Steve Lacy drops ‘Gemini Rights’ after months of anticipation

GRAMMY.com

Jaleena Avery, Reporter

R&B/Soul artist Steve Lacy released “Gemini Rights” on July 15. “Gemini Rights” is his second studio album and his third album after his debut single “Apollo XXI.”

Steve Lacy is currently on tour and will make a stop in Dallas at The Factory in Deep Ellum on Oct. 28. Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com.

Lacy first mentioned a new album Feb. 18 on Instagram. He dropped samples of his songs on TikTok and then released “Mercury” on June 16 and one of his hit songs “Bad Habit” on June 29. “Bad Habit” quickly became trending on TikTok and is currently sitting #1 on the Soul Top 40 charts.

Steve Lacy is a singer, songwriter, and musician born May 23, 1998. He started gaining recognition as the guitarist of a band called The Internet. Some of his other popular songs include the following:

  • “Dark Red”
  • “Infrunami”
  • “Palace/ Curse”
  • “C U Girl”
  • “Helmet”

Stephen Kearse tells readers that Lacy was inspired to write this album after a breakup with his boyfriend. Lacy writes about the bumps in the relationship and the headspace he was in during the time, feeling resentment, relief and regret.
While writing the song “Bad Habit” featuring Fousheé, Lacy talks about how singer-songwriter Tyler the Creator gave him a tip for making the intro of the song more catchy, which is where the line “I wish I knew/ I wish I knew you wanted me” originates from.

When junior Kaitlyn Johnson was asked what her favorite song from the album was and why, she gave a brief explanation about the song “Helmet.”

“My favorite song on Lacy’s new album is ‘Helmet’ because throughout it he tells a story about his love life and how he had to protect himself in order to not get hurt throughout the course of the relationship,” Johnson said.

Since “Gemini Rights” dropped, Lacy has been interviewed multiple times about the album, future collabs, his band and creating a new band. During a Zoom interview with New York Vulture, Lacy gives readers an inside view about why he wrote the album. He clarifies that the breakup was not the only reason but also because he wanted to follow the footsteps of his musical heroes to expand and better the music he writes.

“Gemini Rights” continues to grow on charts weekly, ranking #4 on the Billboard Top 25 R&B albums.