Masego isn\u2019t used to being this open and honest. If the 33-year-old singer and multi-instrumentalist had it his way, he\u2019d still be strictly making the feel-good, \u201cvibes music\u201d he\u2019s become known for over the past 10-plus years of his career.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m not the vulnerable type,\u201d he admitted to me. \u201cI like to do the tough guy, Jamaican man thing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n That\u2019s just how the Kingston-born musician was raised. Growing up in Newport News, Virginia, with his Jamaican father \u2014 a military pastor \u2014 and mother, Masego vividly remembers hearing some version of the phrase \u201cfix your face\u201d from his parents whenever his emotions threatened to show.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cMy father, he would say, \u2018Tighten up,\u2019 or \u2018Lock in,\u2019 when I would lose a basketball game at like age 8,\u201d the musician recalled to celebrity.land, \u201cand I would still have to dap the team up. That didn\u2019t make sense. I was like, \u2018I want to cry. Let me get this cry off,\u2019 and he\u2019s like, \u2018Nah, you got to dap them up and act like you don\u2019t care that you just lost.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n That philosophy never quite sat right with Masego. Yet it became so ingrained in his mind as a kid that he unknowingly taught himself how to suppress his deepest feelings as he got older, both in life and music. For years, the talented virtuoso effortlessly soundtracked being a hopeless romantic on his 2018 debut album \u201cLady Lady,\u201d the peaks and valleys of relationships on his Grammy-nominated EP \u201cStudying Abroad: Extended Stay\u201d and even his own evolution from street performer to globally acclaimed R&B maestro on his 2023 self-titled album. But even those intimate releases kept Masego\u2019s truest thoughts just out of reach from the public.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI feel like I didn\u2019t know at the time, but that was me conditioning myself to mask my emotions,\u201d he noted. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n It wasn\u2019t until recently that the self-proclaimed private artist took on the tough challenge of digging deep and finally letting the world in. The result is his most introspective work to date, his third studio album \u201c<\/span>Fix Your Face<\/span><\/a>,\u201d which arrived July 17. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI feel like I didn\u2019t know at the time, but that was me conditioning myself to mask my emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n – Masego<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Created in the aftermath of losing his home in Southern California\u2019s 2025 wildfires, a death in the family and more of life\u2019s curveballs, the 16-track LP finds Masego in an entirely different headspace, baring his soul about everything from how a tragic accident in his adolescence changed his ambitions from basketball to music (\u201cSounds Like…\u201d) to the worst kind of heartache imaginable (\u201cGone\u201d). Drawing from both formative memories and recent life-changing experiences, the self-revelatory album weaves through grief, heartbreak, infatuation, lust and identity with a level of transparency unlike anything in Masego\u2019s previous work. But as fulfilling as the result of his growth feels, getting there was anything but easy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t like any of this process of being vulnerable publicly,\u201d Masego confessed, noting it was rather \u201cscary\u201d to let the world see this side of him. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBut I think it\u2019s rewarding,\u201d he continued, \u201cbecause I got nieces and nephews and people that look up to me. So I\u2019m trying to be an example for how you\u2019re supposed to deal with emotions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Masego arrives a few minutes late to our afternoon Zoom call, tired but still in good spirits as he basks in the glow of his album\u2019s release. It\u2019s barely been a week since he unleashed the emotional record, yet fans have already been sending the singer their top three favorites.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m using it almost like a personality test,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, you like these three? I know what type of person you are.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for the artist, who first captivated audiences worldwide with his saxophone-driven \u201cTrapHouse Jazz\u201d sound. Between hopping on planes for shows, juggling music video shoots and a press run to unpack his rebirth era, he\u2019s had to reacquaint himself with the demands of a fast-paced album cycle as he promotes his first full-length project in three years. But the nonstop pace of this chapter pales in comparison to the emotional labor behind the songs that make up \u201cFix Your Face.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fun party tracks like Masego\u2019s latest single \u201cRecommend<\/a>\u201d \u2014 accompanied by a one-man band visual paying homage to one of his influences, jazz legend Herbie Hancock, and a <\/span>1976 performance of \u201cHang Up Your Hang Ups\u201d<\/span><\/a> \u2014 fall more naturally within the creative comfort zone he\u2019s built throughout his career. But cuts like \u201cSymone,\u201d where he reflects on a relationship fractured by infidelity, and \u201cLimerence,\u201d where he pours his soul out about being utterly infatuated with his \u201cride or die,\u201d challenged him to reveal more of himself than ever before.