No one had a better year than Steve Lacy. Since we spoke to him at the time of the release of his second album, Gemini Rights, in July, the 24-year-old Californian singer, producer and guitarist has scored his first US No.1 with Bad Habit – voted Song of the Year by our critics – and found himself performing to increasingly frenzied crowds. TikTok may have helped propel Bad Habit to the top of the charts, but the equal strength of Gemini Rights made Lacey the breakout star of the year: the combination of indie solipsism and funk sloppiness was a combination that was hard to resist.
How did the bad habit start?
That was one of the first songs [singer-songwriter] Fousheé and I wrote together. I had just made this beat and recycled some drums I used before. She came up with the first few lines and then I had the melody. Freestyle over the beat for 15, 20 minutes and we found the structure through the freestyle. Fousheé and I came up with “Whatcha-ooo” and then to “I bite my tongue, it’s a bad habit.” And then I came up with the chorus and wrote the verses. That was one of the versions.
Later, [songwriter] Diana Gordon came in and said, “You know, I heard something about that.” I was like, I think the song is good as it is, but let’s see what she’s got. And then she came up with the last part—”You can’t surprise twins…”—and I was like, “Oh shit.” And then it all ended with the “Grab me tight” part.
This song took probably a year. I only finished it a week before I submitted the album.
What made you finish it and record it?
I didn’t really question whether it would make it onto the record; I think I was missing pieces to feel good about it going public. As a producer, I test parts and am very much based on excitement. When you are constantly creating new things, new things will always attract your attention. So it was: How can I keep this thing new, what is this missing piece that will make me feel as excited about it as a new beat I made yesterday? One of the closing tracks that made me feel like, “Oh shit, this is good,” was the synth line. When I heard that, I said to myself, “This is what I was looking for. They were good.”
“Growing up playing Guitar Hero turned me on to a lot of rock and guitar music” … Lacy played Coachella in April. Photo: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella
This song speaks to what I love about Gemini Rights – it’s like an indie song layered on top of an R&B song layered on top of a rock song.
I’ve always liked to do that – if I have a rock beat, I put a soulful melody over it. Like Dark Red and all those kinds of songs. It’s a way to play and introduce new ideas into things we already know.
You’ve talked a lot about your R&B and soul influences – what are your main rock and indie influences?
Growing up playing Guitar Hero turned me on to a lot of rock and guitar music. As I got older, artists like Paramore raised me. Mac DeMarco, Dirty Projectors, Vampire Weekend. Even Weezer – Undone is one of my favorite songs.
Weezer and Paramore are unexpected influences – what speaks to you about them?
Haley [Williams]Her voice and melodies are insane because she takes rock and makes it soulful. With Weezer, I love the wit and humor. The dissonance of Undone’s chord progression is really weird. For something like that to exist, it was really important for me in my musical journey to be like, “Oh, wow, you can make this sound fun and crazy.”
When I make music, I take a little bit of everything I love—I’ll take certain melodic approaches from Prince, but I’ll play it like someone else is imitating Prince, like Jimi Hendrix is trying to be Prince. But I like to mix different approaches. It happens naturally. I never do it on purpose. It’s just inside of me.
“I am a sensitive person. If I feel a certain energy taking over the room or a certain person, I’ll just leave it to them. Photo: Alan Lear
Are there indie artists you really like?
Faye Webster is dope.
Where did the Bad Habit lyrics come from?
You wrote on the feeling that you are a shy person. It’s kind of like a confidence game — eventually it all turns around and it’s like, “Oh, now you’re coming back to me.” I kind of bend over and I get it back and I’m like, “You were too good for me,” and finally, I I’m almost too good for [them] but i’m still down For me, it was just a really funny story that I’m sure everyone has experienced before.
How does this shyness manifest itself in you?
It turns on and off. I think shyness is a matter of feeling safe or not. I am a sensitive person. If I feel a certain energy taking over the room or a certain person, I’ll just leave it to them. If a group of us is talking and someone is leading it, I don’t try to push my point. I’ll just listen until someone says, “Steve, what do you think?”
When did you first feel that Bad Habit was taking on a life of its own?
