Steve Lacy

Biography

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, which he joined in 2015. His self-produced debut EP, Steve Lacy's Demo×Steve Lacy's Demo24 February 2017 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1Looks1:312Ryd2:203Dark Red2:534Thangs1:505Haterlovin1:576Some3:01 (2017), was met with critical praise and became a sleeper hit. Lacy then guest performed alongside Frank Ocean on Tyler, the Creator's 2017 single "911 / Mr. Lonely", which received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That year, he also co-wrote songs for artists including Solange Knowles, and Kendrick Lamar on his song "Pride".
His debut studio album, Apollo XXI×Apollo XXI24 May 2019 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Only If1:412Like Me9:043Playground3:344Basement Jack1:505Guide2:226Lay Me Down3:037Hate CD2:408In Lust We Trust2:019Love 2 Fast3:4310Amandla's (interlude)3:1111N Side3:4412Outro Freestyle/4ever6:1813The Night Howl3:35 (2019), earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album. That same year, he guest appeared on Vampire Weekend's single "Sunflower", as well as Calvin Harris' song "Live Without Your Love", which entered the UK Singles Chart. He signed with RCA Records to release his second studio album Gemini Rights×Gemini Rights14 July 2022 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Static2:372Helmet3:223Mercury4:554Buttons3:055Bad Habit3:5262Gether (Enterlude)0:507Cody Freestyle4:008Amber2:549Sunshine4:5310Give You the World4:34 (2022), which peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart and spawned the single "Bad Habit×Bad Habit29 June 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Bad Habit3:52". The song peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 after going viral on TikTok; it was nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance, Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, while its parent album won Best Progressive R&B Album. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023. His third studio album, Oh Yeah?×Oh yeah?17 July 2026 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Oh Yeah?2:512Is It Cool?2:543The Feeling4:364Pure Colour3:075Show You Me3:236Doom4:537Nothing2:308Lovesexdrugbomb3:579Nice Shoes / In Your World9:0310Bebe2:48 (2026), featured collaborations with SZA and Erykah Badu.

Early life

Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya was born in Compton, California, on May 23, 1998, the son of a Black American mother and Filipino father. 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 visiting only on special occasions. When Lacy was ten years old, his father died. Lacy attended Narbonne High School before moving on to 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 in Compton.

Career

Lacy first gained an interest in the guitar at the age of seven through the video game Guitar Hero. He met Jameel Bruner, his future bandmate in the Internet, while in jazz band in high school. He produced and performed his first songs on his iPhone, using the app GarageBand, he also used a plug-in for his guitar called an iRig. In 2013, he began a producing role on what would become the Internet's third studio album, Ego Death. Contributing on the production of eight tracks, Ego Death was nominated at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album. 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. He also began producing songs for Twenty88, Denzel Curry, Isaiah Rashad, J. Cole, GoldLink, and Kendrick Lamar, most notably co-producing the song "Pride" from Lamar's Grammy-winning album Damn, and making two guest appearances on the Vampire Weekend album Father of the Bride.
Steve Lacy's Demo was released on February 15, 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. He also programmed the drum patterns in Ableton Live. That year, he also co-wrote and produced Ravyn Lenae's EP Crush, which was eventually released in February 2018. He reunited with the Internet to work on their album Hive Mind, which was released in July 2018. Lacy went on to produce for Solange, Kali Uchis on her debut album Isolation, Mac Miller on his album Swimming, and was featured on Dev Hynes' album Negro Swan.

