Why You Should Listen to Steve Lacy

Four of Steve Lacy's albums (I think? As the website manager idk). Photo from Spotify.

Fresh off his 3rd studio album, alternative R&B artist Steve Lacy has been riding a wave of popularity and recognition. The album’s title track “Oh Yeah” has gone viral after its feature in the smash hit “Spider Man: Brand New Day”, reaching a peak of 19 on the billboard top 100 chart. Still, there is more to Lacy’s discography than many realize.

Although some may recall his earlier breakout track “Bad Habit” in 2022, Lacy’s journey as an artist started in high school as the lead guitarist of Grammy nominated band “The Internet”. Only two years later, Lacy produced the entire song series “Demo” singing into his iPhone mic, composing his own guitar and bass parts, and programming drum patterns with a music software. Lacy soon secured a deal with label RCA Records and continued to make music. His next album Apollo XII (2019) garnered critical acclaim.

“I like how [Lacy’s] song lyrics are really emotionally authentic, especially in his earlier albums like Apollo. It’s very relaxing to listen to his music,” said junior Lexi Kurakata.

His most well-known album, “Gemini Rights” explores the duality of emotion, which landed Lacy the 2023 Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album. Some would describe his music as neo soul or funk R&B, but Lacy’ s work has so many facets that it cannot be defined by a single genre. Lacy himself describes his style as plaid, weaving together different influences and ideas into one cohesive fabric.

It makes me glad that Steve Lacy is getting so much more recognition for his music through the media. He has a lot of amazing songs (my personal favorites are ‘static’ and ‘the feeling’) that don’t get recognized as often as they should.

“I love Steve Lacy’s new song ‘nothing’, but my all time favorite is ‘dark red’, said junior Vicky Lin, “I’m super excited to go to his concert with my friends because he is one of my favorite artists.”

For the fans who love his most recent songs, consider taking a listen to some more of his music! No matter whether you are a new fan, or have been following Lacy since his early days, there is surely more fantastic music yet to come.