By Joe Mendoza

After the release of a couple promising singles and a demo, Steve Lacy, a young 19 year old at the time, showed his potential in the music industry in the late 2010’s. Beginning with C U Girl, Some, and Dark Red, Lacy stirred up the pot, and with the creative beats and appealing lyrics, he began to build a fanbase who immediately fell in love with his romantic sound. Without much wait time, Steve Lacy’s Demo dropped on February 24, 2017, lasting 13 minutes and consisting of six songs that were produced exclusively with his iPhone. The feel of his music was obvious, with most of his songs having a smooth beat which made you wonder how on Earth it was made on GarageBand and a voice even smoother. Many of his songs were full with the heartbreak, confusion, and blindness that comes with love, and with his demo getting a lot of attention, Lacy soon found himself with a combination of fans from his band, The Internet, and new fans who happened to run into his music. 

Following up such a unique and creative demo would prove to be a challenge to most, yet with the release of three more singles, N Side, Playground, and Hate CD, he teased his next album, and with his more developed sound, Apollo XXI released on May 24, 2019. This album kept a lot of the same themes of young love and what comes with it, and his smooth sound was put on display with slow, passionate songs like N Side, Lay Me Down, and Love 2 Fast. He also experimented more with his sound, providing his audience with a violin ballet in Amandla’s Interlude, and touching on the rap side of music with the last song on the album, Outro Freestyle/4ever. This album stamped Lacy’s spot in the music industry as a solo artist, and he was able to step out of the box of just being a guitarist for The Internet. He generated a lot of talk after this album, and his fan base only grew after. 

Steve Lacy’s creativity and determination to be successful aided his rise to fame greatly, and with his first demo being created fully off of services like GarageBand and an iMPC app to chop up the drums and samples, it’s clear why he’s such a hit. In an interview towards the beginning of his career, when asked about why he decided to use these cheap apps rather than produce in a studio, he said that,  “there needn’t be any excuses to making tracks, not having the right equipment.” In a TedTalk, he reinforced this same point, saying that he didn’t want to make excuses for why he can’t make music, and decided that he needs to make it simple and use what he has. His popularity has skyrocketed since, with two more albums, around 31.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and even popularity in the fashion side of music. His huge fanbase gives him a platform, and he isn’t a small artist anymore, but his rise to fame through almost no help and lots of creativity will continue to be a beacon of hope for aspiring artists to come.