Gus Dapperton is one of the sharpest (and mostly sharply dressed) songwriters to have recently come out of the US. Hailing from Warwick, New York, the 21-year-old writes lush pop music drawing from the Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder well of songwriting.

“I would say that my music is surreal, it’s inspired by dreams, and it’s inspired by heartbreak,” Dapperton says in a new short film produced by Dazed and YouTube Music. “Every new experience will trigger melodies in my head. I’ll hear a phrase around me that someone says... I’ll write it down in my notebook and as soon as I'll sit down with my guitar I’ll come up with the rest of the arrangement there.”

To celebrate his presence on this year’s Dazed 100, Dapperton has programmed a YouTube Music playlist for Dazed Digital tracing his musical evolution. You’ll hear everything from Avril Lavigne to Talking Heads, Britney to the Beatles. It’s a selection that sounds like Dapperton’s childhood, both the hits that would’ve been on Top 40 radio and the records his parents might play around the house. “I go back to things that are nostalgic for me,” Dapperton says in the film. “Michael Jackson, the Beatles, Britney Spears, Stevie Wonder.”

Download the YouTube Music app here, and listen to the playlist here. 

Director: Sylvie Weber

DOP: Elias Köhler

Sound Recordist, editor: Sylvie Weber

Colourist: Delfina Mayer