Steve Lacy’s Skyrocket to Stardom
Steve Lacy, the man we have all come to know and love, the Grammy-winning, chart-topping artist of our favorite TikTok song, was not always the Grammy-winning, chart-topping artist we know today. He first gained some fame as the guitarist for The Internet, an alternative R&B band formed in 2011. Steve dropped his first solo song in 2015, titled “C U Girl,” and continued to work on solo projects, dropping a couple of singles here and there until releasing his first EP in 2017. This is when Steve Lacy really started making a name for himself.
Since then, Lacy has dropped two studio albums, the latest being Gemini Rights. If Steve Lacy was not on the map before, Gemini Rights made sure that he was. The album won a Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album and contains his hit song “Bad Habit,” which spent fifteen weeks at number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 after blowing up on TikTok. This was when Steve Lacy achieved a much more mainstream fame status than he had before. But with this fame comes responsibility, and it seems Steve has been a bit shaky on the responsibility part.
Of course, an artist cannot expect every fan in the crowd of every show they play to know every single word to every single song. That being said, the crowd knowing more than one verse of your hit song does not seem like a tall request for Steve Lacy. In a viral TikTok video, Steve puts his mic to the crowd, letting them sing the first verse of “Bad Habit.” As the second verse is coming around, Steve can be heard saying into the mic, “Don’t embarrass me.” And when the crowd restarts the first verse instead of the second verse, Steve says, “You f*ckers. Y’all sang the first verse twice. I’m going home.” The only verse the fans knew was the one used in all the TikTok sounds. Since the incident, there has been lots of talk about what’s worse– trying to get your fans to sing along when you know they probably only know the TikTok verse or paying a ton of money to see an artist whom you only know from a twenty-something second TikTok sound. Although I would usually side with Steve on this one, I am not too sure that I agree with his reaction. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved Steve Lacy for a few years. He must have known there was a good chance that the crowd would only know the TikTok verse but decided to put them on the spot anyways.
This isn’t the only time Steve Lacy has reacted negatively toward his fans. A video on YouTube shows him completely smashing one of his fan’s cameras. Just before, someone had thrown a disposable camera on stage, but it was returned to the girl who threw it. Steve then stopped his show, asked for the camera from a fan, and proceeded to smash it onto the ground, only to walk off the stage saying, “Yeah, that’s it. Peace.” Now I’m all for not spending a whole concert taking pictures and videos on your phone. I believe you should be present in the moment. But disposable film cameras are all the rage these days. Who knows, that girl could have had some important memories in there that she was excited to get developed. Yes, Steve was justifiably mad about fans throwing things at him/at his stage. But I still think it was unfair to the fan to have her camera crushed like that only for the concert to end.
It is understandable for an artist to be shocked and confused about how to handle a recent skyrocket into mainstream fame. Though Steve Lacy was popular before Gemini Rights, it was nothing like winning a Grammy and topping the Billboard Hot 100. Although it might be tough for Steve and other artists in similar situations to figure out how to handle the pressure of being that famous, artists could learn a thing or two from him about how you probably should not act at times. Personally, I think Steve Lacy deserves the fame. I’ve always been a huge fan of his music. But, I have not been a huge fan of his behavior recently. However, that is not to say that Steve is the only artist ever to react to fame this way. Fans are arguably the most crucial aspect of a musician or artist’s career. To be treating them mockingly or destroying their property is not a good way to show that you are thankful for your fans.
Strike Out,
Ryan Manney
Boca Raton
Ryan Manney is a Content Writer for Strike Magazine Boca. His hobbies amount to surfing, skating, writing, reading, and everything music. When he isn’t surfing, he loves watching and/or playing live music. He also likes to wear cool clothes. You can reach him on Instagram @ryanmanney or email @ r.manney3@gmail.com
