Steve Lacy and SZA Trade Confessions on “is it cool?”

Steve Lacy has built a career on pulling apart genre lines, but on “is it cool?,” his new single out now via RCA Records, the focus narrows to the unvarnished truth. The song pairs him with SZA for a duet that trades self-justification for confession. “I just cheat every now and again / That was hard for me to admit / ‘Cause I really want to commit,” Lacy sings upfront, set against a fluid arrangement that merges bedroom soul with singer-songwriter fragility. SZA responds with a line that undercuts any attempt at romantic posturing: “Being vulnerable is exhausting, babe / Can we get naked instead of talking, babe?”

“is it cool?” is the latest preview of *Oh yeah?*, Lacy’s third album, due July 17. Largely written, produced, and performed alone, the project emerged from a four-year stretch where he often felt more at ease outside his own surroundings. Lead single “the feeling” hinted at that dislocation, while the full tracklist includes Erykah Badu on “pure colour” and experimental pop artist Cecile Believe on “lovesexdrugbomb.” It’s a sharper, more intimate turn from the artist who broke globally with “Bad Habit” and *Gemini Rights*.

Lacy, 28, will support the album with a run of Asian dates starting August 13 in Tokyo, including Summer Sonic and Lalala Festival in Manila and Jakarta. The shows mark his first live appearances since early 2024.