Steve Lacy
Lacy in 2022
Lacy in 2022
Background information
Birth nameSteve Thomas Lacy-Moya
Born (1998-05-23) May 23, 1998
Compton, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • guitarist
  • record producer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • sythesiser
Years active2013–present
Labels
Member ofThe Internet
Websitestevelacys.com

Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya (born May 23, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He gained recognition as the guitarist of the alternative R&B band the Internet.[4][5] In 2017, he released his self-produced debut EP, Steve Lacy's Demo.[6][7] Following this, Lacy was featured alongside Frank Ocean on the song "911 / Mr. Lonely" by Tyler, the Creator; and co-wrote songs for artists such as Solange Knowles,[8] Chloe x Halle,[9] and Kendrick Lamar, the latter of whom he worked with on the song "Pride.".

His debut studio album, Apollo XXI (2019), earned him a nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. That same year, he was featured on the single "Sunflower" by Vampire Weekend. He then collaborated with Calvin Harris (under the moniker Love Regenerator) on the song "Live Without Your Love", which earned him a chart entry in the United Kingdom.

His second studio album, Gemini Rights (2022), peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart. The album spawned the single "Bad Habit", which became Lacy's first song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after going viral on TikTok, where a snippet of the song was used as the soundtrack for over 400,000 videos on the platform. It earned him two Grammy Award nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, with its parent album winning Best Progressive R&B Album. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.[10]

Early life

Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya was born in Compton, California, on May 23, 1998,[11][5] the son of an African-American mother and Filipino father.[12] He was raised by his mother and grew up with his sister Asia Lacy (Asiatica), with his father being largely absent from his life and usually only visiting on special occasions. When Lacy was 10 years old, his father died.[12][13][14] Lacy attended Narbonne High School before moving onto a private school. Lacy has said that he grew up sheltered, a result of his mother wanting to shield him and his sisters from the environment at the time in Compton.[14]

Career

Lacy first gained an interest in the guitar at the age of seven through the video game Guitar Hero, but soon wanted to learn how to play on an actual guitar.[14] He met Jameel Bruner, his future bandmate in the Internet, while in the jazz band at high school.[6][12] He produced and performed his first songs on his iPhone, using a plug-in for his guitar called an iRig.[15][16][17] In 2013, he began a producing role on what would become the Internet's third studio album, Ego Death.[18] Contributing on the production of eight tracks, Ego Death was nominated at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album.[4] Lacy appeared on Matt Martians' album The Drum Chord Theory and Syd's album Fin after it was announced that the Internet members would release solo projects.[19] He also began producing songs for Twenty88, Denzel Curry, Isaiah Rashad, J. Cole, GoldLink, and Kendrick Lamar, most notably producing the song "Pride" from Lamar's Grammy-winning album Damn,[20] and making two guest appearances on the Vampire Weekend album Father of the Bride.[4][21][22]

Steve Lacy's Demo was released on February 17, 2017, with Lacy once again creating most of the songs on his iPhone by producing the guitar and bass arrangements through it and singing his vocals directly into its built-in microphone.[23][24] He also programmed the drum patterns in Ableton Live.[25][26] That year, he also co-wrote and produced Ravyn Lenae's EP Crush, which was eventually released in February 2018.[27] He reunited with the Internet to work on their album Hive Mind, which was released in July 2018.[28][29] Lacy went on to produce for Solange,[30][31] Kali Uchis on her debut album Isolation,[32][33][34][35] Mac Miller on his album Swimming,[36] and was featured on Dev Hynes' album Negro Swan.[37][38][39][40]

Lacy in 2019

In 2018, Lacy said that he had produced for rapper YG, and that he had begun using devices other than his phone to produce music.[13] In March 2019, he was credited for producing on two tracks on Solange's album When I Get Home.[41][42][43] He was also featured on the Vampire Weekend song "Sunflower" and appeared its video that same month.[44] In April, he released the single "N Side" from his debut album Apollo XXI.[45][46][47] He announced the release date of Apollo XXI to be on May 24, 2019.[14][48][49] In the week of his album debut, he released two more singles, "Playground" and "Hate CD".[50][51][52] The album was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, Lacy's first Grammy nomination as a solo artist.[53]

On December 4, 2020, Lacy released a compilation album of his early work titled The Lo-Fis.[54][55] His single "Mercury" was released with a music video on June 16, 2022.[56] The video featured on YouTube is about half as long as the version published on Spotify, which spans 4:58 minutes compared to the 2:30 minutes of the video.[57] His second studio album, Gemini Rights, was released on July 15, 2022.[58] The album spawned the single "Bad Habit", which became Lacy's first song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after going viral on TikTok, where a snippet of the song was used as the soundtrack for over 400,000 videos on the platform.[59][60][61] On November 5, 2022, he performed "Bad Habit" and "Helmet" on Saturday Night Live.[62]

