Over the summer, Steve Lacy released his third album “Oh yeah?” This comes after his previous album “Gemini Rights” which he released around the same time in 2022. Since then, he has been widely popularized, having several trending songs like “Bad Habit” and “Sunshine” which shaped the vibes of the post-covid era.
According to Rolling Stone, Lacy started working on the new album directly after the release of “Gemini Rights.” Lacy said that he felt like he’d taught himself “how to make songs again.” The two facts speak to the intention and passion that went into “Oh yeah?” The album covers topics that aren’t exactly original, like love, heartbreak, and self-reflection. However, Lacy opens up to a level of vulnerability that hasn’t been seen by fans before.
The second single he released and third track, “the feeling,” instantly set the stage and environment for the world-building of “Oh yeah?” The song is about an unreciprocated relationship, and how Lacy struggles to communicate his own feelings. It is a very emotional and dramatic track that shows off his new maturity in both lyricism and production, nothing like he’s released before.
Throughout the album, Lacy stays in an angelic and very trip-hop vibe. Songs like “pure colour,” which features Erykah Badu and “lovesexdrugbomb” featuring Cecile Believe follow the same genre. Many of the tracks are very slow and bass heavy. The rhythms can only be described as psychedelic and mellow.
The song “nothing” is a clear standout, and a sleeper hit from the album. It’s the shortest track on the album, but might be the most emotional. Lyrics about a “one-sided” relationship that “could’ve been something,” but timing got in the way is something many of us can relate to. The song is somber and strips Lacy’s feelings to nothing but his vocals, and his acoustic guitar. Lacy has songs about similar things like “Sunshine” and “Helmet” but both of which are catchy, upbeat songs you might not realize are hiding sad lyrics behind the beat. He is upfront and hides nothing from the listener on “nothing.”
The album cover and creative direction taken for the album is very simple when compared to the rest of his art. When it comes to covers, Lacy loves collaging and filling the space of an album cover from the bottom to the top, most notably seen on his mixtape, “The Lo-Fis.” When it comes to the art for “Oh yeah?,” it’s very simple. The cover only features Lacy himself and the title, surrounded by a purple and silver ring seen on almost all aspects of the album’s packaging and music videos. The simplicity shows how straight to the point Lacy is on this album, leaving no room for speculation or mystery.
On October 18th, 2026, Steve Lacy came to DC on tour at the Anthem, where he put on a spectacular show, playing the new album front to back with a live band. He came out to the title track of the album which filled the venue with energy, the entire audience of 6,000 people at the sold out show was yelling the lyrics out. The lighting during his show matched the vibes of the album perfectly. Purple, pink, red, and blue lights covered the stage, similarly to the artwork of the album.
For the song “Doom,” he played an extended 10 minute version, where the band jammed instead of ending the song. Lacy and his band effortlessly built an intimate stage presence where they queued each other in and out of solos and every band member got their own moment. Even though they played the same song for 10 minutes straight, the energy never went down in the crowd. Everyone kept dancing and jumping the entire time.
Of course, he played his hits from every previous album, turning to the audience to find out what songs they wanted to hear. Halfway through performing the song “Bad Habit,” Lacy instructed his band to change up the breakdown section of the song. He switched the section to match the genre Go-go, which is a sub-genre of funk music. Go-go originated from African American communities in D.C., during the 1960s and was named the official music of Washington, D.C. in February 2020. The genre focuses on percussion and audience call and response. Catering one of his biggest songs toward the city he was playing in was special, and displayed a level of care for his fanbase that more artists should.
He also spoke on how his writing process has evolved over time when performing his earlier songs from “Apollo XXI,” expressing how awkward those songs felt, because he did not know how to properly write lyrics and rap verses yet. The long breaks between verses made him realize how much he’d grown and how smoothly he writes lyrics now, which is noticeable on his new album. He continued talking about why he didn’t like to perform older songs as much, saying they were all focused on pretty much one thing, sex.
The final song (not including the bonus “bebe”) “nice shoes / in your world” had already been half released a year before “Oh yeah?” The album undoubtedly leads up to the epic climax in this nine minute song. It’s a fast-paced breakbeat where Lacy gives conclusions on the topics he’s been open about previously with lyrics like “I can’t seem to fall in love, it’s bad luck” – “Careful how you spend your time, it adds up.” Unlike the single’s original version from a year ago, the beat switches completely half way through, into a slow and romantic closure. Lacy sings about forgiving past breakups, and that they were necessary to get him where he is now. He thanks the audience for listening and closes the album with the same breakbeat drums over the melodic synths.