Though seldom acknowledged, there’s long been a kinship between hip-hop and bedroom pop, two genres whose music is often given life by bored teenagers in home studios cobbled together from egg cartons, bedsheets, and cracked copies of FL Studio. There are clear differences between the two styles, of course, but the aesthetic features of DIY hip-hop and lo-fi pop are often products of necessity. Steve Lacy’s music is where those two musical traditions intersect.
Lacy’s only 21, but he’s put together an accomplished resume as a member of the Internet and a contributor to tracks by Kendrick Lamar, Vampire Weekend, Blood Orange, Mac Miller, and Solange. Lacy got interested in music as a kid through Guitar Hero, which encouraged him to start playing a real guitar. He’s gotten a lot of attention not just for his young age, but for his distinctly youthful method of making music. Lacy started out making beats on his iPhone, and that’s how he produced almost all of his 2017 debut EP Steve Lacy’s Demo, as well as “Pride” from Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN.
Apollo XXI is less funky than Lacy’s work with the Internet, operating in a relaxed indie-pop mode that makes it obvious why Ezra Koenig would keep Lacy in his Rolodex. Lead guitar dominates as much as bass, if not more, with gentle synths along the edges. Lacy’s voice is often laid-back, sometimes lethargic; other times it gently ascends to the higher plane alluded to in the album’s title. There’s more crispness to his delivery when he’s rapping, like on “Outro Freestyle/4ever,” but the straight-up hip-hop here isn’t his most compelling mode.
As Lacy has a history of recording vocals on his phone, sometimes words slip by, uncertain and unnoticed. But there are moments when his intentions are clearer. The album’s clear centerpiece is the second track, “Like Me,” which marks Lacy’s coming out not only as a solo musician but also as a bisexual man, which he has discussed in interviews but never explicitly in song. In a spoken introduction, Lacy reveals that he had felt timid about touching on the subject of his sexuality. “I just want to relate to everyone,” he says, before launching into the song: “I only feel energy/I see no gender.” It’s a fairly straightforward plea for connection and acceptance; over and over again, Lacy asks how many of his listeners have struggled like he has. As if in front of a mirror, he uses the repetitive plea of the song’s chorus—“How many out there just like me?”—as a way to try on his identity and see if it feels comfortable, turning the conventional, hook-based structure of pop music songwriting into a powerful method of introspection.
In spirit, “Like Me” could have been the album’s first track, a proper introduction to Lacy’s ambitions, anxieties, and identity. But it also sounds like a closer, with several clear tonal shifts that turn the song into a multi-textured pop suite. After the catchy, chorus-heavy first third of the song, we shift into a trippy, Thundercat-like instrumental; then silence, a musical sequence centered around a glockenspiel, then silence again before Lacy, his guitar, and a gentle drum pattern serenade us for the song’s final minute. Beyond the serious themes addressed in its lyrics, the curious structure of “Like Me” is further proof of Lacy’s skill, even if his artistic voice is still developing.
“Like Me” features a verse from the vocalist DAISY, which I admire in intent—Lacy answers his call for relatability by bringing in another artist to share their own similar journey to sexual and personal self-acceptance. But it’s also the only credited appearance from a guest vocalist, and Lacy’s quest for togetherness needs more than just one more extra voice. That’s ultimately the problem with Apollo XXI: For an album whose highlight is a song about the urge to extend beyond the limits of your own experience and find solace in collective acceptance, it all feels surprisingly timid. Apollo XXI is centered on the interior self, but it’s not self-centered—it just seems a little weighed down by Lacy’s still-palpable reluctance to claim the spotlight his talents warrant.
