Medasin x Masego Tell You Their Type At No. 2.
The North Texas music scene has really come into its own the past 12 months. There hasn't been a year in recent memory when so many local artists appeared on the Billboard charts, played Saturday Night Live and other late night television programs, or otherwise appeared in the national spotlight. Here, as we've done in years past, we're highlighting what we think are the 100 best songs locally-tied of the year. The thing is, as far as this list is concerned, we're judging the quality of the songs irrespective of the popularity of the people putting them out — meaning, you're just as likely to have a song by a Grammy-winning act sandwiched between a couple of high school bands. Hey, it's just more interesting that way. Also keeping with tradition, we'll be rolling out the list in smaller, more digestible portions every weekday through the end of the month, complete with embedded streams of each. We think that gives each of these more than deserving acts a little more shine, and it also gives you a little more time to really check out each of these high quality tunes — including, presumably, a few that you may have missed upon their initial release.
There's a new wave out there, one that's bolstering on SoundCloud.
The good folks of Soulelction — a “record label, radio show and niche collective of creative music makers worldwide” — can be credited with staring this wave. They're an impressive crew; their collective is mostly comprised of producers who expand and build upon the production styles of greats like J Dilla, early Kanye West and Q-Tip. The producers on the label deftly incorporate house, jazz and trap elements into the sound of tomorrow. And, naturally, some talented young guns have followed suit. One of these is a young, fresh-faced white kid from Dallas named Medasin.
Medasin, who produced a track on Soulection artist GoldLink's debut album this year, is a part of a collective called Film Noir, which bears similarities to Soulection. Also a part of Film Noir is Masego, a singer, rapper, musician, etc. ad infinitum from the DMV area who Medasin would collaborate with this year on a project called the Pink Polo EP. It's a wildly fun release worthy of making Fat Joe ditch leaning back to bend his knees and shake his hips.
See Also:
• The Top 100 Local Songs of 2015. // Counting Down From 100 to 81.
• The Top 100 Local Songs of 2015. // Counting Down From 80 to 61.
• The Top 100 Local Songs of 2015. // Counting Down From 60 to 41.
• The Top 100 Local Songs of 2015. // Counting Down From 40 to 26.
• The Top 100 Local Songs of 2015. // Counting Down From 25 to 16.
• The Top 100 Local Songs of 2014.
The stand-out track in that project is “Girls That Dance,” a song with more than 1.3 million plays on SoundCloud. As the first track on the EP, “Girls That Dance” sets the tone for the project with a modern-day disco vibe, bombastic drums, smooth talking and vocals. At the track's midpoint there's a crisp saxophone solo followed by Masego scatting about “ta-ta's.”
It's great.
Masego calls his music “TrapHouseJazz,” but it's not exactly that. Though it borrows from trap with hard drums, you don't ever feel the horror or claustrophobia inherent in selling small quantities of drugs because you're trapped into doing nothing else. Instead, this is just sweaty fun that demands you at least tap your toe, even if it also boasts the power to hypnotize you into doing a swing routine best-suited for a dank hipster bar in Los Angeles a la Swingers.
The sound of tomorrow is here. And we'll happily dance the night away to it.
100. Terrence Spectacle — “King's Cup”
99. Tunk — “Scarface The Rapper”
98. Lil Ronny MothaF — “Circle”
97. Denim Wonder — “I Love My City”
96. Sin Motivo — “Sintomas”
95. Kevin Aldridge — “Winner Leaves Town”
94. Coach Tev — “Omens (ft. Drugs, The Model Citizen & Rei Altru)”
92. Bummer Vacation — “Silver Hands”
91. Danny Cainco — “In My Bed”
90. Dove Hunter — “Dream Catcher”
89. GHETTODSKO — “It's Like That”
88. Toadies — “In the Belly of a Whale”
87. 87. Sad Cops — “Allen Road Park”
