The Playground Meets: Jax - From TikTok To Atlantic Records
Written by: Aidan Werder (@aidantheasset)
LA-based Jersey girl Jax is a talented singer, songwriter, blossoming pop star, and the newest addition to the Atlantic Records roster.
Last year, Jax - real name Jackie Miskanic… from my hometown of East Brunswick! - attracted a lot of attention from fans and labels alike by channeling her undeniable talent and obvious star power into a series of brilliant short videos on social media.
Jax’s newfound success is a living testament to the power of new media over the tired legacy media platforms that used to run the world. In 2020 Jax showed us how 5 incredible singles with a strong vision, tightly crafted sound, and down-to-earth messages combined with a series of extremely well executed, nostalgia-inducing 60-second TikTok videos has taken her far beyond what her impressive 3rd place finish on American Idol at just 19-years-old ever could.
With nearly 1M followers, 15M+ likes, and approaching a whopping 100M views since uploading her first TikTok just under a year ago under @JaxWritesSongs - it’s safe to say that we can add TikTok star to the list. Rather than lip-synced dances or fluffy ‘influencer posts,’ Jax utilizes the popular short video app in a way that is incredibly fun, engaging, and manages to showcase her stunning talent and refreshing creativity.
The content that really caught fire was her hilarious series of in-character parody covers of beloved radio hits from the 2000s-era… made specially for the 90’s kids. The one that kicked it off was “From Stacy’s Mom’s Perspective,” an ingenious take on Fountains of Wayne’s 2003 smash hit “Stacy’s Mom” that finally answers the question: What does Stacy’s mom think about all this? For the video, which sits at almost 9M views today, Jax taps in with her East Coast roots to don her best Jersey-mom accent, complete with authentic facial expressions, all the while still managing to deliver an impressively dynamic vocal rendition of the admittedly silly 2000’s classic.
Since then Jax has made dozens of successful TikToks, giving a similar treatment to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” from Romeo’s perspective, Rick Springfield’s classic “Jessie’s Girl” where we finally hear from Jessie’s girl herself, and even giving us some insight into Hailey Bieber’s thoughts on her man’s “Lonely” (I’ve been right here there whole time Justin). Her most popular video to date with over 14M views is based on Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi”, where we get a super funny update on the young punk rockers’ relationship 18 years later… let’s just say it’s not going too well.
Far from a one trick TikToker however, in 2020 Jax has proven that she is a powerful artist with serious vocal talent and undeniable songwriting ability by debuting a series of impressive singles perfectly timed with her newfound success online. Sonically, Jax has a delightful pop sound with just a hint of rasp and a dash of twang that feels both familiar and extremely fresh at the same time. Lyrically and conceptually, she creates captivating melodies and consistently explores refreshing, relatable subject matter in a unique and clever way - proving over and over again her undeniable songwriting ability.
Jax led off 2020 by dropping “Come Home to Me” in February, a soft-spoken, self-loving, beautifully written jam with a hugely catchy hook that articulates basically the exact opposite message from what you’d expect from the title: “Why would I want to come home to you... when I could come to me?”
She followed with the amazingly titled “i can’t believe i shaved my legs for this,” an unexpected pop anthem that embodies Jax’s endearing realist outlook and embracing when things don’t work out.
Next came “papercuts,” yet another tightly crafted track that is remarkably fully baked and dynamic. From the stripped-down intro to the big entrance and layered vocals of the chorus to the moments where the drums falls away to make way for a beautifully delivered “thousand paper cuts” - anyone can tell this track is a winner.
In October, Jax came with some fierce energy and a slightly darker look for the undeniably compelling, “Bitchcraft.” In interviews, she’s talked about how the song came about as the result of a friend being cheated on by her boyfriend, with Jax generously offering to show her the ropes of her special man-cracking dark arts: “I can teach you bitchcraft, how to make your man crack | I can walk you through that if you don’t know how.” “Bitchcraft” was also accompanied by Jax’s first music of the year, a spooky visual dropping just before Halloween complete with black lipstick, hairless cats, and faceless backup dancers. Check out the video below.
Jax’s most recent single came about after sharing a snippet on social media and being overwhelmed with requests for the full version. “Ring Pop” is a super cute love song that’s perfect for young couples braving the uncertain times we find ourselves in their own one-bedroom castles, beautifully summed up by “Don’t need no diamonds, you’re my rock. And I’m okay with a ring pop.” In just one month since dropping on Jan 6th, “Ring Pop” is already Jax’s most popular song to date
Throughout all of Jax’s work is a there is an extremely compelling, relatable understanding that life is messy and things don’t always work out the way we planned… and that’s okay. So many of us can relate to the feelings of uncertainty, anger, betrayal, meeting the moment, and making do with what we have so beautifully articulated in Jax’s catalog - perhaps especially so during the difficult and uncertain times we all find ourselves in. This sentiment appears to be perfectly captured once again on the new song previewed on her socials last week, a down-to-earth, upbeat single titled “Dweeb.”
In closing, watch out for Jax. Fresh off a viral 2020 and a new signing to Atlantic Records, home to countless pop icons, the sky is the limit for this budding pop star. Jax is relatable, talented, and fiercely driven… a dangerous combination likely to set fire in 2021.
Jax’s latest single “Ring Pop” is available now on all platforms. Also be sure to follow her on Instagram @jax and on TikTok @JaxWritesSongs for some hilarious, wholesome content and all Jax-related news.