Masego

Songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Masego blends genres such as trap, house, and jazz, creating an emotive future-R&B fusion. He initially attracted attention through his videos, which showcased his talent for spontaneous creation. After years releasing singles and short efforts, he issued his official full-length debut, the sultry Lady Lady, in 2018. Masego guested on recordings by Kehlani, Kaytranada, Drake, and many others, and released the EP Studying Abroad in 2020, later issuing an expanded edition.
Born Micah Davis in Kingston, Jamaica in 1993, he grew up in Newport News, Virginia with a ravenous appetite for music, teaching himself how to play cello, drums, piano, and guitar, and specializing in saxophone. He released songs online while finding his style, posting videos of live looping and on-the-spot beatmaking as well as tracks where he improvised saxophone over other artists’ beats. 2015′s The Pink Polo EP, a collaboration with Medasin, included the single “Girls That Dance” and was followed in 2016 by Loose Thoughts.
In 2017, Masego released “Tadow,” a collaborative single with French artist FKJ. The accompanying video for the song went viral, showing the two musicians impressively live-looping all of the track’s instruments in the studio. “Tadow” landed on his official full-length debut, Lady Lady, which was issued in September 2018. Masego kept busy, producing or guesting on releases by VanJess, Ari Lennox, the Game, Kaytranada, and many others in addition to releasing solo singles like the body-positive anthem “Big Girls.” In 2020, he guested on Kehlani’s “Hate the Club” and Ro James’ “Slow Down” while issuing a flood of his own singles, including “Mystery Lady” from the Studying Abroad EP. A deluxe edition, the Grammy-nominated Studying Abroad: Extended Stay, appeared in May 2021. Masego collaborated with JID and Rapsody on the song “Somethin’ Ain’t Right,” from Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album, and he co-produced “Champagne Poetry,” the first song on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. He also released the live-in-studio EP Capitol Cuts as well as “Garden Party,” a single with Big Boi and JID, and “Yamz” (with Devin Morrison). The solo single “Say You Want Me” arrived in 2022. ~ Fred Thomas