Steve Lacy’s follow-up to his hit second album is held back a bit by his shortcomings as a writer, but not enough to stop it from being an improvement.
Release date: July 17, 2026 | RCA Records | Instagram | Website
It can be tough for an artist following up on their biggest moment. Steve Lacy’s last album, Gemini Rights, featured one of the biggest tracks of the decade so far in “Bad Habit”, which is one of the rare viral tracks whose popularity and acclaim is actually matched by its quality. While there’s no track here that gets to the level of “Bad Habit” or “Helmet”, Oh Yeah? is an assortment of deeper moments.
Oh Yeah? paints an incredibly open picture of Lacy, with some of his most revealing lyrics to date – even if that level of exposure comes with some warts at times. I love the vulnerability and willingness to admit to your own shittery from both Lacy and SZA on “is it cool?”. It’s an excellent moment of introspection and self-criticism about each’s flaws in a relationship; whether it’s cheating, disrespecting their partner, or being too distant, both do a great job highlighting their flaws. “doom” has a sound very reminiscent of some Red Hot Chili Peppers work, and Lacy sounds excellent on the guitar-heavy instrumental. It’s also one of the better lyrical moments, sharing his distaste for the soullessness of modern hookup culture. Oh Yeah? closes on a real high note with “bebe”. The guitar work anchoring the track is magnificent, and the hook is some of the simplest yet best writing of the album.
As you’d expect from a guitarist of Lacy’s caliber, the production of Oh Yeah? is stellar throughout. The synth work on “pure colour” is out of this world, and the dark, bassy atmosphere provides an incredible stylistic detour guided by none other than Erykah Badu. The first half of “nice shoes / in your world” is one of the weakest moments of the album lyrically, but the production on the back half is able to make up for it to an extent. It’s the most reminiscent of his Odd Future days and especially some of Tyler’s work. Speaking of Tyler, the Creator – he provides a bit of an assist on one of the project’s best tracks in “lovesexdrugbomb”. Beyond the excellent blend of Lacy’s guitar work and Tyler helping on drums, it’s one of the most cohesive tracks lyrically, and the only moment I find the humor to work well on.
As I alluded to earlier, there’s one glaring flaw throughout Oh Yeah? – it’s got some absolute trash lines sprinkled throughout. I get that the introspectiveness is meant to be abrasive and unrefined, much closer to how you’d actually think than full thought-out concepts, but good god does some of this shit just completely stop you in your tracks. What follows is a collection of some of the worst the album has to offer:
‘Hard to smile ’cause I had the coochie stuck in my teeth, been a while since I had some coochie stuck in my teeth’
‘I’m a big baby suckin’ on big titties’
‘If I had a dollar for the friends I would fuck, I could buy a pair of really nice shoes’
It’s rough.
Oh Yeah? is far from a perfect album, although it is a very fun one for the most part. If we’re going to compare the two, Gemini Rights brought much higher highs to the table but lacked the overall consistency of Oh Yeah?. The production is excellent, the melodies are addictive, and Lacy is still a strong singer and an even better instrumentalist. I can’t say I enjoyed hearing about what Lacy would do for a new pair of shoes, but I do enjoy enough of the offbeat moments to make some of the writing miscues tolerable. I hope he’ll be able to improve on his next album, assuming the mouse doesn’t kill him for spoiling Spider-Man.
