Stella Lefty is on a meteoric rise in popularity unlike anything I’ve ever seen. She is also the most polarizing figure in country music right now.
The 24-year-old is often labeled as a “nepo baby” and draws criticism for what some people consider an unoriginal sound.
As a self-labeled ‘Stella Fella,’ I don’t see it that way. However, the chatter on social media is impossible to ignore. I can’t escape it. There is no other artist in country music who generates this much conversation by simply existing.
Stella Lefty rejects the ‘nepo baby’ label.
Although she is her own person, it would be irresponsible not to mention Stella Lefty’s dad. Eric Lefkofsky, the father of Stella Lefkofsky, is a billionaire with a B. He previously founded Groupon and currently serves as the CEO of a really cool health technology company. His net worth hovers around $6,000,000,000 with nine zeros.
Stella Lefty firmly rejects the nepotism label but she is not ignorant to her father’s wealth. She is grateful for the “cushion” he provided her that allowed her to “really explore.” Her dad’s financial success gave her the gift of time.
No matter what you think about Stella Lefty and her upbringing, it is impossible to ignore her success. The Chicago-native already sold out some pretty big-name venues for her debut tour. She is this close to a No. 1 song on the Billboard charts. Her following on Instagram jumped from ~200,000 in March (if not less) to more than 500,000 in September.
Some people believe she is an “industry plant.” I don’t agree. To me, Stella Lefty is the defining example of how social media has transformed the way music is created, shared and experienced today. I see her as a fascinating case study.
Her voice may not be as strong as some of her industry counterparts, but it scratches an itch deep in my brain. I took a few of my friends from out of town to see her perform a pop-up show with The BIG 98 and iHeartRadio on Wednesday afternoon.
I was baffled by the turnout at 1:00 p.m. on a Wednesday. Even Stella made reference to the amount of people who showed up on random weekday afternoon. It was packed out. (You can see me in the back if you look close enough!)
Everybody knew every word to ‘Boston’ and had their phone out to film.
Stella Lefty also made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry on Wednesday night.
As you could imagine, the haters were furious. They continued to quip about her dad and called her an industry plant. Go check out the comment section on any of her videos. It is brutal.
A lot of people are not able to comprehend her success. They can’t understand how she tapped into the TikTok algorithm and capitalized on the rise of “pop country” music with a simple melody that connects with multiple generations. It’s that simple.
Did she interpolate the melody of ‘The Climb’ by Miley Cyrus?
A large portion of the Stella Lefty criticism stems from her originality. Or, rather, a lack thereof.
Her hit song ‘Boston’ is described as a “sweet interpolation” of Noah Kahan’s ‘Stick Season,’ because they share similar melodies. He even got a songwriting credit on the track. It’s a bop!
Although Stella Lefty claims Kahan was not on her mind when she wrote ‘Boston,’ her old TikTok videos seem to prove otherwise. Who cares? If it sounds good, it sounds good. Everybody involved (whether directly or indirectly) is getting the credit (and financial success) they deserve.
Unfortunately, the connection between Kahan and Lefty opened the door for even more scrutiny. Her haters are constantly looking for something new. The latest criticism stems from the song ‘Why Wouldn’t We?’
Some people think it sounds a lot like Miley Cyrus’ version of ‘The Climb.’ Others say it sounds like ‘God Made Girls’ by RaeLynn and/or ‘I’ll Name The Dogs’ by Blake Shelton. Lets take a listen.
Here is ‘Why Wouldn’t We?’ by Stella Lefty:
Here is ‘The Climb’ by Miley Cyrus:
This is ‘God Made Girls’ by RaeLynn:
Here is ‘I’ll Name The Dogs’ by Blake Shelton:
Don’t get me wrong, I hear the similarities between all four songs. That doesn’t mean they are the same. That doesn’t mean Stella Lefty ripped them off. There are only so many chord progressions to go around — especially in “country” music.
But her haters won’t let it go. They pointed to Lefty’s love of Miley Cyrus. She has said that watching Miley Cyrus (and Taylor Swift) during the Hannah Montana era inspired her to pursue music and start writing songs. ‘The Climb’ is one of her top covers.
She often plays it at her live shows.
Was ‘The Climb’ in the back of Stella Lefty’s mind when she wrote ‘Why Wouldn’t We?’ I don’t know. Nor do I care. It sounds good and I like to listen to music that sounds good.
That doesn’t mean I’m not fascinated by the polarizing rise of Stella Lefty. People love her. People love to hate her.