T-Mass and Staarz have mixed their creative chakras to create electronic alchemical gold with the newly released track “Bad Guy,” a cover of the Billie Eilish hit. While the original is an exercise in whispered swagger, bated pauses, and ear bending transitions, the cover takes the song out of the bedroom and sets it cruising through neon dripped city streets on an Akira motorcycle. T-Mass laces the track with subtle drops before opening the throttle and hurling you into lush maximalist electronic production that never breaks the cool that the original hit branded into our collective mind. The song wisely keeps the gut punch of the famous warped vocal “bad guy” but instead of a muted bravado, T-Mass makes the production a blurried full throttle joyride filled with melody and texture reminiscent of TNGHT, Hudson Mohawke, and Rustie. This release is the first track in six years for T-Mass and Dim Mak records and leans heavily on the stirring heady vocal performance from Staarz. Here she is talking about the start of the collab:
“So, ‘Bad Guy’ by Billie Eilish has always been one of my top favorite songs by her. Honestly, I never imagined myself singing the song because, I mean, c’mon, it’s Billie Eilish. Like I always thought to myself, even if I tried, I could never resonate the same ‘bad guy’ energy. Well, that thought took 180 now, haha. I have always also been a huge fan of T-Mass, and always adored his songs, but one that stood out to me the most is his bootleg remix of ‘Bad Guy’ ever since he released it years ago. I went crazy over it and played it nonstop as a teen. One day, I messaged T-Mass regarding music and told him unconfidently, ‘Hey! If you ever need vocals, let me know! I would be more than happy to work with you.’ I then received a message back from him saying, ‘Absolutely.’ I then remembered he had that remix of ‘Bad Guy,’ so I decided to take a leap of faith and risk to ask him if I could do the vocals for this ‘Bad Guy (T-Mass Remix)’ with me knowing darn well I couldn’t sing that song even if my life depended on it, and I’m stoked about it finally getting an official release.”
Listen to “Bad Guy” the new single from T-Mass and Staarz on Spotify, Soundcloud, and YouTube.