Masego popped a squat with “the UK’s future taste maskers” Radar Radio while in Europe last month for his debut shows. And he introduced himself in the most expected unexpected nature that is sincere to Masego’s demeanor, by spitting something that had to do with M&M’s and Eminem.
In his conversation with Radar Radio’s own Kamilla Rose, Uncle Sego speaks highly of his TrapHouseJazz collective as he describes them as superheroes. According to the saxophone king, every member of THJ is a specialist in whatever makes them different from the others. This creates an atmosphere that can be donned the “gumbo of music” that combats the boxed-in trends of the industry.
Delving deeper into what music means to the Melanin Man himself, he discusses his interest in every instrument he’s ever played being ignited by a girl he had a crush on growing up. Although, he went back and “re-fell” in love with the saxophone and drums intrinsically.
Speaking of “Melanin Man,” the idea of the Basstrack’s song stems back to the words of an Uber driver. No, that’s not a mistake. Masego describes the warning words from a wise Uber driver as he embarks on turf that should be treaded lightly in an “uppity, rich part of town” in LA: “Listen man, before you get out of this Uber, understand where you’re at. You’re melanin man. These white people are scared of you. You know what I’m sayin’? They think you’re about to go rob the bank and steal their children. I don’t know why. But you need to carry yourself like royalty.” In exchange for the cherished words of enlightenment, the musician gifted him with a five-star rating and sonically blues-esque track.
The musician briefly reminisced on how the genre of gospel has influenced his style of music with its sincere and soulful nature and how if he didn’t play the sax, he’d be too busy creating masterpieces with an instrument referred to as a “birang stick” and ducking collab requests from Hov, himself. For the grand comical finale of the nearly seven-minute video clip, Masego went on to explain the friend-assisted twerk to a dumbfounded Kamilla. The conversation arose in part by K. Rose’s questioning on how Uncle Sego feels about the resurgence of dancehall into mainstream, with the instrumentalist reacting gratefully because the popular “Controlla” track by Champagne Papi blesses him with the “the meanest of twerks” with the cross-hand motions and all.
Check out the video below to become witness to the “Jamaican and country” nature of the Melanin Man, himself.