Gemini Rights

Steve Lacy’s ‘Helmet’ Video Is A Nauseating In-Depth Look At The Road To Healing From A Toxic Breakup

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As Adele sang in her beloved song “Someone Like You,” sometimes relationships last in love. But sometimes, they hurt instead. Steve Lacy’s Grammy Award-winning album, Gemini Rights, explores the latter at great length, especially on his track “Helmet.” To celebrate the LP’s one-year anniversary, Lacy belatedly dropped the official video for the track.

The video, directed by Aus Taylor, is an in-depth look at healing from a toxic romantic breakup. As Lacy struggles to regain his footing, he aimlessly wanders around his bedroom, searching for something to distract him from the pain. However, he quickly learned that the world doesn’t stop revolving just because he’s sad.

At one point he sings, “I tried to play pretend / Try not to see the end (ah) / But I couldn’t see you the way you saw me / Now I can feel the waste on me / I tried my best to be worth all your while / You just gotta let me go as I’m tryna let go of you.” It’s his way of saying that ending the relationship was for the best.

Throughout the “Helmet” video, viewers are reminded just how introspective Lacy’s work is — an attribute that made people fall in love with him in the first place.

Watch the full video for “Helmet” above.

Gemini Rights is out now via RCA Records. Find more information here.

Steve Lacy Lists His Influences Including Paramore, Faye Webster, Prince, & More

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Steve Lacy revealed a surprising list of his biggest influences during a new interview with The Guardian. The “Bad Habit” singer cited Paramore, the video game “Guitar Hero,” Prince, and much more.

“I’ve always loved doing that,” Lacy said when asked about genre-blending on his newest album, Gemini Rights. “If I have a rocky beat, putting a soulful melody on it. Like ‘Dark Red’ and all those types of songs. It’s a way to play and introduce new ideas into things that we know already.”

INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 23: Singer Steve Lacy performs on the Mojave Stage during Weekend 2, Day 2 of the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 23, 2022 in Indio, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella)

He continued: “Growing up playing [the video game] Guitar Hero put me on to a lot of rock and guitar music. As I got older, artists such as Paramore raised me. Mac DeMarco, Dirty Projectors, Vampire Weekend. Even Weezer’s ‘Undone’ is one of my favorite songs ever.”

From there, he credited Paramore’s Hayley Williams: “Hayley’s voice and melodies are crazy because she takes the rock thing and makes it soulful.”

He also gave a shout to Weezer’s “wit” and “humor,” as well as Faye Webster.

“When I make music, I take a small piece of everything that I love – I’ll take certain melodic approaches from Prince, but I’ll play it as if someone else was mimicking Prince, like if Jimi Hendrix tried to be Prince,” he said. “But I like to mix different approaches together. It happens naturally. I’m never doing it all purposely. It’s just inside of me.”

Lacy shared Gemini Rights back in July. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with 34,000 first-week units, while “Bad Habit” topped the Billboard Hot 100.

Revisit Lacy’s “Bad Habit” below.

[Via]

Steve Lacy Isn’t Shy About Sharing His Biggest Musical Influences, Which Include Paramore And ‘Guitar Hero’

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Steve Lacy Grammy Awards 2020 smile
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Recording artist Steve Lacy is living life like a true rockstar, and apparently, that was always written in the stars for him. The Grammy-nominated singer has come a long way since bursting onto the scene as part of the band The Internet. Now, as a chart-topping, sold-out headlining tour solo act, the guitarist has found an artistic lane for himself that blends the sounds fans have come to know him by as well as what made him want to be a musician in the first place. The songwriter sat down with The Guardian to share what musicians inspired his irresistible sound and more.

Beginning his career in alternative R&B, Lacy shifted to an indie rock-influenced sound with his breakout single, “Bad Habit.” When asked by journalist Shaad D’Souza about this genre blending, Lacy replied, “I’ve always loved doing that — if I have a rocky beat, putting a soulful melody on it. Like ‘Dark Red’ and all those types of songs. It’s a way to play and introduce new ideas into things that we know already.”

