Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya, better known as Steve Lacy, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was born in Compton, California and gained recognition as a member of the Grammy-nominated R&B band The Internet in 2015. In 2017, Lacy released his debut EP, a song-series, titled Steve Lacy's Demo. His debut album, Apollo XXI, was released in May 2019.
Early life
Steve Lacy was born on May 23, 1998, in Compton, California. His mother, Valerie, is African-American and his father was Filipino. Steve did not really know him and said that he only came around for special occasions, such as birthdays; he died when Steve was ten years old. Steve attended private school for most of his childhood and has said that he grew up sheltered, a result of his mother wanting to shield himself and his sisters from the environment at the time in Compton.
Career
Steve first gained an interest in the guitar at age seven through the video gameGuitar Hero, but soon wanted to learn how to play on an actual guitar. He met former band member of The Internet, Jameel Bruner, while in the jazz band at the high school they both attended. Steve got his start producing by making beats on his iPhone, creating his first songs on the device, using a plug-in piece for his guitar, called an iRig. In 2013, he began producing on what would become The Internet's third studio album, Ego Death. Contributing on the production of 8 tracks, Ego Death was nominated at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Steve appeared on Matt Martians' The Drum Chord Theory and Syd'sFin 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, Kendrick Lamar, producing the song "Pride" on Kendrick's Grammy Award-winning album Damn, and gaining two features on the 2019 Vampire Weekend album Father of the Bride. On February 17, 2017, Steve Lacy's Demo was released, with Steve having created most of the song-series on his iPhone, producing the guitar and bass arrangements and singing his vocals right into its built-in microphone. He also programmed the drum patterns in Ableton. In 2017, he co-wrote and produced Ravyn Lenae's entire EP Crush, which was released in February 2018. After he and his Internet bandmates released solo projects in 2017, they worked on their 2018 follow-up, Hive Mind, released in July of that year. Lacy went on to produce for Solange, Kali Uchis, on her debut album, Isolation, Mac Miller, on his 2018 album, Swimming, and was featured on Dev Hynes' Blood Orange album, Negro Swan. Lacy revealed in 2018 that he produced for fellow Compton native, rapper YG, and that he was now using devices, other than his phone, to produce music. In March 2019, Lacy was credited for producing on two tracks off of Solange's When I Get Home album. He was also featured on the song and video for Vampire Weekend's "Sunflower" that same month. In April, Steve released the debut single, "N Side", off of his debut album, Apollo XXI. 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" and "Hate CD". The album would later be nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, Lacy's first Grammy nomination as a solo artist.
Artistry
In an interview with The Fader, Steve Lacy cited Thundercat, Erykah Badu, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Pharrell Williams and The Neptunes as some of his biggest influences, as well as mentioning Prince as his dream collaborator. 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
Steve identifies as bisexual, stating that although he was always attracted to women, he repressed his attraction to men, feeling that he was committing sin as a Christian. After a male friend came on to/flirted with him on New Years 2017, he finally decided to embrace his bisexuality and is currently exploring his same-sex attraction.