On January 31, 2023, AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group) Presents announced that Lacy would be one of three headline acts at the inaugural Re:SET Concert Series.[63]

Artistry

In an interview with The Fader, Lacy cited Thundercat, Erykah Badu, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Pharrell Williams and the Neptunes as some of his biggest influences, also mentioning Prince as his dream collaborator.[4] Lacy has also listed Weezer, Paramore, and Jimi Hendrix as major influences on his sound.[64] Makeda Sandford of Saint Heron described his sound as "an electrifying yet smooth... playful depiction of beachy funk, rock 'n roll-sprinkled soul."[15] Jonah Bromwich of Pitchfork said he "sparkles with classic Southern California funk and soul."[6] He has also stated that one of his biggest influences, in regard to production, is Mac DeMarco.[65] Lacy has said that he is most comfortable writing about topics regarding love and dating, and describes his musical sound to be like the tartan fabric 'plaid'.[12][66]

Personal life

In 2017, Lacy came out as bisexual.[67][68]

Discography

Albums

With the Internet

Awards and nominations

Organization Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
American Music Awards 2022 New Artist of the Year Himself Nominated [69]
Favorite Male R&B Artist Nominated
BET Awards 2023 Video of the Year "Bad Habit" Nominated [70]
GLAAD Media Awards 2023 Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist Himself Nominated [71]
Grammy Awards 2016 Best Urban Contemporary Album Ego Death Nominated [72]
2020 Apollo XXI Nominated
2023 Record of the Year "Bad Habit" Nominated [73]
Song of the Year Nominated
Best Pop Solo Performance Nominated
Best Progressive R&B Album Gemini Rights Won
iHeartRadio Music Awards 2023 Best New Pop Artist Himself Nominated [74]
TikTok Bop of the Year "Bad Habit" Nominated
Best New R&B Artist Himself Nominated
MTV Europe Music Awards 2023 Best R&B Nominated [75]
MTV Video Music Awards 2022 Song of Summer "Bad Habit" Nominated [76]
2023 Song of the Year Nominated [77][78]
Soul Train Music Awards 2022 Best New Artist Himself Nominated [79]
Song of the Year "Bad Habit" Nominated
Video of the Year Nominated
The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter's Award Nominated
UK Music Video Awards 2022 Best R&B/Soul Video – International "Sunshine" Nominated
2023 "Helmet" Nominated [81]

