The Bare Maximum | Steve Lacy | TEDxTeen

All I wanted for Christmas was a MacBook Pro for about four years straight.

That was the only thing on my Christmas list.

I look under the tree and there was a gift there, or a couple of gifts.

It was not a MacBook Pro.

Next year, maybe, maybe I'll get it this time.

No.

and so on and so on for about two more years after that.

But finally, I got my hands on an iPhone.

No, it was an iPod 5th generation touch.

And from there I started to explore music apps like IMPC, Beatmaker 2, GarageBand and all that sort.

The reason why I wanted the MacBook was because all of my friends and everyone else doing the artsy stuff had the MacBooks, you know.

That was the best possible thing, so I really, really wanted this.

But anywho, back to the iPod.

So with this, I discovered these apps and I'm just like, whoa, exploring this world of sound with this little device in my pocket.

And I realized that I didn't necessarily need what I thought I did.

So from there, I just started pressing stuff and figuring it out and just getting some really, really bad beats out at first.

before I found the piece called the iRig, and that's when I started to combine my knowledge on what a drum beat was with, along with my guitar playing skills and bass.

When I started to combine the two,

It's like, wow, I can create this with this.

So from there, I went on to just making beats after class, and that's all I did.

And then I ended up

meeting this band called The Internet through my friend that I met in high school, who I just sent my random ideas, these horrible beats to.

But he saw my potential before I did, which led me into just sitting in this studio, just looking at these older folks experience producers make music.

So from there, I end up working on this album, which would be called Ego Death, which led to me co-executive producing.

And I have like two iPhone beats on there, with one being Gabby and one being Curse.

So this is the Curse demo that would go on to lead me into a Grammy nomination in high school of an album that I couldn't tour because I was in high school.

But this was, like, probably one of my favorite phone beats of that album.

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Thank you.

So from there, here I was just creating music.

I had no idea what for.

It just felt right.

And at the time, I didn't know I was producing an album.

I was just laying down ideas that I heard in my head with these people who I could call my friends.

Being in my first body of work got me more sessions and more work with people.

Gold Link, and like J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar.

All from just like, you know, that iPhone stuff.

In the midst of me working with them, I was still working on my own.

This bigger project called Steve Lacey's Demo from there.

Oh, thank you.

I just had this really big plan for it to just inspire and give the message of, like, she's what you have, you know?

I wanted to make the best possible project that I can with this little thing.

Like, I recorded everything.

Like, I plugged the guitar in.

I layered vocals, mad vocals, just on this phone.

It was...

It's a beautiful experience.

I got all this work with all these different people and ended up being able to get in the environments of the equipment that I couldn't afford, of why I'm using this iPhone in the first place.

I remember working on the demo.

I get my manager to buy me this studio.

to only record using my iPhone.

So I'm in a studio with all this equipment just to write this song on my phone.

And I remember he was looking for me in the studio, like, yo, where's Steve?

And I'm in a booth with a candle sitting on the floor with my phone and a mic stopper, just like...

Oh, yo, what's up?

But yeah, at the time, I think I was writing a song called Dark Red.

This is my single off of the demo that I started, or that's out at the time.

Not right now.

This is the song.

That's my lead line right there.

I don't know what, but I feel it coming.

iPhone recorded.

Mic stopper.

Might be so sad, might leave my nose running.

I just hope she don't want to be there, don't you?

And then I go ham.

I belong with you, don't leave me.

This is me singing really high.

Only you, my girl, only you, babe.

But yeah, so this is all iPhone recorded and pretty high quality if you ask me.

But yeah, I just realized that I didn't need what I thought I did.

And that's what I like to call the bare maximum.

The epiphany of it.

Thank you guys.

Love.