Being a part of the line-up at The Lost In Time Festival at Hope Gardens in St Andrew on Saturday means the world to rising star Tessellated.

“Yuh know seh one a di things I love most about Jamaican music is the community. Protoje is putting on this festival and he’s bringing in all the homies, all the collaborators — he’s a big supporter of mine and he has been for a long time, so it’s a blessing to share the joys with everybody,” he told the Jamaica Observer shortly after his set.

Tessellated, whose given name is Joshua Meeks, shot to fame in 2017 when he teamed with Amindi K Frost and Valleyz on the hit song Pine and Ginger.

In 2020, he signed a publishing deal with Sony Music Publishing. His 2016 recording I Learnt Some Jazz Today (re-released in 2019) topped Billboard‘s Smooth Jazz Songs chart. The song was later featured in the Apple AirPods commercial Bounce and was nominated for a US Prime Time Emmy Award that year.

In the same breath, Tessellated said he has no qualms with the evolution of reggae music thanks to the experimentation with different sounds.

“I think every genre evolves. It’s necessary and I think it’s a great thing to see unfold. Reggae music came from something else and will grow into something else. There was 90s hip hop, 2000s hip hop and new hip hop right now. It’s amazing to see how my generation is changing the sound and bringing it forward,” he said.

The singer gave a memorable set which resonated with the predominantly millennium and Generation Z audience. He also invited new comer Ninecea on stage to perform his popular track Party Time.

Tessellated further said that he will be releasing a slew of fresh music this year.

“A bunch of new music is coming out ASAP and I have a project coming this year. Within the next month, I’ll be releasing some new music,” he said.