SZA, Steve Lacy Drop New Single 'Is It Cool?'

SZA and Steve Lacy reunite on 'Is It Cool?', a raw, confessional duet about commitment fears and self-sabotage that kicks off the rollout for Lacy's first album in four years.

Two voices, one open wound

SZA and Steve Lacy are back in the same room, and the song they've come out with is one of the more emotionally exposed releases of the summer. According to Rolling Stone, the pair dropped their collaborative single "Is It Cool?" on Friday, June 26, 2026, a track that trades the gloss of a typical duet for something rawer and more searching. Both artists use their verses to circle the anxieties that surface when commitment and real intimacy are on the table.

Rather than a tidy love song, the result plays like an honest conversation between two people who know each other well enough to be uncomfortable. Rolling Stone reports that Lacy spends his verse confessing to patterns of self-sabotage, while SZA responds with her own reckoning over what it costs to lower her defenses. The back-and-forth gives the song a push-and-pull rhythm, closer to a mutual confession than a serenade.

A reunion with history behind it

Part of what gives "Is It Cool?" its charge is that these two have orbited each other before. Their past collaborations have resonated with listeners drawn to the more adventurous edges of contemporary R&B and alternative soul, and that familiarity reads in the easy, conversational chemistry of the new track. When two artists already trust each other, they can afford to be this candid on tape.

For SZA, the feature keeps her firmly in rotation as she continues to release new material in 2026, extending a prolific stretch. For Lacy, the stakes are arguably higher, because this single is not a one-off but the opening statement of a much larger project.

The launch of a bigger rollout

Per Rolling Stone, "Is It Cool?" is set to appear on Lacy's upcoming album, Oh Yeah?, scheduled to arrive July 17 via RCA Records. That record marks his first full-length since the 2022 Grammy-winning Gemini Rights, making it one of the most closely watched returns in the genre and turning this single into a deliberate scene-setter for what's coming.

Lacy framed the release as a matter of finally feeling ready to speak. "I feel safe enough and close enough to start talking about it now, and get the title out and just get the energy in the air," he told Rolling Stone, suggesting the vulnerability of the song is the point rather than a side effect.

Why the moment carries weight:

It reunites two artists whose previous team-ups have struck a chord with R&B and alt-soul fans.
It serves as the official kickoff for Lacy's first album in roughly four years.
It keeps SZA visible and active during a busy 2026 release run.

Setting the tone for what's next

Rolling Stone notes that the single's appeal lies precisely in how openly both performers air their hesitations, converting what could have been a straightforward romance into something more honest and a little uneasy. As a teaser for Oh Yeah?, it signals that Lacy is leaning into introspection rather than spectacle for his return. If the rest of the album follows the emotional register of "Is It Cool?", listeners should brace for a record that prizes confession over comfort, with SZA's contribution serving as an early, intimate preview of the headspace Lacy is working from this time around.