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n For an artist who has spent much of his career purposely keeping certain parts of himself tucked away, the payoff of putting his business out on front street now is still something he\u2019s learning to embrace.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m all about rewards,\u201d Masego said. \u201cLike, what\u2019s the reward for letting everybody in your business? What happens afterward? I look at how someone like J. Cole moves, and I\u2019m like, we all know his everything, but does he like that? And so I would just spend time to observe: Was it fun to tell y\u2019all their business?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Still, he understands that choosing vulnerability over hiding behind bravado and his musical gifts is \u201ca lot better\u201d for his personal journey.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the reward for letting everybody in your business?\u201d<\/p>\n – Masego<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Compared to the rest of \u201cFix Your Face,\u201d which expertly balances deep revelations with moments of playful levity, the album\u2019s most affecting track is hands-down its lead single \u201cBreathe<\/a>\u201d \u2014 an emotionally charged, gospel-infused confession about grieving a heavy loss while carrying the weight of a successful career.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s as close as Masego has gotten to letting the public see him without all the emotional armor he\u2019s worn for so long. And while he\u2019d rather not dwell on the real-life events that inspired the cathartic record, he understands there are listeners who find solace in his honesty.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy to do it,\u201d Masego said, even as he still wrestles with the idea that it\u2019s \u201ckind of ridiculous to perform pain.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI gotta go on tour and just sing about it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s strange.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, with \u2018Breathe,\u2019 I think the reason I was convinced to make it the single to come out with it, talk about it every day, is because my family and a lot of my friends were telling me how my specific story was so relatable to them,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd when I get in all my little grumpy moods, if I see a certain DM and I\u2019m seeing a paragraph of what my music is doing for somebody, I\u2019m like, all right, you got it. It\u2019s worth the trouble.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n He added, \u201cIf I\u2019m a man for real, I\u2019ma just have to deal with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bringing \u201cFix Your Face\u201d to life became a collaborative effort across all fronts for Masego. He joined forces with co-producer Jordan Elgie to share creative responsibilities across the project, which features the voice of his mother as well as \u201ca lot of women that I respect.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSome of my best friends are on the album giving me some words of encouragement,\u201d Masego said. \u201cIt\u2019s like all the people that are allowing me to express myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He also worked closely with his team to shape the visual identity behind the album\u2019s title and its striking artwork. \u201cIt comes with being in a room full of a bunch of smart people, and we say, \u2018How do we work just as much with the visuals as we did with the music?\u2019\u201d Masego said, explaining how the latter came together. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n But what planted the seed for \u201cFix Your Face\u201d itself was Masego\u2019s desire to create an album that could \u201cgive a stage to the emotions that never got a chance to be out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Until now, Masego had neither the desire nor the tools to even know how to fully channel that level of sincerity into his songwriting, which was never \u201cweak,\u201d he notes, but \u201cI\u2019ve just never focused on trying to get people to appreciate it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI wanted to give a stage to the emotions that never got a chance to be out.\u201d<\/p>\n – Masego<\/p>\n<\/div>\n To embrace a more unfiltered approach on the album, he looked to greats who had long mastered the art of vulnerability, such as Amy Winehouse, Mary J. Blige, fellow Virginia native D\u2019Angelo and even contemporaries like PartyNextDoor and SZA. He also got assistance from fellow R&B heavyweights known for their own soul-baring lyrics, including featured artists Leon Thomas<\/a>, Keyshia Cole, Musiq Soulchild and Lekan. Jamaica\u2019s own Buju Banton and DMV rapper Foggieraw \u2014 symbolic of the places that helped shape Masego \u2014 also appear on the album in what feels like a creative homecoming of sorts.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI like to be friends with people I work with,\u201d Masego said of those featured on the album. \u201cThat\u2019s what I try to get at because, in the beginning, I\u2019m only working with my friends. So it\u2019s beautiful that I played basketball with Lekan. And me and Musiq Soulchild have joked on each other more than we\u2019ve made music. Keyshia Cole and I were riding bikes before we [recorded together].