If you follow Steve Lacy on any social media platform, you’ll know that he has messed us around for about three years. Lacy had been toying with the release of a new album for months, randomly posting mysterious selfies and memes on Instagram. I’d begun to believe it would never come, and that it was rather a very Lacy-esque tease. So when the single “Nice Shoes” randomly dropped in August of last year, we’d finally been given a taste of what was to come. It didn’t stop there. Desperate for more, we were made to wait for almost a whole year for the rest of the album to drop. From a marketing perspective and for a lot of fans, this would’ve deterred many from wanting to listen. I couldn’t help but love Oh yeah?, minus the potential. 

Steve Lacy is a 25 year old Compton born Guitarist, bassist, singer-songwriter and record producer. He’s the perfect example of an artist who found fame from humble beginnings and through social media. Lacy, as many other musicians like to vaguely say, “started making music at a young age.” As a teenager and young adult, he produced beats on his Iphone using GarageBand. His journey into serious production took off when he met the members of his band who would later form the R&B and neo-soul, genre-blending blog era group The Internet. Throughout all his musical projects, he has been a symbol of the DIY beats to pop star pipeline, remarkably pushing the boundaries between funk-infused R&B and pop. 

Since then, Lacy has collaborated with major artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator, Kali Uchis and more, solidifying his position as an alt-pop and indie star. The iPhone 6 that Lacy used to help produce Kendrick Lamar’s track “Pride” at 18 years old, was displayed in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in 2022. It was almost inevitable that with his sudden fame Lacy's head got bigger, meaning his songwriting and producing for his first album after four years had to live up to some huge expectations. 

Oh yeah? emerged from a period of sobriety for Steve Lacy, posing a big decision and question for the future of his artistic career. Does he continue to ride the wave of mainstream breakthrough albums and songs, or adapt and change in a way that further reflects his own changes in this transformative era of his life? Lacy allegedly scrapped the album multiple times, possibly out of a need to perfect what would set the tone for his highly anticipated comeback.  

The lyrics throughout are honest and raw, different to his usual cheeky style with more nuances and references. Lacy gives us the full picture, heartbreak, death, purpose, dependence, sexuality, and more. With attempts to intertwine humour and tongue-in-cheek references, he maintains his original naughty yet deep style. He constantly acknowledges that he has been a bad person in the past, referencing the typical “celebrity behaviour” he regrets as well as his reliance on drugs to create art. 

“Nice shoes / in your world” with its addictive beat, accurately captures Lacy’s pure aura and essence as an artist. The lead single,“Nice Shoes” released almost a year before the full album dropped, was a song that virtually nobody thought could get better. But the 9 minute version with its skillful beat switch to match and solidify its two-part divide, deepens to show Lacy becoming painfully honest about his success. He sings; “At times, I thought I peaked, I’ve reached the summit.” Lacy references artist Todd Rundgren’s late career resurgence in the line, “But I came back around, I’m Stevie Rundgren,” alluding to his confidence and trust in his music career having a comeback, different to that of his Tik Tok music stardom. 

Four years in the making, Lacy has reflected the tumultuous journey of his life. He portrays reflection and regret at either end of the spectrum, including everything in between to produce a raw and distinct album. The title track has a melancholic yet nostalgic feel, but would’ve been better as the closing track of the album because of this. It’s an end of the night song about all the aspects of our lives in regret and reflection. Inevitable and vital to a fulfilling life, whatever that may be. Nonetheless, the catchy and satisfying track which featured in the recent Spider-Man: Brand New Day film, has allowed for further visibility of the album itself. 

In terms of production, Lacy has moved away from his old ways of recording and editing on his trusty 2012 iPhone to professional production. This has added a maturation and depth to his sound that hasn’t been reflected as poignantly in his previous albums. His authentic DIY sound is still lightly reflected, with lyrics that are more revealing to Lacy’s indecisive character. “Doom” is the perfect example of this, the genre-fusing song is indie and catchy, with its fun guitar riffs. Fans speculate the song is a discussion of karma and cheating, with Lacy admitting to being a cheater, “Everybody does it and nobody talks about how they feel, but now it's too late.” He owns his flawed character, “I’ve been an asshole in the past,” he sings. 

Lacy, who tends to hand-pick featuring performers with a particular hold in the R&B scene, only collaborated with three notable artists on Oh yeah!; SZA, Erkyah Badu, and Cecile Believe. He doesn’t necessarily go for those with popularity, which makes these songs tasteful and true to each artist. The songs sit between Lacy’s own style and that of the artist featured. “is it cool?” featuring SZA is a sultry hip hop and R&B track. A balanced mix of their two voices, it is definitely a drawing point to the rest of the album, and is an overall easy listen. Similarly, “pure colour” featuring Erkyah Badu, has a trip-hop Portishead feel to it. Tonally, it's sexy, slow-paced, and seductive, whilst its lyrics make it a melancholic approach to failure and defeat. 

In the same way, certain songs maintain a quality making the album a slight miss at times. They often don’t feel revolutionary or like Lacy’s usual chart-toppers. Besides the title track, I doubt

their potential to take over the digital media space for weeks on end like earlier hits “Dark Red” and “Bad Habit”. Lacy has always had at least a handful of popular songs on all his albums. “Show you me”, whilst being vulnerable and simple with its vocals and guitar, has no real substance. The lyrics, discussing his sexuality and love-life, lack nuance and feel like a brain dump. Earlier songs from the track-list aren’t so interesting either, which is unfortunate because this might inevitably prevent people from listening to the rest of the album. Songs like “oh yeah?”, “is it cool?”, “doom”, and “nice shoes / in your world”, truly carry this album's potential and justify its mainstream praise. But is that really what Lacy wanted with this album? Or is it just the opposite? 

Overall, the album is different. It doesn’t have the same level of cheekiness and humour as Lacy’s previous albums, but it sure is an attempt. Where his previous albums felt like groundbreaking masterpieces, featuring deep cut songs and Tik Tok bangers, this album lacked the classic Steve Lacy spunk. Whilst his layered instrumental sections and production have refined, the album feels like a glib confessional. What makes Steve Lacy so great is his ability to layer, jumping between genres and producing on whatever technology he has on hand, still creating unique and catchy songs. He often calls his highly original sound “Plaid music”, describing this as compositions where “there’s a lot going on” which “all goes together to be one pattern.” This is the very quality that makes Lacy’s music so satisfying, something that was less obvious in this album compared to previous releases such as Gemini Rights and Apollo XXI. Nonetheless, Lacy’s personality and honesty is admirable in Oh yeah!, making it a pleasant listening experience that takes you through all of life’s complex emotions.