Steve Lacy, the Grammy-winning artist behind the 2022 hit "Bad Habit," says little has changed in his life since achieving mainstream success.
He bought a new home in Los Angeles but hasn't made famous friends, and he rarely gets recognized in public.
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"I think my name is bigger than my face, which is great," Lacy says, sitting in a London hotel room.
He believes he has pulled off the trick of being one of the most celebrated musicians of his generation while remaining almost unrecognizable.
The Burden of Genius
Lacy was revered by music obsessives long before his mainstream breakthrough.
He taught himself guitar as a child, received his first Grammy nomination at 17 as part of the alt-R&B band the Internet, and produced Kendrick Lamar's "Pride" using an iPhone.
But the labels "prodigy" and "genius" that followed him for a decade have been punctured, he says, by a critical review of his debut solo album.
"I was definitely gassed the fuck up as a teenager, like I thought I was perfect," Lacy admits.
That negative criticism opened him up to collaboration. He began inviting other musicians into his process, falling in love with the communal aspect of songwriting.
The Making of 'Oh Yeah?'
Lacy's highly anticipated third album, Oh Yeah? , took four years to complete.
After the hype of Gemini Rights died down, he set a self-imposed deadline of April 20, 2024, but kept pushing it back.