He later added, “Growing up playing [the video game] Guitar Hero put me on to a lot of rock and guitar music. As I got older, artists such as Paramore raised me. Mac DeMarco, Dirty Projectors, Vampire Weekend. Even Weezer’s ‘Undone’ is one of my favorite songs ever.”

The singer did not hold back from gushing about Paramore’s Hayley Williams, sharing, “Hayley’s voice and melodies are crazy because she takes the rock thing and makes it soulful.”

As for what he loves about Weezer, Lacy said, “With Weezer, I love the wit and humor. The dissonance of the chord progression of ‘Undone’ is truly just weird. For something like that to exist was super important for me in my musical journey, to be, like: ‘Oh, wow, you can make this sound fun and dope.’”

Other muses of Lacy include late musical icons Prince and Jimi Hendrix. “When I make music, I take a small piece of everything that I love – I’ll take certain melodic approaches from Prince, but I’ll play it as if someone else was mimicking Prince, like if Jimi Hendrix tried to be Prince,” he said. “But I like to mix different approaches together. It happens naturally. I’m never doing it all purposely. It’s just inside of me.”

Lacy concluded his inspiration list by shouting out about indie act Faye Webster, calling her “dope.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

(For You)r Consideration: The Hottest TikTok Trends In Music This Week

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Steve Lacy at Coachella 2022
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(For You)r Consideration is a weekly column breaking down the rappers and singers doing it RIGHT on TikTok and the viral trends and top songs taking over your FYP.

Return of the “Racks”

Over ten years ago, the Sonny Digital-produced “Racks” by YC introduced the mainstream to an up-and-coming rapper named Future and gave us the beat behind one of Lil Kim’s and Lil Wayne’s most iconic freestyles. Today, the song is the soundtrack to one of TikTok’s burgeoning trends where creators play with the age-old cliché, “If I had a dollar for every time…” and tell their For You Page about some very frequent, often awkward occurrences. Who would’ve thought the beat Sonny Digital sold to YC and his team for just $300 would play the background to over thirty thousand videos?

@ayannanicol3

Excuse my hair y’all… uhhhhh #fyp #foryoupage #realshi #racksonracks

♬ original sound – don juan

@smoothjasmine

RACKS ON RACKS ON RACKS 🤑 #fixitfelicia

♬ original sound – don juan

Get To That Money

If you’re not familiar with Arkansas’ viral king of choreography and rapper ZaeHD, you may have seen his videos cosplaying as an employee at a few popular restaurants and brands. Set to his single “GTTM” and inspired by the track’s music video, ZaeHD steps into work and does exactly what the lyrics say…”let’s get to that money.” From goofing off at the Apple Store to turning up with employees at Atlanta’s famous Slutty Vegan and somehow finding his way into a USPS uniform, the trend is pure comedy. And with just under ten thousand videos using the sound, it’s ripe for replication.

@zaehd

FIRST DAY ON THE JOB AT @Slutty Vegan ATL 😂🍔🍟 LETS GET TO THAT MONEY!¡🤑🤑 SONG LINK IN BIO!¡🔊🔥 #fyp #zaehd #gttm #vegan #viral #uhyuh

♬ GTTM – ZaeHD

@zaehd

FIRST DAY ON THE JOB AT USPS!¡😂📫📦 LETS GET TO THAT MONEY!¡🤑🚶🏽‍♂️ SONG LINK IN BIO!¡🔊🔥 #fyp #zaehd #gttm #usps #viral #uhyuh

♬ GTTM – ZaeHD

Steve Lacy’s Fans Aren’t Happy

Shortly after releasing his 2nd studio album Gemini Rights, guitarist-turned solo artist Steve Lacy announced his “Give You The World” tour, and fans went crazy. The $35 tickets sold out almost immediately, and fans have taken to TikTok using his song “Static” as background to their complaints. Lacy’s most devout followers have voiced their grievances with him and Ticketmaster about the size of the venues he’s set to play at and the over 300% markup on resale tickets. Lacy has yet to respond to complaints from friends but did use the sound on TikTok to show off a fresh set of braids. Watch below for some of our favorite Steve Lacy-hating videos.

