Steve Lacy, best known for his collaborations with Kendrick Lamar and Goldlink, has gifted fans with a brand-new solo track called "4real." With a manic, Iggy Pop-style drum beat that plays at a frenetic pace underneath his ultimately soothing vocals, it's a curious blend of instrumental and lyrics that works almost in spite of itself.
It feels like Lacy is going for something in the Mac DeMarco vein: high-pitched, love-lorn delivery accompanied by a minimalist set of guitar chords that help to almost slow the craziness of that drum beat down for a second or two, allowing the listener to catch up. While the mix is uneven, with the rhythm section drowning out Lacy's delivery on several occasions, it's an out-of-left-field track that may grab its own underground audience when all is said and done.
Thinking outside the box is actually what Lacy does best on the regular. It's translated into success in the record industry: after earning a production credit on Goldlink's At What Cost, Lacy was recruited for his biggest collaboration yet, working on DAMN. with Kendrick Lamar. The young man, who isn't yet 20 years old, had a hand in the creation of PRIDE. ""The song I did for him came from this acoustic session that was recorded on my iPhone," he says, referencing a recording technique he used frequently in another demo project. "I showed Anna Wise how to record her vocals and she recorded this whole idea over these acoustic guitar chords I came up with, a small little drum loop that I made and then I took her vocal stems and made a beat over it."
That experience seems to have paid off, with Lacy emerging as a unique voice in the hip-hop landscape.
Quotable Lyrics
It's such a thrill
To love you when it's real
Rollarcoaster
Of emotion we feel