A Bite of Steve Lacy 🍪
The prodigy who beams with energy
Monday Bites are bite-sized musician spotlights & playlists by Grace Lilly.
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• 3 min read •
He made it fun
Steve Lacy was running (quite literally jogging, trotting, and skipping) in a giant loop around the entire stage at Madison Square Garden. The then-21-year-old was performing his song “Dark Red” with Vampire Weekend during their 2019 Father of the Bride tour.
His vivacity stood out. In contrast to Ezra Koenig and Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend who mostly stayed within their designated spots on stage, Steve Lacy exploded in every direction like a kernel of popcorn.
It was infectious.
His spirit made it impossible not to smile. I couldn’t believe how easily his vibrancy seemed to be filling up this giant stadium of 19,500.
He circled the stage, making a point to look up and around at everyone he could, giving a moment of attention to as many people as possible.
Lacy bounced, waved, spun, jumped, danced, got on his knees. He put his whole body into it. His vigor reminded me of footage I’ve seen of Otis Redding, the way his electric liveliness lit up the stage.
I was (and still am) so grateful for the passion he brought to that performance. Whenever I listen to his music, I can still feel his energy beaming through that room that night.
Steve Lacy
The basics
🤝 American musician, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer
🤝 b. 1998 (Compton, California)
🤝 Known as a bona fide prodigy, produced a Grammy-nominated album when he was still in high school
Why you should know him: Named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023, regarded as a pioneer of music’s next generation
If you like
✨ Frank Ocean
✨ Prince
✨ Erykah Badu
✨ SZA
✨ Thundercat
✨ Jimi Hendrix
Known for
🏆 His playful, smooth version of funk, rock, and soul; describes his sound as “plaid”
🏆 Using iPhone-based production techniques
🏆 1 Grammy award, 6 Grammy nominations
🏆 Being the guitarist of the alternative R&B band the Internet, joined in 2015
🏆 Collaborating with Mac Miller, Solange Knowles, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Tyler, the Creator, Vampire Weekend, J. Cole, and Calvin Harris
Bite-sized facts
🍪 First got interested in the guitar at 7 years old through the video game Guitar Hero
🍪 At 17, while still in high school, helped produce 8 tracks on the Internet’s 3rd album, Ego Death, gets a Grammy nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album
🍪 At 19, produced Kendrick Lamar’s song “Pride” entirely on an iPhone 6 for the Grammy-winning album DAMN
🍪 Used an iPhone to create most of the songs for his critically-acclaimed debut EP Steve Lacy’s Demo (2017), sang directly into its built-in microphone
🍪 Influenced by Mac DeMarco, Weezer, Paramore, John Coltrane, Miles Davis
🍪 Feels most comfortable writing about love & dating
🍪 His song “Bad Habit” was used in 400k+ TikTok videos, got 100 million YouTube views and 1 billion Spotify streams
Songs & dates
♫ 2017 Gets critical praise for his self-produced debut EP, Steve Lacy's Demo
♫ 2019 Releases singles “N Side,” “Playground,” and “Hate CD” off his debut studio album Apollo XXI, gets a Grammy Award nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album
♫ 2020 Releases The Lo-Fis, a compilation album of his early work
♫ 2022 “Bad Habit” becomes his first song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after going Viral on TikTok, gets 3 Grammy nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance
♫ 2023 Wins the Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album for his second studio album Gemini Rights
He said
⭐ “That’s the thing about being an artist, or being a collaborator of any kind: you actually have to be a person that people want to be around.”
On his fame:
⭐ “I didn’t put my face straight on the [album] cover because I’m kind of afraid of what that’ll do. There’s still people I meet, and they have no idea it’s me until I say my name. I like that.”
On his young fan base:
⭐ “It’s fucking dope that I get to develop these kids’ musical ears. I’ve grown to be super grateful for this rowdy, youthful craziness.”
We love Lacy
💗 “Steve is everything I hoped and dreamed for music. He’s really out there playing and singing — and he’s Black, and he’s young. People want to hear real music, man. That’s why Steve Lacy is important: He represents something so much bigger than his little body can contain.” -Thundercat
My Steve Lacy Playlist
I gathered my fav Lacy songs, from me to you with love. Like & save on Spotify and listen all week 💗
Where to start
“Playground” music video
Watch Lacy in the official music video for this single from his debut album.
〰️
Performing Live in 2023
Playing his song “Sunshine” with Fousheé off his second album Gemini Rights
Down the rabbit hole
If you wanna dive even deeper:
The Breakfast Club interview
Steve Lacy talks his number one song “Bad Habit,” Mac Miller, love life, and more on this legendary New York radio show in 2022. Watch on Youtube.
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