American TrapHouseJazz musician is set to light up Nairobi today (04.05.19) at the Carnivore Grounds where he will be performing as he brings his Lady Lady tour to Kenya.
Ahead of the concert, here are a few things you should know about the ‘Navajo’ hitmaker.
He was born in Jamaica and grew up in a Christian Military home
Masego’s real name is Micah Davis he was born June 8, 1993, and although he is American, he was born in Jamaica.
Micah Davis was born to a Jamaican father and an African-American mother. His father was in the U.S Air Force and his mother was an entrepreneur. Both his mother and father were also pastors and he was raised in a non-denominational Christian home. The military travels eventually led his family to Virginia. Here, Davis was shaped into the musician he is today.
Music genre definition
The 25-year-old Masego alias Uncle Sego is an international, contemporary genre-bending entertainer who refers to his own music style as “TrapHouseJazz” or Emotion.
Breakthrough
His collaborative record with FKJ ‘Tadow’ has amassed over 100 million views on YouTube. His record ‘Navajo’, first premiered by Berlin platform ‘Colors’, has been streamed over 20 million times, triggering a worldwide sold out tour. He is also known for his masterful song ‘Lavish Lullaby’ on the series open mic from Genius YouTube channel.
He plays multiple instruments
Davis used to beat on books at a young age, which eventually led to the drums becoming the first instrument he learned without formal lessons. Davis has spoken about learning piano, sax and various drum machines in order to impress his crush back in his years in school.
Stage name origin
It was in high school when Davis adopted the name Masego after finding out his family had roots in South Africa. He did his senior project on South African culture and came across the name “Masego”(plural) and it is meaning “blessings” in Setswana – {“Lesego” being singular}. This felt to Davis like a proper stage name due to his nickname back in the church being “Blessing”. After a talent competition and a few records with the name used as the tag, Masego was born.
Musical influences
Drawing from his upbringing of both his parents being pastors, Davis has stated that church allowed him a place to learn music from talented musicians. Davis has also cited John P. Kee, Andre 3000 and Cab Calloway as influences. Davis grew up in a room with over 200 vinyl records on the walls while simultaneously having friends giving him hard hitting drums and trap music influences.
Discography
In April 2016 Masego released ‘The Pink Polo’ Ep and in July of 2016, he released ‘Loose Thoughts’ EP. In September 2018 Masego dropped his debut studio album, ‘Lady Lady’ which is an ode to all the women in his life, the feelings they’ve inspired, and the ways in which they’ve led him to the present day. There’s a track titled ‘Queen Tings’, where he names Kenyan Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, and Solange Knowles. It was written in his excitement for Black History Month and the release of the blockbuster ‘Black Panther’.
Masego’s 2019 ‘Lady Lady’ tour will also see him travel to South Africa, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, France, Spain, Portugal and Hungary.
