Masego Breaks Out Of All Boxes With His Fusion of Afro-Beats and “TrapHouse Jazz”
Masego, Image Via Tidal
Now with online streaming platforms, the Afro-beats genre has been given more space than ever to flourish and expand. We’ve seen the likes of Nigerian artists such as C’Kay and Amaarae’s songs trend and be celebrated for their divergent and multifaceted sounds. Both C’Kay’s love nwantiti (ah ah ah) and Amaarae’s SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY have gone viral on social media.
Both of these songs have elements of the genre afro-beats.
Afro-beats is defined as, “urban popular music originating in Nigeria in the late 1960s that emphasizes percussion rhythms and features elements of jazz and funk and lyrics which are often strongly political.”
One driving force for the Afro-beats genre is Masego. Masego has been transforming the genre by fusing it with other genres like neo-soul, R&B, jazz, and as a result, has created his own self-titled genre and sound called “Trap-house Jazz.”
Masego talks about Trap House Jazz in an NPR interview:
“And so we - my friend called it ignorance meets elegance. And he was, like, you know what? This sounds like trap house jazz. Like, you know, this jam session - we could probably cook drugs here, or we have a jam session. And so we were just joking about it, but I actually started running with it because it really was that. Like, I love the drums to really almost hurt you, and the chords would be almost making you cry. And it's kind of my mindset, how I approach all of my music.”
Masego’s 2020 album Studying Abroad: Extended Stay is the prime example of his skillful ability to blend the Afro-beats genre with his own blend and hybrid genre of his own: Trap House Jazz.
His song Yebo/Sema inhabits afro-beats through the long saxophone instrumental solos and complex jazzy rhythms. Ultimately, Afro-beats derive from complex layered and intricate instrumentals and beats. Yebo/Sema is a testament to the funky, jazzy, and energetic qualities Afro-beats inhabit within music. Masego sings:
"She say Masego
Will build the beat on stage
He might, that man gon' build the beat on stage
From scratch, oh no way
Build the beat on stage”
These lyrics truly embody and capture the essence of Afro-beats. Afro-beats is about building and layering intricate instrumentals to create a very rich, melodious, and rhythmic beats.
In his song Silver Tongue Devil featuring Shenseea, we again see this blend of a complex of layered percussions and instrumentals. Shenseea who is a dancehall Jamaican singer brings in aspects of dancehall with the Afro-beat layered song. The song also highlights Masego’s eclectic vocal production and layering.
One of Masego’s most intricate and hypnotizing songs is Mystery Lady - Sego’s Remix. Not only is the beat hypnotic and has modern lo-fi hip hop qualities to it, but it has aspects of traditional Afro-instrumentals. The song captures Masego’s tension and inner turmoil, while mysteriously and romantically unfolding and releasing that tension through instrumentals and vulnerable lyrics. Masego’s sings alluringly:
“Thinkin' I could make this many songs 'bout a lady
When I haven't met her, but she on me heavy, on my cerebellum
If I say I love her, am I wrong? Am I crazy?
Am I overzealous? But I know the feeling, and I'm never wrong”
Ultimately Masego is a pioneer for the Afro-beat genre, but also a pioneer for the industry in general since he is a genre-bending musician. He is unlike anything you'll ever hear with elements of jazz through his Saxophone solos, to afro-beats with looped percussions and complex rhythms, to R&B-styled and controlled vocals. Masego’s Studying Abroad: Extended Stay is essentially a masterpiece capturing various of culturally rich and blended genres.
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