When Two Feet—a.k.a. the Harlem-raised vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Bill Dess—uploaded the smoldering “Go Fuck Yourself’ to SoundCloud in 2016, he had no idea life was about to change. Within days, the jazz-tinted, electro-contorted song had amassed over 8 million streams and set the stage for Two Feet’s debut EP, First Steps. That release, which arrived several months later, drew attention from DJs and influential music curators, and landed Dess a deal with Republic Records. Today, it’s safe to say Dess is leveraging every bit of momentum to his advantage. Two Feet’s songs have millions of streams across Spotify, YouTube and SoundCloud—his latest single, the soulful number “I Feel Like I’m Drowning,” has reached 1.3 million plays on Spotify alone in less than a month. He’s performed at Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits and SXSW, and his first U.S. headlining tour is slated for early 2018. “I’m interested in figuring out a way of making pop music that’s not only more original, but also honest,” he says. “I feel maybe ten years ago—or maybe even five years ago—my project wouldn’t have worked. But now it feels kind of like a big experiment that we’re about to try out.”

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