And there’s more to come. “If you're coming to listen to my music, it will be something different every time. And it's gonna be me, you know what I mean? It's gonna be original.”