After [it hit No 1 on] the Billboard charts was a defining moment.
What prepared you for all this newfound attention?
I’ve been doing this for a while, so I think I’ve seen a lot of people do it and [I had] my friends around me. I guess staying true to myself and what I do prepared me. But [with] a lot of things I’m experiencing for the first time, I just take it as it comes, you know?
How did you find playing SNL? It is the pinnacle of television performances.
It’s funny because it was my first TV appearance. And everyone was like, “You jumped to the biggest one!” I was so scared because my voice was hoarse days before the show. I was on a vocal break for a day or two. It was the experience of my life. It was such a light energy on set, everyone was bouncing off each other. Even down to the doorman, everyone seemed happy to be around this energy.
A lot of your career has happened really quickly, but it feels like the jump from releasing Gemini Rights to Bad Habit hitting #1 was particularly quick.
It really doesn’t seem that fast to me because I’ve been working since I was 16-17 years old. It feels like a natural progression. I guess it spreads a little faster or just bigger than my other stuff. But I feel like I’ve been waiting and watching for a while.
The label asked me if I wanted to release an accelerated version of Bad Habit for TikTok. I was like, “Ew, that sounds gross.”
When you suddenly hit #1 like that, do random people start coming out?
Partly yes. And I’m like, no! Things are hot, so of course you will come, but no! You knew about me for years! It’s funny to see, but it’s stupid that I’m still the same person, you know?
Before Bad Habit, you had some engagements with mainstream pop music, working with Kendrick Lamar and J Cole, but were you surprised by anything in your life that changed after reaching this level of pop superstardom?
Not really. The song is huge, but my life hasn’t changed that dramatically. I feel the same way. I think there’s a certain expectation of fame or the life of a superstar, but I’m pretty regular at home playing Mortal Kombat. I love going to Ralphs, this grocery store that we have here. My mom thinks I’m living some crazy life, taking drugs every night and getting drunk – but I’m at home playing Mortal Kombat, baking cookies, drinking 2% milk. This is my vice – chocolate milk.
When Bad Habit broke out, did you feel any pressure to capitalize on its success quickly – to release something new right away or to drop the Bad Habit remix featuring Justin Bieber?
The label asked me if I wanted to release an accelerated version of Bad Habit for 69 cents [to placate fans familiar with the fast remixes used on TikTok]. I was like, “Ugh, that sounds really badass.” But okay, of course — I’m No. 2 and I want to be No. 1, so go for it. But getting people on the remix that I don’t know, that’s the weirdest thing to me. My music is super personal – I make these things with my hands, you know?
A lot of your songs had gone viral on TikTok before Bad Habit, but this one was especially huge. How does it feel when your song goes viral?
It doesn’t make any sense to me at all. I don’t actually think the internet is real life. It puts me in good stead as far as fame and all that good stuff goes. But that’s not what makes me, the hell, what makes me happy or like, good. It’s just a kind of tool. I’m not really in charge of it – so I really don’t have any feelings.
A fan recently threw a disposable camera on stage in New Orleans and you broke it. What was going on right now? Did you get a lot of backlash?
I do not want to talk about it.
[Lacy’s publicist interjects and says he has to go.]
Bad Habit is our song of the year – what’s your album and song of the year?
Gemini rights. All Gemini Rights songs.
Steve Lacy fans on why he’s breakout star of the year: ‘His music tells a story most of us are living’
The Guardian’s Sophie Walker asked the queue outside the singer’s recent concert in London to get to the heart of his appeal: his uniqueness, angelic vocal range and rocking guitar solos
Claire Hannick, 18, London
Claire Hannick. Photo: Sophie Walker
Watching him grow as an artist was really special. He talks about all the different aspects of life that we seek comfort in, like identity, relationships… I think the way he articulates these things is why Bad Habit took off. He appealed to mainstream audiences without compromising who he was.
Amberley Chan, 17, London
Amberly Chan. Photo: Sophie Walker
I really love his electric guitar solos. He’ll do a really cool riff and it’ll add a whole new element to the song. Since he released his first songs when he was 16, it feels like his music tells a story that most of us…
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