@_gigi46_

A disgrace #fyp#foryoupage#viral#boost#stevelacy#ticket

♬ Static – Steve Lacy

@anonymouszah

i hope more dates or tickets drop bc rn its looking like i wont be going #findyourgrace #fyp #trending

♬ Static – Steve Lacy

Steve Lacy Announces His ‘Give You The World’ Tour North American Tour

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Steve Lacy
Julian Klincewicz

Following the release of his excellent sophomore record last month, Gemini Rights, Steve Lacy has announced the Give You The World Tour. The 27 headlining dates will see Lacy — who Kanye West called “one of the most inspiring people on the planet” — performing at a slew of mid-sized venues across North America. The tour begins on October 2nd at Denver’s Gothic Theatre, before the “Dark Red” singer moves across the midwest onto the East Coast. He’ll then swing back across the country to end the tour with a run of West Coast dates that conclude on November 11th with a hometown show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

Check out the full list of Steve Lacy’s tour dates below. Tickets go on sale Friday, 08/05 at 10 am local time here.

10/02 — Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
10/04 — Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
10/05 — Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
10/06 — Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall
10/09 — Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
10/10 — Boston, MA @ Royale
10/11 — Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
10/13 — Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
10/15 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore
10/17 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/19 — Richmond, VA @ The National
10/20 — Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
10/21 — Nashville, TN @ Eastside Bowl
10/23 — Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage Theater
10/24 — New Orleans, LA @ Republic
10/25 — Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
10/27 — Austin, TX @ Emo’s
10/28 — Dallas, TX @ The Studio at the Factory
10/30 — Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
10/31 — Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues
11/02 — San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
11/04 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
11/06 — Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
11/07 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
11/08 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
11/10 — Anaheim, CA @ House of Blue
11/11 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre

Kanye West Calls Steve Lacy ‘One Of The Most Inspiring People On The Planet’ While Praising His New Album

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kanye west dl
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This weekend is an exciting one for new releases thanks to some projects that were shared with the world. One of them is Steve Lacy’s long-awaited sophomore album Gemini Rights. The project is the follow-up to his Grammy-nominated 2019 debut Apollo XXI and it checks in at a brief yet extremely fulfilling ten songs with guest appearances from Joji and Foushee. Together with the release of Gemini Rights, Lacy shared a message about the project and it earned a special response from one of music’s biggest names.

“Gemini Rights is outttt [crying emoji] this feels so surreal,” Steve wrote in his original message. “I can’t explain it. It’s a new feeling. I think I’ll be able to tell you about it in a couple months. But for now I’ll enjoy this newness. Thank you guys for all the love and support. I promise it doesn’t go unnoticed [bow in a heart emoji].” In response, Kanye West took the moment to praise both Steve and the new album. “Album is beautiful,” Kanye wrote in the comment section. “One of the most inspiring people on the planet.”

The comment from Kanye comes after he and Steve were photographed together at the former’s Donda livestream event last summer. When asked about his time there during an interview with GQ, Steve said simply, “It was cool, it was cool.”

You can view Kanye’s message to Steve in the post above.

Gemini Rights is out 7/15 via RCA Records. You can stream it here.

Steve Lacy And Foushee Touch The Sky In Their Graceful Video For ‘Sunshine’

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In just a few days, Steve Lacy will release his long-awaited sophomore album, Gemini Rights. The project will be his first full-length release since 2019’s Apollo XXI, and so far he’s delivered two singles to give fans an insight into what to expect with his next body of work. He kicked things off with “Mercury,” a track that’s carried by a bossa nova groove, and next came “Bad Habits,” which strikes as a sweet love song. Now, for his third and presumably final act before the album arrives, Lacy returns with “Sunshine” alongside Foushee.

