Alt-R&B star Steve Lacy kicks off a new era with “Nice Shoes,” his first taste of new music in three years.
The hurried production, helmed by Lacy with contributions from Nightfeelings and Matthew Castellanos, is driven by a vocal sample of James Brown from Lyn Collins’ “Think (About It).”
Lyrically, “Nice Shoes” finds Lacy tied up in lust as he contemplates everything from sleeping with friends to getting turned on by the idea of holding hands with a partner.
“My dick is getting hard again / At the thought of you and me holding hands / We’re dancing close and all your friends, wanna see / Let’s go before the party ends,” he sings in verse two.
In the hook, Lacy repeats “make it stop” several times, a plea to tame not only his lustful thoughts but also ones like “I can’t seem to fall in love, it’s bad luck.”
Steve Lacy’s “Nice Shoes” single cover. (RCA Records)
“Nice Shoes” is the lead single from Lacy’s upcoming album Oh Yeah? which is said to still be in the works, without a confirmed release date.
In his September cover story with Rolling Stone, Lacy shared how his new album will be more lyrically driven than his past works.
“When I first started making sh–t or producing stuff with the Internet, I would always make the beat, make a hook, and just give it away,” Lacy told the publication. “That was my process for a while, so words were always just kind of secondary. I’m like, ‘If my beat hard, this bass line hard, the chords hard, what else do we need?’ But now I’m like, ‘OK, I want to say sh–t how I would say sh–t.’”
Oh Yeah? will follow Lacy’s 2022 album, Gemini Rights, which included his No. 1 smash hit “Bad Habit.” Gemini Rights scored Lacy’s first Grammy award for Best Progressive R&B Album at the 2023 ceremony.
Check out Steve Lacy’s new song “Nice Shoes” below.