References

  1. ↑ Breihan, Tom (June 29, 2022). "Steve Lacy – "Bad Habit"". Stereogum. Archived from the original on July 22, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Steve Lacy Shares New Track "Mercury" Today". Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Steve Lacy & 3QTR Join AWAL". May 30, 2019. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Musoni, Malcolm (April 7, 2016). "Steve Lacy Produced A Grammy Nominated Album, Now He's Ready To Graduate High School". The FADER. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Monaé, Ashley. "Meet All Six Members of the Internet (Video)". Vibe. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Bromwich, Jonah (March 10, 2017). "Steve Lacy: Steve Lacy's Demo Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  7. ↑ Bundy, Will (February 23, 2017). "Steve Lacy's Solo Debut, Steve Lacy's Demo, Is Here". The FADER. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  8. ↑ Arcand, Rob (March 1, 2019). "Solange's When I Get Home Credits Earl Sweatshirt, Panda Bear, Pharrell, More". SPIN. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  9. ↑ "chloe and halle on Twitter: ""so i follow the bassline x sing away al..." September 24, 2017. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Time 100". Time. April 13, 2023. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Steve Lacy Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Frank, Alex. "Men: Steve Lacy — FANTASTIC MAN". Fantastic Man. Archived from the original on August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  13. 1 2 Andrews-Duve, Myles (November 15, 2018). "Steve Lacy: Predicting The Future". Carhartt WIP. Archived from the original on November 16, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 4 White, Ryan (May 2, 2019). "Steve Lacy discusses his debut album, life and love – i-D". iD. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  15. 1 2 Sandford, Makeda. "INTERVIEW: STEVE LACY IS THE WUNDERKIND CHALLENGING MUSICAL NORMS". Saint Heron. Archived from the original on September 13, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  16. ↑ Leswing, Kif (April 14, 2017). "One of Kendrick Lamar's producers makes beats on his iPhone – but he has a problem with the iPhone 7". Business Insider. Archived from the original on April 14, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  17. ↑ Pierce, David (April 14, 2017). "The Hot New Hip-Hop Producer Who Does Everything on His iPhone". WIRED. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  18. ↑ "EP 91: Steve Lacy Interview" (audio). Apple Music. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  19. ↑ Strauss, Matthew (October 4, 2016). "The Internet's Syd and Matt Martians Announce Solo Albums | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on July 18, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  20. ↑ Pierce, David (April 14, 2017). "The Guy Who Produced Kendrick Lamar's Best New Track Did It All on His iPhone". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on July 24, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  21. ↑ Renshaw, David (October 3, 2017). "Vampire Weekend are working with Steve Lacy on their new album". FADER. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  22. ↑ Renshaw, David (June 18, 2018). "Watch Vampire Weekend debut a new song featuring Steve Lacy". FADER. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Steve Lacy: Steve Lacy's Demo Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  24. ↑ Roberts, Randall (March 10, 2017). "California Sounds: Chuck Prophet honors Bobby Fuller; Steve Lacy goes "Dark Red"; Ty Segall sings a trippy ballad". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  25. ↑ Webster, McKenzii (February 24, 2017). "Steve Lacy's song series 'Steve Lacy's Demo' gives short but sweet vibes". Earmilk. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  26. ↑ Williams, Rhiannon (February 24, 2017). "Musician Steve Lacy releases EP recorded entirely on an iPhone". iNews. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  27. ↑ Rindner, Grant. "Ravyn Lenae's Steve Lacy-Produced EP 'Crush' Is Here". Pigeons and Planes. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  28. ↑ Daramola, Israel (May 30, 2018). "The Internet Detail New Album Hive Mind, Release "Come Over"". Spin. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  29. ↑ Kaye, Ben (May 31, 2018). "The Internet announce new album, Hive Mind, share "Come Over": Stream". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  30. ↑ St. Félix, Doreen (March 1, 2018). "Solange on New Music & Why She's 'Not Interested in Entertainment at This Moment'". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  31. ↑ Douze, Khalila. "Steve Lacy's Yellow Brick Road | SSENSE". SSENSE.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  32. ↑ Hussein, Wandera (April 6, 2018). "Here are the full album credits for Kali Uchis's Isolation". FADER. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  33. ↑ Darville, Jordan (October 29, 2018). "Kali Uchis shares 'Just A Stranger' video featuring Steve Lacy". The FADER. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  34. ↑ Johnson, Zoe (October 31, 2018). "Kali Uchis' "Just A Stranger" Video: Watch Now". VIBE. Archived from the original on November 14, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  35. ↑ Isolation (CD liner notes). Kali Uchis. Virgin Records. 2018.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  36. ↑ "Mac Miller – Swimming Album Credits and Stream". iStandard Producers. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  37. ↑ "Blood Orange on Instagram: 'Negro Swan Tracklist. August 24th.'". August 11, 2018. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018.
  38. ↑ "Pigeons and Planes on Twitter: "The new Blood Orange album will feature ASAP Rocky, Steve Lacy, Puff Daddy, and more 👀". Twitter. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  39. ↑ Bulut, Selim (August 10, 2018). "Puff Daddy, A$AP Rocky and more feature on Blood Orange's new album". Dazed. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  40. ↑ Torres, Eric (August 23, 2018). "Blood Orange's Dev Hynes Breaks Down Every Song on His New Album, Negro Swan". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  41. ↑ "When I Get Home / Solange". Tidal. March 1, 2019. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  42. ↑ Minsker, Evan (March 1, 2019). "Solange's New Album When I Get Home Full Credits: Panda Bear, Earl, Tyler, Gucci Mane, More". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  43. ↑ Arcand, Rob (March 1, 2019). "Solange's When I Get Home Credits Earl Sweatshirt, Panda Bear, Pharrell, More". Spin. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  44. ↑ Schatz, Lake (March 6, 2019). "Vampire Weekend set release date for Father of the Bride, premiere two new songs: Stream". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  45. ↑ "Steve Lacy – N Side -Single". iTunes Store. April 8, 2019. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
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  50. ↑ Zidel, Alex (May 21, 2019). "Steve Lacy Hits The 'Playground' For Another New Song". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  51. ↑ Darville, Jordan (May 21, 2019). "Steve Lacy enters his 'Prince phase' in new song 'Playground'". FADER. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
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  53. ↑ "2020 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Winners List". Grammy.com. November 20, 2019. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  54. ↑ "The Lo-Fis by Steve Lacy on Apple Music". December 4, 2020. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020 – via Apple Music.
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  59. ↑ "How Steve Lacy Scored the No. 1 Song in the Country With "Bad Habit"". GQ. October 7, 2022. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022. ..."Bad Habits" got a boost from TikTok. A clip of the hook has soundtracked half a million videos on the platform...
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