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just like, human activity versus transactional, \u2018Give me the feature,\u2019\u201d he added. \u201cSo I\u2019m happy that I was able to do that with all these features; all these people I know [personally].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Masego recorded roughly 150 songs while creating \u201cFix Your Face,\u201d ultimately trimming the tracklist to a fraction of that in service of the story he wanted to tell. Crafting a concept album that balanced his impressive musicianship with a newfound emotional openness reaffirmed why he fell in love with cohesive bodies of work in the first place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI love albums. I love skits. I listen to full albums always; not mine, but just anyone\u2019s,\u201d he said. \u201cI think [music] deserves that respect.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The sheer volume of tracks he composed for his latest offering speaks to the creative outpouring that came of the singer\u2019s album process, which unfolded across multiple sessions in Jamaica, New York and Los Angeles before coming full circle back where it all began. The work to craft it, though, started before Masego ever stepped back into the studio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n According to the singer, part of what pushed him toward this vulnerable space at this point in his career was \u201cconversations with people I respect who challenge me,\u201d who also encouraged him to confront a side of himself he had yet to reveal to the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIf I claim to want these goals, then [it\u2019s about] being held to get to those goals by any means,\u201d Masego noted. \u201cIt\u2019s like, you not finna go over here unless you open up a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The other part of his motivation came from a slightly more self-serving place, in wanting to create songs that connect with fans beyond a catchy hook (like the effect he still sees from his astronomical, FKJ-assisted 2017 smash \u201cTadow\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a specific image I\u2019ve always wanted, where it\u2019s like everyone in the crowd is singing the verse and they got their phone up or whatever, and they\u2019re excited about the lyricism versus just me being a great performer,\u201d Masego shared of the vision in his head. Reflecting on genres like jazz, he added, \u201cWhen it comes to melody taking the front seat, what you\u2019re saying takes the back seat.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI wanted to make a body of work that could get me to that because I\u2019ve already accomplished the wave your hands and all the things that I can do at a show,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut connecting with the pen was something that I\u2019ve always wanted to accomplish.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n To truly get there, though, Masego needed to make some changes beyond the music itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The three years since his last major release have been transformative. Beyond learning how to be a healthier version of himself, rather than the \u201cworkaholic type\u201d artist he\u2019s been in the past \u2014 he\u2019s been more intentional about working muscles in the gym rather than just the studio \u2014 he\u2019s also shed some of the traits that once defined the (formerly) skinny saxophone player with the wild hair fans first fell in love with.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The most obvious change lately? His fresh low cut.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYeah, I was really reluctant to do it,\u201d Masego said of cutting off his hair, also pointing to a bag that still holds it in his room. \u201cBut also, I have to be about what I say. So when I\u2019m in a new season or arc, I gotta do something to not turn back from the old me. It\u2019s gotta be super dramatic and anime. That\u2019s just how I gotta move.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That outward transformation mirrors the inner work Masego has quietly committed to over the past decade, much of it documented through a journaling habit that has become a cornerstone of his personal growth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a nice array of things I\u2019m talking about,\u201d he said of his entries. \u201cBecause it\u2019s identity, it\u2019s grief, it\u2019s some of my introspective thoughts, it\u2019s relationships, it\u2019s love. But I feel like all that is just things you experience in life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhen I\u2019m in a new season or arc, I gotta do something to not turn back from the old me. It\u2019s gotta be super dramatic and anime.\u201d<\/p>\n – Masego<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Looking back, those journals have become more than just a place to process his emotions. They\u2019ve also become a way to measure how far he\u2019s come in life, both personally and professionally, much like his new album.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n That introspection finds its clearest musical expression on \u201cFix Your Face\u201d via the closing track, \u201cCharlie Brown,\u201d a mellow, string-laden meditation on the \u201cfake love\u201d that has accompanied Masego\u2019s success. Surprisingly, it was also the most difficult song for him to write.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201c\u2018Charlie Brown\u2019 is saying that I feel like I\u2019m too smart for my own good now, so I\u2019m trying to dumb it back down and be kind of delusional to it all,\u201d he explained, reflecting on the fleeting attention he\u2019s received at times. