Steve Lacy is one feel-good music success story again, so it’s no wonder he just earned four Grammy nominations, including Record and Song of the Year for his multi-week hit pop single “Bad Habit.” as well as an award for Best Progressive R&B Album for his full-length track, “Gemini Rights.” (He’d certainly be a leading contender for Best New Artist, too, if he wasn’t disqualified from the competition for previously receiving a Grammy nomination as a member of the internet group, when he was just 17.) diverse He chatted him up while skipping several tour dates to accept a last-minute invitation to be on “Saturday Night Live.”
There are plenty of people from the older generations who, besides loving your music, are very happy that young people are getting into it – feeling like it gives them hope that something that sounds more real can still penetrate young people who never have. Even the classic R&B experience and a few things you bring up.
There were legends, icons, whose children brought them to my performances. So on tour, we had the best random fuckers: We had Akon on a show, because of his daughter, and Erika Badu and Jill Scott and Dave Chappelle came in, because of their kids — but they’re also having fun with it, too. So I see this really happening, with real lore… I don’t even want to say ‘real’, because I don’t want to denigrate other music. But I think real instrumental music is something I can introduce to kids now. And that’s really cool because I got that, but I definitely thought it was going to go to waste, and I got so frustrated. We’re in the land of 808 and Hi Hat, man, so I didn’t think there was a place for me, even. So I love the fact that I’m doing this and it opens the way for kids to express themselves and pick up the instrument and just have fun.
Your Songs topped the pop, R&B, and alternative rock charts—something that hadn’t happened before, on this set, simultaneously. This made chart history.
It really confirms. Because I’ve been playing with a range of different music genres for years, and my influences are vast. I was always like, “Don’t corner me.” Even my first project had a rock song, an R&B song, and a semi-punk song. There were moments when I even doubted if there was a place for this, and should Will I be more cohesive? Should I stick to one type of song or one genre? So it’s nice to be acknowledged for all of that and realize that, dammit, I didn’t have to change what I wanted to do. I didn’t have to turn off the light.
Have you ever stopped to think a lot about why this music is so emotionally and lyrically related? And is it ironic to have this incredibly successful music with music that comes from detachment, from loneliness or suspicion at times? Or does this seem inevitable in some way?
I think in a way it’s inevitable, because I think something like a breakup is one of the most debilitating things that everyone goes through. Just plain emotions — just sadness, frustration, curiosity, whatever you want to call it — I say inevitable because this is something we all go through collectively, romance specifically. There is no race, power position, or hierarchy as to what makes you better in a romantic relationship than someone else, you know?
Some artists, if they get into this situation about writing about a breakup, they kind of get a little vengeful. It doesn’t sound like you – it seems reflexive.
yes. I mean, that’s how I kind of write in my journals, too. It’s not accusatory — it’s more like, Damn it, what was my place in this? What can I learn? Where is the line at this moment? It was kind of writing, like jokes too; I wanted it to be kind of funny. I didn’t want to be like, “Damn you, I’m sad! Everyone leave me alone.” Because, for me, heartbreak feels like it opens me up instead of closing me down. So I was like, OK, how do we get this music that sounds like I’m processing things?
You’ve talked about this album a lot in terms of intent, in a way you haven’t with your previous projects. Since you thought of yourself more as a producer, maybe your work as an artist seemed too ambitious or something, and you referred to the things you did earlier as sketches – but then there was a change in attitude. It plays out in many ways, from, on a business level, signing with a (RCA) boss, but also on a basic production level that really wants to take everything seriously, go for the best sounds, and not live with the iPhone ethos forever. Both approaches really work for a lot of people. But the intent was something that seemed like you had a hard time dealing with it for a while. Was there a kind of eureka moment for you where something got triggered inside of you, where you kind of realized what you needed to achieve that made you successful, but also nourished your soul creatively?
I got into a car accident, in fact, in 2020, which I think was a wake-up call in some ways. The message was: stop playing. I think it really gave me a second to take a step back and watch everything that’s happened over the years. What am I still holding on to that I need to let go of? It was such a spiritual thing that hit me and I was like: Oh, okay. I have to go back and see how I started, who I always was as a kid, the relationships I had with certain people, the work I did. And I looked at all these things to realize: I am escaping from my divinity just by playing with music, or these drawings, without taking it seriously. I’m in my own way, almost.
And I felt like I was hitting a wall, trying to do old things, like graphics in my home studio. I felt like my head was on the ceiling, and I wanted to fly. And I needed that roof to get out of my way.
So I started the process of telling the truth honestly and transparently in my life. Then I felt, well, like I wanted to go into the studio. When I found this flow, I was like, OK, this is where I need to be right now. And it just felt so amazing. That was kind of a eureka moment. But for a while I just couldn’t let go and I was really sad about it, because I couldn’t go back to my “Steve Lacey demo days.” Because that was the first taste of success, you know — Grammy nominated at 17 and all that stuff. I didn’t know how to deal with success at that age. For a long time, I was on the move, so I didn’t have time to really process those things, and I wanted to go back to that period when no one knew what I was coming up with, or no one cared. I wanted to get that back somehow, but I also knew I couldn’t get it back, if that made any sense. So after the accident, she gave me the opportunity to be like, OK, I need to move on. It was sad for me. But I had to get over it, and finally let it go, and then I was… bubble – In my new job.
Your tour sold out as soon as the “bad habit” kicked off, and some longtime fans complained about coming along these new kids who only know you from TikTok, when they couldn’t get seats. Some of them were imagining that you must hate being popular all of a sudden, with this new audience Who comes up and yells but doesn’t necessarily know your date.
I think the places we chose were the natural evolution of what we’ve done in the past. My whole team is kind of a no-brainer, because no one expected this acclaim to happen so quickly. We had to adjust, still upgrading some places, but I guess it wasn’t big enough. We’re about halfway through moving from the rooms I’m playing now to the bigger ones. It was not completely taken over by these new people. He. She he is I will say massive increase in youth. But the narrative that I think people have online is not about what’s really going on in my shows, you know? There are still loyal fans singing it all at the shows as well, but the specific clip people see makes it seem like the only fan that might show up.
You mean the clip where this girl yells a stupid comment during a short pause, telling her to shut up? It sounded funny, with sharp comment timing in your response, just as you get back to the music. But people thought you were angry.
There is a huge comic part of my show. Like, I work on jokes and stuff. I kind of get rid of people’s reactions on the internet. I think if you know me, you know that my sense of humor is dry and sarcastic, and just childish. So it’s funny to see these people explain what I mean to do, when I’m like, no, that’s literally — it’s funny.
So you don’t hate your newfound fame, as some of your longtime fans assume.
I really do have so much fun…and I’m just grateful every single day that I’m being myself.
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