Words by The Urban Journal
Being the artist behind one of Apple’s catchiest advert soundtracks thrust him into the spotlight – and now, Tessellated is ready to stay there.
For some big stars, a feature in an advert for one of the world’s biggest companies is just another day at the office – but for Tessellated, it was his introduction to the world. Quickly, he became a phenomenon. He may have always seen it coming, but for the rest of us, it was quite the first encounter.
His fans include Jorja Smith, Lily Allen and Major Lazer, meaning he’s doing something right. With little creative boundaries, the Jamaican-born, LA-based artist has set about charting his own course in the music world. With little regard to the confines of genres, he’s explored just about every sound there is. But unlike a four-year old causing havoc with the first available instrument, his experimentation works – it really works. Think chaos meets order, Yin meets Yang.
With combinations of different genres – including jazz and reggae – he’s created a unique sound, full of joyful optimism and talent.
Given the high praise from yours truly, you’d expect his debut EP, Topics Vol1, to be a hit, a marriage of melodies, even. You’d be right. It’s much less a nervous piece of work or an experimental exploration by a young up-and-coming artist and more a young man assured of his own sound, and confident in his own abilities.
It’s also what you’d expect from an artist who doesn’t really do genres. Instead, as he described it, it’s a “fusion”, with influences from dancehall, reggae and sounds from Africa. Despite the plaudits, though, this body of work is not all talent and no hard work. Quite the contrary. By all accounts, Tessellated puts in a shift – you know, something about talent getting you in the door and commitment keeping you in the room?
When asked of his musical influences, he cited Sean Paul, Luther Vandross and The Beatles, amongst others – painting a picture of his versatile yet impressive taste in music. At 21, the world is still his oyster – and by the sounds of things, he plans to open it, eat it and come back for more.
Given he’s full to the brim with talent, Tessellated is sure to stay, so expect to see and hear more of him soon. And bearing in mind his obvious commercial and cultural appeal, he’ll be wise to start taking some lessons on being in the spotlight.
Check out the other artists we’ve profiled in our Discover Weekly series.