Leaving his own mark on the industry. Ahead of his New Artist of the Year nomination at the 2022 American Music Awards, Steve Lacy made a name for himself with his music and fashion.
Lacy, 24, got his start making music at a young age before joining The Internet alongside Sydney Bennett, Matthew Martin, Patrick Paige II and Christopher Smith in 2015. The songwriter coproduced eight songs for their third studio album, Ego Death.
After branching out into a solo career, the musician rose to stardom with his viral track Bad Habit. At the time, the record producer addressed his thoughts on his song finding fame through TikTok.
“I love it. I want everybody to listen. It’s dope for everybody to interpret it in their own way,” he told W Magazine in October. “Am I gonna spend my energy being mad about my song doing well on TikTok? No, I’m not. I’ll spend my energy being grateful and working on more stuff.”
Lacy noted that he appreciated seeing the response to his music in person. “I love playing live because it shows me what is real. I remember when I played ‘Infrunami’ live, and everybody was singing! I was like, ‘This is crazy,’” he recalled. “Like, this is a f—king demo I made a long time ago. I couldn’t even sing that song when I wrote it. I used to record really low in my room in my mom’s house, because I didn’t want anyone to hear me. So a lot of my old recordings literally are me trying to sing softly.”
The Grammy award nominee, who was a musical guest on Saturday Night Live in November, revealed that a near-death experience influenced his songs.
“The realization that death defines the meaning of your life,” he told Another Magazine in September about his musical inspiration. “I feel like that near-death experience shifted everything in a way. I felt lighter afterwards. It made me look at my life. Like, what matters? What am I going to put my energy into?”
According to Lacy, his music gave him an “opportunity to tell a story” to other people. “I look at my life as a museum, like experiences that I collect. How I touch people’s lives, the energy that I put out into this world. What will I do to keep that flowing?” he continued. [Music creates] a thread for someone else to continue, even when you’re gone. That’s what keeps me going. That’s what keeps it fun, because this won’t be forever.”
Lacy explained how he hoped his fans would continue to enjoy his “weird and challenging” music. “My hope is to bring the artists back. People are always saying that our attention spans are getting smaller. I don’t believe that — I think the effort to make things that last long is dying,” he detailed, referring to his legacy. “So, I hope that people make things that will last, things that are sustainable.”
Scroll down for everything to know about the New Artist of the Year nominee for the 2022 American Music Awards:
Leaving his own mark on the industry. Ahead of his New Artist of the Year nomination at the 2022 American Music Awards, Steve Lacy made a name for himself with his music and fashion. Lacy, 24, got his start making music at a young age before joining The Internet alongside Sydney Bennett, Matthew Martin, Patrick Paige II and Christopher Smith in 2015. The songwriter coproduced eight songs for their third studio album, Ego Death. After branching out into a solo career, the musician rose to stardom with his viral track Bad Habit. At the time, the record producer addressed his thoughts on his song finding fame through TikTok. “I love it. I want everybody to listen. It’s dope for everybody to interpret it in their own way,” he told W Magazine in October. “Am I gonna spend my energy being mad about my song doing well on TikTok? No, I’m not. I’ll spend my energy being grateful and working on more stuff.” Lacy noted that he appreciated seeing the response to his music in person. “I love playing live because it shows me what is real. I remember when I played ‘Infrunami’ live, and everybody was singing! I was like, ‘This is crazy,'” he recalled. “Like, this is a f—king demo I made a long time ago. I couldn’t even sing that song when I wrote it. I used to record really low in my room in my mom’s house, because I didn’t want anyone to hear me. So a lot of my old recordings literally are me trying to sing softly.” The Grammy award nominee, who was a musical guest on Saturday Night Live in November, revealed that a near-death experience influenced his songs. “The realization that death defines the meaning of your life,” he told Another Magazine in September about his musical inspiration. “I feel like that near-death experience shifted everything in a way. I felt lighter afterwards. It made me look at my life. Like, what matters? What am I going to put my energy into?” According to Lacy, his music gave him an “opportunity to tell a story” to other people. “I look at my life as a museum, like experiences that I collect. How I touch people’s lives, the energy that I put out into this world. What will I do to keep that flowing?” he continued. [Music creates] a thread for someone else to continue, even when you’re gone. That’s what keeps me going. That’s what keeps it fun, because this won’t be forever.” Lacy explained how he hoped his fans would continue to enjoy his “weird and challenging” music. “My hope is to bring the artists back. People are always saying that our attention spans are getting smaller. I don’t believe that — I think the effort to make things that last long is dying,” he detailed, referring to his legacy. “So, I hope that people make things that will last, things that are sustainable.” Scroll down for everything to know about the New Artist of the Year nominee for the 2022 American Music Awards:
Credit: Courtesy of Steve Lacy/Instagram
1. What Has Steve Shared About His Personal Life?
Lacy has previously opened up about identifying as bisexual. “As a kid, I just thought it would be a fantasy. I kiss a boy?,” he said during an interview with The Guardian in 2017. “It was just so out of the way of anything I could obtain. It sounds crazy, electrifying, that that could ever happen to me.”
Credit: Bobby Singh/Shutterstock
2. Does Steve Only Work as a Solo Artist?
Ahead of his individual career, the California native was part of the alternative R&B band The Internet. The guitarist has been with the group since its 2011 inception. Their last studio album, Hive Mind, was released in 2018.
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3. Which Awards Has Steve Been Nominated For?
During his time with The Internet, Lacy earned a Grammy nomination for their 2016 album Ego Death. He received another Grammy nod in 2020 for his debut solo album Apollo XXI.
The performer has also been nominated at the MTV Video Music Awards, Soul Train Music Awards and UK Music Video Awards.
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4. Who Has Steve Collaborated With?
Lacy has previously worked with Kendrick Lamar, Calvin Harris, Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean, Vampire Weekend, Solange Knowles and J. Cole.
“With every single person I’ve collaborated with, there’s a relationship that I keep even after. It’s not transactional,” he told W Magazine in October 2022. “The Internet set the tone for how a collaboration should be: super natural, everyone should feel safe, everyone should feel free — ’cause everyone works so differently. Over the years, I’ve learned collaboration is keeping the space open and full of jokes.”
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