The 21-year-old Kingston native, born Joshua Meeks, aims to pattern a unique style of music which fuses Jamaican roots with various international influences including afrobeat, R&B, hip-hop, and jazz.
Background
The name Tessellated reflects Meeks’ creative works. He tends to incorporate different elements of established genres to create a sound which denotes some afro-futuristic elements. He says his musical influences developed subconsciously as a result of growing up in the internet era and listening to various artists on YouTube. But despite these varied influences, he wishes to create a unique musical product with equal market value as established genres.
“On iTunes for example, my stuff is usually classified under reggae, even though it’s definitely not reggae, because they don’t have the sub-genres just yet.”
Though his music isn’t reggae, its undertones of Jamaican roots link to the culture, despite its current inability to fit under any particular banner. External influences are not always heard in his sound but may manifest in the beat or instrumental. This creates a distinguishing edge to the final product. To this end, he says balance is the most important element:
“I try to maintain a blend that highlights the individuality of the different musical influences, but at the same time they come together so that one doesn’t overpower the other”
Style
In the current digital space, all aspects of an artist bond to form a marketable and potentially profitable package. Image, for example, is now a selling point for many upcoming and even established artists, garnering support and collaborative efforts from major brands globally. Presenting himself as Tessellated, the art piece [artist] is one way of packaging his brand, in a way that accurately represents him.
“My style is hard to describe. It’s like roots mixed with post [modern] streetwear. Imagery is a part of the art, so my image and even how I do my hair accurately represents who Tessellated is. One of my favourite fashion brands right now is U.K-based menswear retailer Topman.”
“People want to appreciate little aspects that are authentic, they want to be able to relate on a cultural and expressive level.”
His artistic abilities combined with his style and originality, comes into play as added elements to the overall market value of his work.
Pine and Ginger
The release of the 2017 hit single created an undeniable buzz which has since given the young artist rise to stardom. The track got over 10 Million streams on Spotify and soared for weeks on trending charts in the region and on international radio. The single is the result of a collaborative effort and features Los Angeles-based Amindi K Fro$t and Florida-based producer Valleys. Despite its success, he doesn’t consider himself as a big mainstream artist. He says he has more works to be released from his catalogue. Tessellated remains unwavering/humbled by his achievements and is in pursuit of greater things to come.
“It is not easy for one to be classified a mainstream or even a crossover artist, especially if one doesn’t have a collective support system [investing capital and advice]. This is because the focus has been shifted from radio for example, to online platforms”
Streaming is now the qualifying factor and numbers the quantifier in determining the value/profitability of music in the current arena.
Upcoming Projects
While he’s only released two songs since ‘Pine and Ginger’ Tessellated’s efforts have been channeled toward garnering the best production and sifting through deals to have fewer restrictions regarding collaborative works.
On his follow-up single ‘Hallucinate’, he sampled the ‘Beach Front Riddim’ – which was produced by Rvssian. While this collaboration was a seamless one, he’s had troubles in the past trying to release collaborative projects. For this reason, he’s remained an independent artist with a distribution deal.
“Clear visuals contribute to others perception of an artist and I work with many super talented producers, videographers [to maintain a certain quality of work]. I’ve been working a lot, meeting new people and getting into different spaces. I’m also trying to bring other people onto my projects”
Tessellated also wears the hat of producer, having produced Jada Kingdom’s 2018 hit single ‘Banana’. His vision for Jamaican music is for it to embody diversity, to the point that dancehall may be recorded over afro or even jazz beats. He has no doubt that with all the talent present in the region, along with the support our music has garnered from the digital space, we’ll definitely be able to host a large-scale music festival which embodies the diversity of the Caribbean region.