86. Essay EyE — “Day Da Day”
85. Astronautalis — “Sike”
84. The Azealia Project — “Chameleons”
83. Rhett Miller — “Most in the Summertime”
82. Botany — “Jotu”
81. Ghoulfive — “Materialistic”
80. VIDEO — “New Immortals”
79. No Touching — “Any Minute”
78. Damaged Good$ — “FCKBOY JIHAD PT. 1”
77. Hate Your Friends — “Whooda Thunk?”
75. Blessin' — “Eileen”
74. Birds of Night — “Asleep in the Pine”
73. Parquet Courts — “No, No, No!”
72. Bobby Sessions — “Black Neighborhood”
71. Larce Blake w/ Masego & BeMyFiasco — “SwingInLove”
70. Sudie — “Van Morrissey”
69. Buffalo Black — “High Noon”
68. Zane Williams — “A Song tor the Folks That Stole Our Van and Trailer”
67. Colton Carlyle — “Stalker”
66. Smoke Paint — “Chastity Belt”
65. Pinkish Black — “Brown Rainbow”
64. KoolQuise — “Cupid's Handgun”
63. Nick Jonas — “Jealous”
62. Skagg Philips — “Problems in Japan”
61. Brave Young Lion — “Girls”
60. Valise — “Charlie Gray”
58. Siamese — “Savage High”
57. Vandoliers — “Runaway Sons”
56. Claire Morales & Jena Pyle — “Strange”
55. Rhett Miller & Madison King — “Feel Like Fallin' in Love”
54. Nervous Curtains — “Devastator”
53. The Outfit, TX – “All Bills Paid” ft. Devy Stonez
52. These Machines Are Winning — “Kuru”
51. St. Vincent — “Bad Believer”
50. Snow that Product — “AyAyAy”
49. Kacey Musgraves — “Pageant Material”
48. Neon Indian — “Slumlord”
47. War Party — “Nolo Mori”
46. Conner Youngblood – “The Badlands”
45. Radioactivity — “Silent”
44. Birds of Night — “Dark”
43. A.Dd+ — “The Rhyme and The Rhythm”
42. Color TV — “Cadillac”
41. LUWUM — “The Band”
40. The Outfit, TX — “Wild Turkey”
39. Doug Burr — “White Night — Black Light”
38. Jake Paleschic — “When it is Played”
37. Party Static — “Mr Sexypants”
36. Pearl Earl — “Karaoke Superstar”
35. Lower Dens — “To Die in L.A.”
34. Selena Gomez — “Good For You”
33. Brack Cantrell — “Corpus Christi”
32. Demi Lovato — “Confident”
31. Herrick and Hooley — “Skeletor vs He-Man”
30. Dripping Wet — “She's Not Mine”
29. Maren Morris — “My Church”
28. Andy Pickett — “Don't Bro Me”
27. Post Malone — “Tear$”
26. Pyramids — “In Perfect Stillness, I've Only Found Sorrow”
24. War Party — “Teenager On Drugs”
23. Vincent Neil Emerson — “East Texas Blues”
22. Shaun Martin — “One Big Party”
21. Telegraph Canyon — “Why Let it Go”
20. Felix — “Ain Afraid”
19. Neon Indian — “Annie”
18. The Warden — “Our Town”
17. St. Vincent — “Teenage Talk”
16. Erykah Badu — “Cel U Lar Device”
15. Dead to a Dying World — “The Hunt Eternal”
14. LEV — “Shadow”
13. G.U.N. — “Johnny Cage”
12. Jonathan Tyler — “To Love Is To Fly” (feat. Nikki Lane)
11. Picnictyme — “Burnin Up”
10. Andy Pickett — “It Happens Every Night”
8. Reagan James — “Blue”
7. Demi Lovato — “Cool For the Summer”
6. Erykah Badu — “Hello” (feat. Andre 3000)
5. Post Malone — “White Iverson”
4. Leon Bridges — “River”
3. Bobby Sessions — “Peyton Manning”
2. Masego x Medasin — “GIrls That Dance”
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