in 2001, lacy had co-founded the legendary artnsoul society of expression. via the local open mic circuit, lacy transformed from a written poet, into a spoken word artist. in 2004, lacy published his first book, the looking heart, and co-produced his first spoken word cd, reflux, (charles owens, touchzone production & publishing). both works were the recipients of several independent publishing/performance awards. by 2007, lacy released his second book of poetry "rock & fire", which garnered him a nomination for "poet of the year" – open book awards along with nikki giovanni. he has traveled the nation participating in various spoken word/literary endeavors.