The new record is a soothing confessional track that depicts Lacy and Foushee as a former couple a bit removed from their relationship. Despite their complaints about their new reality, each admits that deep down they hope to reconnect intimately just for another chance to be in each other’s presence. “Sunshine” also arrives with a video that captures Lacy playing with a band before we see Foushee get hoisted into the sky by a crane, and soon enough, Lacy joins her as they both sing their hearts out while dangling above the city.

You can watch the video for “Sunshine” above and see the full tracklist for Gemini Rights below.

1. “Static”
2. “Helmet”
3. “Mercury”
4. “Buttons”
5. “Bad Habit”
6. “2Gether (Enterlude)” With Matt Martians
7. “Cody Freestyle”
8. “Amber”
9. “Sunshine” Feat. Foushee
10. “Give You The World”

Gemini Rights is out 7/15 via RCA Records. Pre-save it here.

Steve Lacy Shares The Groovy ‘Bad Habit’ And The Release Date For His New Album ‘Gemini Rights’

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Steve Lacy just dropped his second single this month in “Bad Habit,” and the surge of new music from the producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist isn’t a coincidence. Along with “Bad Habit,” Lacy has also shared the official details for the release date of his new album, Gemini Rights, and it’s coming out a lot sooner than you think.

Out in two weeks on July 15th, Gemini Rights, is written and produced by Lacy, who also played most of the instruments on each of the ten tracks — including one with Fousheé, whom he made out with in a music video earlier this year. Whereas on lead single “Mercury,” Lacy explored saucy bossa nova rhythms and emphatic vocals over a complex arrangement, “Bad Habit” is a sweet, groovy love song where Lacy ranges his voice a la Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes. “I wish I knew, I wish I knew you wanted me,” he sings on the soul-bearing hook.

The album is written in the aftermath of Lacy’s first big heartbreak, which at 24 years old, is a pretty decent streak. The Grammy nominee has cited influences on Gemini Rights from Brazilian maestro Caetano Veloso and Outkast’s Andre 3000 to Sly Stone, The Beatles, and of course, his talented pack in the The Internet.

Listen to “Bad Habit” above.

Gemini Rights is out 7/15 via RCA Records. Pre-order it here.

Steve Lacy’s Bossa Nova-Spiced ‘Mercury’ Is His First New Track In Three Years

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It’s hard to believe that Steve Lacy hasn’t released a new track in over three years, because he’s been firmly entrenched in mainstream consciousness ever since he put out Apollo XXI in 2019. Earlier this year, Lacy jumped on “Skin Tight,” off of Ravyn Lenae’s debut LP, Hypnos (which he co-produced much of). He also appeared on Foushee’s “Double Standard” and is slated to be on Brent Faiyaz’s new album. These are all examples of Lacy lending his master-touch to help elevate other artists’ games; It’s what made him stand out as an integral member of The Internet to begin with.

However, the mystique of his solo work is even more intriguing than his work as a right-hand player. It’s what garnered Apollo XXI a Grammy nomination and what helps build the anticipation for his sophomore album. Gemini Rights is the name of his upcoming drop, due out this summer, and now “Mercury” represents its lead single.

The song opens with a cowbell-inflected bossa nova groove, as Lacy softly sings in his velvet coo. His signature guitar riffs are at every turn, but he’s playing with complex rhythms. It builds up into an explosive conclusion and Lacy explained to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 that a lot of the output from Gemini Rights will follow this pattern: “All of the singles, they all have a dual side, they all switch up, so like “Mercury’s” the first half and then the second half is something else, and then the singles do the same thing.”

Watch the video for “Mercury” above.