Four years after the critical and commercial success of his last album, Grammy-winning artist Steve Lacy has returned with the album Oh Yeah?. Released on July 16, and featuring 10 tracks, the album boasts collaborations with R&B artists such as SZA and Erykah Badu. While bringing back familiar sounds, it also explores a new voice and genres, making Oh Yeah? a very welcome addition to Lacy’s discography.

Following the release of his last album Gemini Rights, in 2022, Lacy spent four years writing and producing Oh Yeah?. During this time, he largely remained out of the spotlight, making only a few musical appearances, including providing guitar for Tyler, The Creator Chromakopia, and appearing on Calvin Harris’ “Live Without You.” Lacy spent these years developing a more experimental approach to his music, incorporating elements of psychedelia and electronic music.

The rollout for the album began in the middle of the day on Friday, Aug. 15 of 2025, when the single titled “Nice Shoes” was announced and released through an Instagram post by Lacy. This single gave listeners insight on the themes and topics that most of this album would be targeting, such as sexuality and his struggles with mental health. “Nice Shoes” shows how Lacy uses this album as an opportunity to explore new genres with this particular song mixing elements of bedroom pop and electronic/dance music. Closely following this release was an announcement that a new album was being worked on, followed by multiple months of no information on the release of the album.

Concluding these months of anticipation, Lacy announced a new single “the feeling” which was released on June 5, 2026. This song delves into the uncertainty of romance and toxic relationships, as the track follows a relationship on the verge of ending. Lacy sings about how he doesn't want to lose this relationship even though he is seemingly mostly ignored by his lover. The lines, “The heart takes what it wants I’m not scared to bleed, you know our history” reflects this hardship and shows that he’s been hurt by this person before but is willing to deal with the pain, pleading with them to stay. The release of this song was accompanied by an official announcement that the album Oh Yeah? would be released on July 17.

After the release of one more single, “Is it Cool?” featuring SZA, the album finally released to positive opinions from fans and critics. The diversity in genres along with relatable lyrics helped this album to immediately resonate with old and new fans alike. The title track “Oh Yeah?” was featured in the summer blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day as the main credits song, which accelerated new crowds to the album and Lacy as a whole.

One track, “Doom,” quickly became a fan favorite. The track comments on modern dating culture, and the brief shallow relationships that often come with it. Lyrics like “Everybody does it, but nobody talks about how they feel until it’s too late,” and “Nobody gives a f**k ‘bout love just validation” expressing how many people seek out relationships for personal validation and attention instead of for emotional connections and actual love. The line “Yeah, I could heal, but easier to speed date” adds to these themes as it shows that Lacy himself also participates in this shallow yet hard to escape cycle.

Closely following the release of Oh Yeah?, Lacy announced a tour for the album, and released music videos for Doom, and The Feeling. Oh Yeah? along with being a big step for Lacy creatively, also managed to become a highly relatable and enjoyable album for fans.

Grade: A

With meaningful, relatable lyrics and strong supporting artists, along with the exploration into new genres, Oh Yeah? Serves as a very substantial addition to Steve Lacy’s discography.

by Charlie Schultz

Published October 5, 2026

Oshkosh West Index Volume 123 Issue 1

Oh yeah? Oh yeah! Lacy returns with multigenre explorative release