Review

By Liam Hughes | 18/07/2026

After Bad Habit transformed Steve Lacy from cult favourite into chart-dominating star, Oh Yeah? finds him resisting the obvious victory lap. Instead, his third album is a wiry, psychologically messy examination of desire, fame and the self-destructive habits that refuse to disappear when success arrives. The title track opens with existential unease, setting the tone for a record built on uncomfortable admissions. On Is It Cool?, SZA joins Lacy for a bruised exchange about infidelity and mistrust, while The Feeling turns romantic obsession into a deceptively smooth funk spiral. The excellent Pure Color, featuring Erykah Badu, drifts through psychedelic soul, and Doom pushes his generation’s appetite for validation into darker, more abrasive territory. Lacy remains most compelling when his DIY instincts are allowed to sprawl. The sprawling Nice Shoes / In Your World shifts from fuzzy breakbeats to slow-burning funk, capturing loneliness, lust and fame-induced alienation in one unruly sweep. Elsewhere, Show You Me turns awkward flirtation into something disarmingly intimate. Not every confession lands; some lyrics confuse bluntness with insight, and the album’s deliberately unpolished edges can feel underdeveloped. Still, Oh Yeah? is a bold refusal to recreate Gemini Rights or Apollo XXI. Lacy sounds uncertain, contradictory and occasionally ridiculous – but crucially, never boring.