This R&B Star Admits He Used to Find a Lot of His New Fans ‘Annoying’ After Landing His First Big Hit

Do you think artists ever get tired of their fans? Sometimes, they can get a little obsessive; maybe they’re obnoxious in public or on social media. Perhaps the worst is when they act out of turn during their performances, lacking basic concert etiquette. Steve Lacy certainly had that feeling when he started getting more fans. After “Bad Habit” came out and dominated the charts, more people started to show up and even threw cameras at him. Admittedly, he started to get really annoyed by them.

In a new interview with Zane Lowe, Lacy spoke about his shows getting a lot bigger after his album Gemini Rights came out. But with that increased attention came a lot of fans that definitely started to wear on him.

“When I went and did my solo music, it was a mix, it was like teens and a really college vibe,” Steve Lacy explained. “And then it was like kids, you know? Gemini Rights opened me up to, like, being at my s**t. I’m like, ‘Y’all are rowdy as f**k. At first I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa.’ It’s like a bunch of my little cousins are here, and I’m like, ‘Y’all are so annoying.’”

Steve Lacy Learned to Love The ‘Rowdy’ Fans He Made after ‘Bad Habit’

Eventually, Lacy realized that he couldn’t exactly go back to how things used to be. Consequently, he started to accept the shift in his celebrity and even began interacting with them more often. Ever since, it’s made for a smoother experience, and he now understands them.

“I actually learned to kick it with them and love it,” Steve Lacy added. “Love them, learn their language and how they view things, while also, kind of, teaching them how to be in this space with me. And yeah, like, less serious as well. They kind of taught me how to be fluid with it. Like, I’m up to date on all the trolls and everything.”

Back in July 2026, Steve Lacy released his long-awaited follow-up to Gemini Rights with Oh Yeah?. The record opened him up to even more collaborators, including Tyler, the Creator, SZA, and Erykah Badu.

Now, he’s teasing a new album alongside his R&B and funk band The Internet. “We want to do things that aren’t money plays with the Internet,” fellow bandmate Matt Martians told The New York Times. “That’s part of the reason why we did our solo thing, so when we come to the Internet, we can do things we think are cool.”

Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images