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. In March 2019, he was credited for producing on two tracks on Solange's album When I Get Home. He was also featured on the Vampire Weekend song "Sunflower" and appeared its video that same month. In April, he released the single "N Side×N Side8 April 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1N Side3:44" from his debut album Apollo XXI×Apollo XXI24 May 2019 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Only If1:412Like Me9:043Playground3:344Basement Jack1:505Guide2:226Lay Me Down3:037Hate CD2:408In Lust We Trust2:019Love 2 Fast3:4310Amandla's (interlude)3:1111N Side3:4412Outro Freestyle/4ever6:1813The Night Howl3:35. He announced the release date of Apollo XXI to be on May 24, 2019. In the week of his album debut, he released two more singles, "Playground×Playground21 May 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Playground3:34" and "Hate CD×Hate CD23 May 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Hate CD2:40". The album was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, Lacy's first Grammy nomination as a solo artist.
On December 4, 2020, Lacy released a compilation album of his early work titled The Lo-Fis×The Lo-Fis4 December 2020 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Atomic Vomit1:302When I1:003Thats No Fun2:414Cocky Girl0:535Uuuu1:306Jars of It2:247Bars. 160:468Infrunami2:589Hummer1:11104real2:2411I Think I Should1:3912Daze1:1213Out of Me Head2:2114Donchano1:3815The Song1:06. His single "Mercury×Mercury16 June 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Mercury4:58" was released with a music video on June 16, 2022. 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. His second studio album, Gemini Rights×Gemini Rights14 July 2022 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Static2:372Helmet3:223Mercury4:554Buttons3:055Bad Habit3:5262Gether (Enterlude)0:507Cody Freestyle4:008Amber2:549Sunshine4:5310Give You the World4:34, was released on July 15, 2022. The album spawned the single "Bad Habit×Bad Habit29 June 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Bad Habit3:52", 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. On November 5, 2022, he performed "Bad Habit" and "Helmet" on Saturday Night Live.
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.
In early 2024, Lacy performed at the touring St Jerome's Laneway Festival in Australia and New Zealand, and played headline sideshows that included two in-the-round performances at the Sydney Opera House.
On August 15, 2025, Steve Lacy returned with his first solo single in three years, "Nice Shoes×Nice Shoes15 August 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Nice Shoes3:15". The song serves as the lead single for his third studio album Oh Yeah?×Oh yeah?17 July 2026 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Oh Yeah?2:512Is It Cool?2:543The Feeling4:364Pure Colour3:075Show You Me3:236Doom4:537Nothing2:308Lovesexdrugbomb3:579Nice Shoes / In Your World9:0310Bebe2:48 The single's release coincided with Lacy's Rolling Stone cover story, in which he revealed the album's title and discussed its creation.
On June 3, 2026, Steve Lacy revealed the cover art for Oh Yeah?. The cover was photographed by filmmaker Gus Van Sant. On June 5, 2026, the second single from Oh Yeah?, "The Feeling×the feeling5 June 2026 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1the feeling4:36", was released. The album was released on July 17, 2026.
On June 26, 2026, Lacy released the album's third single, "Is It Cool?", a duet with SZA; the song debuted at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100. Oh Yeah?, which also features guest appearances by Erykah Badu and Cecile Believe, received generally favorable reviews, holding a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 on the review aggregator Metacritic based on seven critics. Jeff Ihaza of Rolling Stone wrote that the record cemented Lacy's status as one of the leading pop auteurs of his generation, while Pitchfork offered a more mixed assessment. Commercially, the album opened at number 14 on the Billboard 200 with 33,000 album-equivalent units, and entered the top five of Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart. To promote the album, Lacy scheduled a run of tour dates across Asia during the summer of 2026, including headline festival slots at Summer Sonic in Japan and Lalala Festival in Indonesia.

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. Lacy has also listed Weezer, Paramore, and Jimi Hendrix as major influences on his sound. Makeda Sandford of Saint Heron described his sound as "an electrifying yet smooth... playful depiction of beachy funk, rock 'n roll-sprinkled soul." Jonah Bromwich of Pitchfork said he "sparkles with classic Southern California funk and soul." He has also stated that one of his biggest influences, in regard to production, is Mac DeMarco. 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'.

Personal life

In 2017, Lacy came out as bisexual. As of 2026, Lacy resides in Los Angeles.

Studio albums

Apollo XXI (2019)
Gemini Rights (2022)
Oh Yeah? (2026)