Tessellated Nominated For A Prime Time Emmy Award
Jamaican born music producer and songwriter Tessellated’s hit single I Learnt Some Jazz Today, which was featured in the Apple AirPods commercial Bounce, has been nominated for a Prime Time Emmy Award.
The other commercials in the same category for Outstanding Commercial are Back to School Essentials by Sandy Hook Promise, Before Alexa by Amazon, Groundhog Day by Jeep (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles/FCA) and The Look by P&G. The actor in the Apple Airpods commercial is Mehdi Baki and it was directed by Oscar Hudson.
The 2020 Prime Time Emmy Awards will air on ABC on September 20.
The Los Angeles based singer, created the original version of the tune in 2016 while he was attending college in Orlando, Florida. He produced and recorded the song in just a few hours in one night following the discovery of a sample from Masago, who co-wrote the tune, that served as his inspiration. He redid the tune for Apple in 2019 and added new instrumentation and lyrics.
Tessellated, whose real name is Joshua Meeks, spoke with the Jamaica Observer about the nomination
“I was informed last week by the actor (Baki) who was the main star of the spot. I was just at home relaxing when I got the news,” said Tessellated.
Jah know I got nominated for an Emmy 😭 from doing the music I love even when people never understand it, nuh follow nobody pic.twitter.com/YrmGlgt0bq
— tessellated (@tessellated) July 31, 2020
The young producer said he did not expect to be nominated: “As a musician, an Emmy is not really something that was on my checklist of achievements so it really came as a surprise to be honest.”
He added: “I don’t really make music with the intention of gaining awards or accolades but recognition and support from third parties are always appreciated especially if they can help get my music out to more people,” he continued.
I Learnt Some Jazz Today held the number one spot on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Songs chart in 2019. He also shared that he wasn’t directly involved in the making of the commercial.
“I wasn’t directly involved in the filming of the commercial but it was done in Ukraine. My main recollection was just being alone in my studio working on the production and recording of the song,” he said.
Tessellated, who is 23-years-old, was born in Kingston. He gained attention in 2017 when he teamed with Amindi K Frost and Valleyz on the hit Pine and Ginger. That song put him on the map and to date has accumulated more than 22 million total streams. His career also looks very promising as earlier this year, he signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which is owned by Sony Entertainment.
According to the Observer, his latest single No Ansa features Afrobeats sensation Crayon and is the first single from his upcoming EP Tropics Vol. 1. No Ansa which was co-produced by Tessellated and UK producers Footsteps and Bayo. He also took the time to advise young and upcoming producers and artistes: “Make the best music you can and don’t compromise your vision for anyone.”