Masego was made for this. His name, meaning blessing in Tswana, feels prophetic: a reflection of how his music uplifts, connects, and transforms any space it fills. Step into his world, and you’re not just hearing sound. You’re living in it.
On layered Moroccan rugs beneath the glow of amber light and surrounded by Sonos speakers, Masego leads the Nu Deco Ensemble through a live take of his new single “Unhinged.” The scene reflects what Sonos makes possible — sound so rich, detailed, and dimensional you can feel every instrument: the surging saxophone, the steady percussion, the swelling strings, and the electric guitar that tops it off with a tinge of attitude. Every note, every vibration, feels close enough to touch.
Photo Credit: Diogo
It’s a fitting collaboration between an artist who chases feeling and a brand that builds a sound system designed to deliver it.
Born in Jamaica, raised in Virginia, and shaped by travels across continents, Masego, née Micah Davis, has always been drawn to sound as an experience. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist and creator of “Trap House Jazz,” his sound fuses jazz’s improvisation with hip-hop’s edge and house’s pulse. His breakout hit, “Tadow,” introduced the world to that fusion, a burst of pure spontaneity that captured what he calls “chasing a feeling.”
Photo Credit: Diogo
“I just want to hear that a person made this,” he says of his music. “I want to hear that it’s real and that it has emotion.” It’s the same principle that drives Sonos: creating sound that doesn’t merely fill a room but transforms it. Together, Masego and Sonos dissolve the boundary between performance and presence, between listening and feeling.
And that desire to blur the lines, to understand a sensation through sound is exactly how “Unhinged” came to be. Written during a particularly low point, the song was born at sunset in the backyard of a North Hollywood home, where Masego invited musicians to play, to jam, to feel better. “We all gathered, and I just started freestyling,” he says.“ [Some people were] playing some trumpets, [some were] handling the percussion, there’s laughter going on, and as the night went on, we started to craft what was inside of our minds and our bodies.”
To celebrate Masego’s first solo release since 2023, Sonos and Rolling Stone tapped the genre-bending artist for the first episode of our three-part series, “Sound Conductors”, a boundary-pushing project that places influential artists and producers at the helm of a live orchestra. Together, we explore how music becomes more than sound when it’s deeply felt and beautifully heard. Because with Sonos, every sound tells a story.
Photo Credit: Diogo
We paired Masego with a familiar friend, Miami’s Nu Deco Ensemble, with the genre-defying collaboration between the two a nod to Sonos’ ability to bring worlds together – one room, one rhythm at a time. “The approach [for “Unhinged”] was to honor what existed and then build around it in a way that felt authentic to both his voice and ours,” says Sam Hyken, CEO, Artistic Director and Co-founder of Nu Deco. He goes on to detail the structure he created for their sonic connection. “I enhanced the original structure and added new orchestral elements — a trumpet solo, expanded string writing, and additional rhythmic layers — to give it that Nu Deco signature while still keeping the spirit of the original at the center. The result was a beautiful reflection of how naturally our worlds blend together.”
Masego often describes himself as a “living mural,” a constantly evolving canvas that others can add to. Collaboration, to him, isn’t just about sharing a track. It’s about conducting a shared, transformative experience. “I think conducting is really about leading and guiding,” he says. “I think a conductor can lead you to all of your potential and your talent.”
Photo Credit: Diogo
For Masego, the experience is more than musical evolution. It’s sonic immersion. On set, his Sonos Era 300 speakers and Sub 4 become his vehicle for transporting him back into the bittersweet memories that made “Unhinged.”“I like to immerse myself in sound, literally surround myself with speakers,” he says.“With Sonos, I can really hear the craft in a song. You hear the bass, the layers, the textures. You hear what you missed before. You hear the journey.”
It’s fitting for an artist who sees music as both agency and space. “I think it’s important to orchestrate your own sound,” he says. “It’s nice to have something where you make the rules.” Creativity is the ultimate freedom for Masego, and the ability to conduct your own personal experience sits at the heart of his partnership with Sonos.
Photo Credit: Diogo
Whether it’s the joy of a backyard jam’s laughter or the warmth of a string section unlocking an old memory, Masego’s pursuit remains simple: to feel something and make others feel it, too. “The purpose of a melody,” Masego says, “is to serve as a universal language.” With Sonos, that purpose is amplified. Music becomes more than something you listen to. It becomes a way to translate your sense of wonder. A passage to new worlds. A system of your own conducting.
