Steve Lacy

Early life and career

Lacy began his career at sixteen playing Dixieland music with much older musicians such as Henry "Red" Allen, Pee Wee Russell, George "Pops" Foster and Zutty Singleton and then with Kansas City jazz players like Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, and Jimmy Rushing. He then became involved with the avant-garde, performing on Jazz Advance (1956), the debut album of Cecil Taylor, and appearing with Taylor's groundbreaking quartet at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival; he also made a notable appearance on an early Gil Evans album. His most enduring relationship, however, was with the music of Thelonious Monk: he recorded the first album to feature only Monk compositions (Reflections, Prestige, 1958) and briefly played in Monk's band in 1960 and later on...

Dark Red

"Dark Red" is a song by American musician Steve Lacy. The track was solely written and produced by Lacy and was initially featured on his 2017 debut solo EP, Steve Lacy's Demo.

Reception

The song, along with the rest of the Steve Lacy's Demo EP, was frequently noted for its unique production method. It was written and recorded entirely by Lacy using the GarageBand application on his iPhone. The songs production has been highlighted by publications such as iNews.

Bad Habit

"Bad Habit" is a song recorded by the American musician Steve Lacy. It was the second released single from his second studio album, Gemini Rights, on June 29, 2022.

The psychedelic and lo-fi R&B and bedroom pop ballad was produced by Lacy and is built around a slightly warped guitar riff, which is accompanied by a funky bassline, drums and synthesisers. Lyrically, it concerns Lacy's regret over a missed opportunity with a crush.

Background and release

In 2015, Lacy became a member of the Los Angeles-based R&B and neo soul group the Internet, an offshoot of the hip hop collective Odd Future, and found success as a solo artist starting in 2017 from independently producing music on his iPhone with the help of GarageBand. His debut extended play (EP), Steve Lacy's Demo, was released in 2017; its single "Dark Red" went viral on TikTok in August 2021. Lacy went on to release his debut studio album, Apollo XXI, in 2019, which he wrote, produced, and mixed on his own, and to collaborate on songs with J. Cole, Solange, Tyler, the Creator, Mac Miller, Vampire Weekend, Kendrick Lamar, Dev Hynes, and YG.

Composition

"Bad Habit" is a psychedelic, lo-fi, R&B, bedroom pop, and alt-pop ballad that mixes elements of baroque pop, grunge, soft rock, punk, synth-pop, indie rock, neo soul, funk, slacker rock, jangle pop, indie pop, and hip hop. Sheet music for the song shows the key of F minor with a tempo range of 84-88 beats per minute. Vocals range from C4 to C6. The song opens with vocals from Fousheé and is split into three parts.

Reception

"Bad Habit" received critical acclaim. For Billboard, Andrew Unterberger called "Bad Habit" a "perfect pop song" that displayed Lacy's "impossibly high-level" craft, adding that it "never ran out of new thrills, big and small, to get you swooning like the first time ... you heard it". Pitchfork's Stephen Kearse praised "Bad Habit" as a highlight from Gemini Rights, calling its chorus a "knockout earworm". It was called a "flirty standout" from Gemini Rights and a "summer bop" by Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo of Crack. Sam Eeckhout of The Line of Best Fit called the song "powerful" and used the song as an example of Lacy's vocals "carry[ing]" Gemini Rights. Cady Lang of Time wrote that the song evoked "pure, euphoric joy" and that Lacy's...

Music video

The music video for "Bad Habit" was directed by Julian Klincewicz, who also photographed the cover for Gemini Rights, and released on the same day as the single. It features Lacy singing, dancing, and making wide, maniacal movements in a color-changing empty space. In it, he wears black leather pants, black sunglasses, black boots, and a white shirt bearing an "S" on the front and a target on the back, the same outfit worn by him in the music video for his previous single, "Mercury".

C U Girl

"C U Girl" is the debut single written, produced, and performed by American singer-songwriter Steve Lacy. It was released on February 15, 2015, by L-M Records.

Composition

The "woozy, laidback" song sees Lacy "charming his love interest with a tell-it-like-it-is sentiment" before "explaining that his talent means that he simply can't stick around". Halfway through, the song flips itself and plays in reverse.

Critical reception

Debbie Ijaduola of Clash said, "With heavy indie influences with a speckle of R&B, if anyone was still questioning who Steve Lacy was, this serves as a substantial example of Steve's signature style." Molly Dolan of Audacy said, "This simple and sweet song features Lacy's best qualities: his ability to write catchy lyrics over a bouncy guitar line."