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cCase in point: When I do anything and post about it, everybody is reminded to text me back, and now everybody loves me. And usually I\u2019m just like, \u2018Hey!\u2019 But now I\u2019m just like, \u2018Come on, G, this is just some noise,\u2019\u201d Masego continued. \u201cBut I feel like I\u2019d rather fall for it, though. I\u2019d rather just be delusional about the fact that, \u2019<\/span>Oh, you love me<\/span>.\u2019 I\u2019m clocking it basically, where it\u2019s like on \u2018Charlie Brown,\u2019 I said I know when this inevitably succeeds, everybody\u2019s gonna be hitting my line, and they don\u2019t even know how it comes across. It\u2019s me just being too above it all, viewing it as it goes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n He added: \u201c[The song] is just me trying to say, look, I\u2019m hip to the fact that it\u2019s fake noise; it\u2019s all this attention, and it\u2019s just for now. But then if I stop making music, it\u2019s, \u2018All right, he fell off,\u2019 and all these mean things. So I\u2019m just gonna be present in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another sign of growth: When I ask whether he feels like a different person today, after going through so many changes and seasons of self-reflection, he replied, \u201cI would say so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI do this thing where I write myself a letter to the future me, and it emails me a year later. So I get to see in words what I was on, how I was feeling, how I was speaking, who was in my life, and just reading the story of me is like, \u2018Oh yeah, I\u2019m not even on that anymore. I\u2019m not even thinking like that anymore,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s cool to see,\u201d he added, \u201cso I can also hold myself accountable if I\u2019m still on Instagram for two hours and just certain habits I need to kick.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Stepping into this new creative territory has been an eye-opening experience for the artist. And while fans may not see another project as raw and revealing as \u201cFix Your Face\u201d down the line (perhaps some potential loosies from the wealth of material recorded during the sessions), Masego is confident that he\u2019s laid the groundwork for the many chapters still ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Up next, Masego is preparing to take \u201cFix Your Face\u201d on a 40-date international tour spanning North America, Europe and the U.K., launching at the top of August. The singer jokes that he\u2019s been preparing to bring such a personal record to the stage by doing \u201cpush-ups with a weight on my heart<\/a>,\u201d though he\u2019s also been studying some of his favorite throwbacks, including \u201cThe Jamie Foxx Show\u201d and performances from fellow R&B star Tank.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cJust seeing things I like, and then deciding, OK, \u2018What is my intention? What do I want them to leave with?\u2019\u201d he said of the upcoming tour. \u201cJust making sure I can get all my moments off and practicing. You can\u2019t see the crib, but it\u2019s instruments everywhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Masego is also expanding his creative footprint beyond the music industry, becoming the first Black composer to score an anime theatrical film with the forthcoming fantasy feature \u201cMfinda\u201d \u2014 a natural extension of his longtime love of anime and his new interest in hobbies of filmmaking (hence, the mini documentary he directed for the album<\/a>) and photography.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s cool to know other people\u2019s jobs to see if they\u2019re doing it right,\u201d Masego said of learning the ropes in a new arena. \u201cLike, on the music videos, now I\u2019m like, \u2019Give me the camera.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI want to interact with what\u2019s going on around me,\u201d he added. \u201cI want to know everyone\u2019s perspective, and I think in all my little hobbies, I like to see what\u2019s going on. I don\u2019t want to just have things happening to me. And I love photography. I love film. I love all that. Having hobbies outside of being famous, it\u2019s healthy.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n As he navigates this new chapter of his life, Masego is hopeful that his willingness to be open on \u201cFix Your Face\u201d will help create space for others \u2014 especially Black men and his fellow R&B artists \u2014 to express themselves with the same honesty and freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYeah, join me, R&B Black men. Let\u2019s all cry together,\u201d Masego joked. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n But on a serious note, \u201cI feel like we need more balance,\u201d he pointed out. \u201cI think we\u2019re all out of balance. Everybody\u2019s too cool for school. So I\u2019m just like, show who you are, and then we can go back to being cool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI love being cool,\u201d the singer added, \u201cbut I feel like if more men just tell who they are, how they don\u2019t know how to talk to women, and then they figure it out a little bit \u2026 I would love to see more of that, and it would balance out the game. Then we can get back to the flex records.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/6a62aaac140000c408eae7cf.jpg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale\")
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