Moods 13: Anne Lacy
Lacy grew up primarily in the Bay Area—which immediately helps parallel and tie her dedication to hip hop, R&B, and rap. "All of the classics were in constant rotation around me - on the radio, in my friends cars, at the mall, at school dances - I was fully immersed in it," she notes. "In my teens, my sister and I started taking hip-hop classes in Oakland taught by a dude who was choreographing and dancing for Aaliyah and Usher at the time. His classes opened a lot of doors to this music for me, as well."
Taking "Hot Boyz" by Missy Elliot, for example, helps ground Lacy's love for the queen. "[It's] a huge one for me. I mean, any track produced by Timbaland at that time was. I’m not sure the first time I heard this track for sure, but I assume it was either in my older sister’s (Sarah) bedroom or in her car. Sarah was such a huge part of my musical discoveries and learnings. She was constantly taking me on adventures into San Francisco in her car—a massive CD book filled to the brim with mix CDs of this shit always in toe. Missy was doing something not a lot of womxn were getting shine for at that time, and I was perpetually in awe of it."
A shift to punk and across the country to Chicago (then to NYC) led Lacy on her path to noise, house, then techno. "I spent a good chunk of my 20s doing vocals in two different bands, which is where I eventually found noise music. I was living in spaces throwing shows, which eventually was a mishmash of punk music and noise music. Noise was definitely my segue to grungier-sounding techno.
"But by proxy of living in Chicago, my first love in dance music was for house music, and from house I found a home in techno years later. My roots in hip hop, rap, and R&B definitely drew me to the percussive and rhythmic elements of house music. It felt familiar and warm."
And last words? "We’re in this scene together—not separately. Make space, learn from one another, admit and apologize for your wrongdoings, grow, and share all that you’ve got. Less ego, more community. Less hypocrisy, more action."
LIST
Souls Of Mischief - 93 ’til Infinity
OutKast - Rosa Parks
Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop
Q-Tip - Vivrant Thing
Amerie - One Thing
TLC - Creep
Big Pun ft. Joe - Still Not A Player
Ghost Town DJs - My Boo
KP & Envyi - Shorty Swing My Way
Ciara - Oh
Whitney Houston - It's Not Right But it's Okay
Missy Elliot - Hot Boyz
Tweet - Call Me
Toni Braxton - He Wasn’t Man Enough
Mariah Carey - Obsessed
Busta Rhymes ft. Janet Jackson - What's it Gonna Be?!
The Roots ft. Erykah Badu - You Got Me
LASTLY
Lacy's mix is paired with Sarah Lucas—a foundational queer British artist who's been working since the 80s. I saw her work at the New Museum during her retrospective and it BLEW me away—not only does she deal with gender, she breaks it. (the show closes the 20th this month, so if you haven't seen it, it's a huge rec!!).
This detail of a car seat she's fitted perfectly with cigarette butts fits perfectly with your concept of the mix being the tunes you listen to as you ki to the ki. I think it's a perfect fit :)
To follow along with Anne Lacy, head here.
For more with Sarah Lucas, I recommend this book.