Steve Lacy’s current Give You The World Tour showcases the limits of TikTok pandemonium
There can be no denying the significant effect TikTok has had on the music industry. Artists can achieve global superstardom with a single thirty second (or shorter) snippet of their song. This phenomenon is happening once again, with artist Steve Lacy. Lacy, who is not a newcomer to the music industry, is currently experiencing how TikTok pandemonium translates to the real world. Lacy’s prominence on TikTok forces us to consider the downsides and the limits associated with “going viral” on the app. TikTok does a really good job at selling TikToks but lacks the ability to fill concerts with spectators who truly are there to connect with the artist.
Steve Lacy is a twenty-four-year-old musician who wears many hats. He is a guitarist, bassist, singer-songwriter, and record producer. His interest in music started from a young age after playing Guitar Hero, and he began playing real guitars around the age of ten.
Lacy started producing beats using his iPhone and a plug-in piece for his guitar, an iRig. In 2013 he joined the R&B soul band the Internet and he received his first Grammy nomination with the group in 2015 at only seventeen years old. Throughout his career Lacy has produced songs for artists such as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Mac Miller.
Lacy released his debut project in February 2017, a song-series titled Steve Lacy’s Demo. His debut album was released in May 2019 titled Apollo XXI. This year has brought increased fame and exposure to Lacy. In July of this year he released his latest album, Gemini Rights. The album contains Lacy’s first solo top charting hit, “Bad Habit,” and the album features the song “Static.” Both of these songs have been popular on the app, TikTok.
In the past few months these songs were hard to miss on TikTok, and were some of many trending songs used on the app by users. A minute snippet of “Bad Habit” uploaded by Lacy on TikTok has been used in more than 500,000 videos. This metric does not even count videos made with other snippets of the song, or videos using remixes of the song posted by other users.
TikTok has given artists a new sense of control and power when negotiating with music executives and the music industry. In the past artists were subject to the mercy of record labels and execs with little to no say or power. TikTok has flipped the script on this previous dynamic. The music industry has recognized that success on the app correlates with success on Billboard charts, and as a result has afforded new artists with new bargaining power.
Despite this, it is important to also discuss that there may be some drawbacks to TikTok’s presence within the music industry. Artists such as Halsey and Charli XCX have made videos on the app explaining that their labels would not let them release certain songs until they went viral on TikTok. Fans on TikTok were shocked to hear this—maybe this would be the case for new artists—but Halsey and Charli XCX already have significant fan bases, and a presence within the music industry.
The effect of TikTok on Lacy is different. I say it is best explained as an example of how TikTok notoriety is actualized in the real world. This fall, Lacy began his Give You The World tour. When tickets were released, many fans were surprised to see that tickets sold out within minutes. Many fans who had supported Lacy for years and have gone to his previous shows were unable to buy tickets.
Not only were tickets sold quickly, there has also been some controversy associated with the shows themselves. On 24 October 2022, Lacy had a show in New Orleans at the Orpheum Theatre. Someone from the audience is seen on video throwing a disposable camera on the stage, hitting Lacy. Videos also show Lacy asking for the camera, taking it, and then smashing it on stage. Lacy took to Instagram to respond to the incident saying that he did not think he owed anyone an apology, but that he could have acted better. He also asked for people to come to his shows and be respectful.
Another video shows a spectator asking Lacy a question during a point in the show where the arena was silent. On video the spectator is heard yelling “Can you say hi to my mom?” Lacy replies with “Can you please be quiet,” and then immediately begins performing.
There is also a clip of the audience not knowing a portion of his hit song, “Bad Habit.” When Lacy asked the crowd to finish the song it appeared that the majority of the crowd did not know what came after “I wish I knew you wanted me.” Fans took to Twitter and TikTok to say that his real fans were not able to buy tickets, and that it was children with money who saw his songs were trending on TikTok, liked them, and rushed to his shows.
I think Lacy fans have a point. I would be upset if I was not able to buy a ticket to see my favorite artist and the people that did buy tickets were in the audience throwing disposable cameras, interrupting his set, and did not sing the words to one of his most popular songs.
Though can we really be surprised that TikTok fame does not correspond with typical superstardom in the real world? Fame on the app is difficult and often fleeting. Though this is the entire point of the app, it is not a site that is set up to hold people’s attention for long periods of time. TikTok’s popularity certainly sells tickets and can get people in an arena, but who is there? Is it fans who truly connect with an artist, or is it people who want to say that they had tickets to see an extremely popular singer? Does this distinction matter? I think that is a question for artists to answer.
