Are We Ready for a Steve Lacy Filipino Homecoming Gig at LaLaLaFest in Manila?
One of Asia's biggest music festivals is finally getting a Manila leg, and Steve Lacy might be coming home.
by JV Ordoñez
Published on Jun 4, 2026
One of Asia's premier music festivals is finally coming to Manila in August, and even without a fully publicized lineup, the hype is rising to a meteoric pace due to a potential bombshell of an announcement from local showrunners Wilbros Live: Fil-Am R&B superstar Steve Lacy might be coming home.
The teaser was dropped via a semi-cryptic Instagram quote card with a line from Lacy's mega-hit "Bad Habit," "I wish I knew you wanted me." Indonesia's LaLaLaFest already features the elusive singer in its August 22-23 Jakarta International Expo lineup alongside, Honne, Rex Orange County, Kodaline, and The Flaming Lips.
Jakarta's lineup also includes iconic alternative rock bands and acts Two Door Cinema Club, Flo, Dermot Kennedy, Jordan Rakei, and Be:First.
Back to Lacy, the Grammy-winning artist gained prominence via his songs "Dark Red," which he famously recorded and produced just with GarageBand on his iPhone, and viral hit "Bad Habit," from his latest and award-winning LP Gemini Rights.
The musician was born to and African-American mother and a Filipino father but he cited that he lost connection to his Father's Filipino heritage early. His father died when he was ten-years-old.
"I definitely feel parts of him for sure. I was really young, and I didn't get to meet the whole him. He left me with a curiosity to understand things deeper," Lacy earlier said during an LA Times interview.
Gemini Rights was just his sophomore album when it earned him a pretty nifty Grammy for the Best Progressive R&B Album. The album fused elements of glam rock, classic soul, and devastating breakup lyrics worthy to be tattooed on your forearm.
Lacy is set to drop his forthcoming third album, Oh Yeah? on July 17, as he said in several interviews in the lead-up to his highly anticipated comeback, that he focused on themes of vulnerability, transparency, and lo-fi sensibilities. This can already be heard in the 2025 single he dropped, "Nice Shoes," which leans on unique beats and a trailer for the album everyone's been waiting for.
Wilbroslive is set to confirm our suspicions tomorrow, June 5, when it drops the full lineup for LaLaLaFest via its social media pages.
Esquire PH's resident music scribe, wristwatch disciple, and essayist fluent in niche internet subcultures and Philippine politics.
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