Giddings’ new single – influenced by the Celine Dion hit, “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now,” – was produced by Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor, and features a guest appearance from Jamaican dancehall vocalist Tiana.
Recent trends have placed Canada at the epicenter of the world’s modern pop-music industry, as the nation has launched a healthy percentage of rock, pop and jazz icons into international stardom. And although Giddings possesses an impressive Canadian music resume – which includes stints as a mainstream television personality, rock music promoter and fashion model – he said it was actually his love of Jamaican music that most influenced the Caribbean style employed on “Back To Me.”
“It was inspired by the ideas, creativity, love and passion of Jamaica that I grew up watching and reading about from afar,” said Giddings. “It was always a dream of mine to spend time in Jamaica, and this song allowed me that opportunity, as I spent most of January of this year shooting the music video for this single in and around Kingston. Of course, I threw a little of my Canadian heritage and inspiration into the song with the feature of some of Celine Dion’s lyrics from her hit, ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now,’ from 1996.”
Giddings’ single was produced in conjunction with McGregor’s new pop skank-riddim style, which has already created buzz within Canada’s mainstream music scene (one of McGregor’s pop-reggae songs recently secured a 2013 JUNO Award nomination). It was precisely this new radio-friendly aspect of McGregor’s pop style that attracted guest singer Tiana to the project.
“The moment I heard this song, I fell in love with the track,” said Tiana. “Right away, I definitely knew I had to give it a smooth reggae vibe, instead of the usual hardcore dancehall style. The lyrics were intentionally written to give you that happy feeling and the desire of wanting to have someone. ‘Back To Me’ will definitely be a favorite among teenagers.”
Born in Langley, British Columbia, Jesse Giddings is a renowned television icon within Canadian pop culture. He was a veejay on the prestigious New.Music.Live program on the MuchMusic Network (Canada’s equivalent of MTV), and was a fashion model for Elite Model Management in Toronto. Giddings has co-hosted the MuchMusic Video Awards, the JUNO Awards FanFare, and was co-host of the X-Factor Pepsi Pre-Show Live alongside 3LW vocalist Adrienne Bailon.
For Giddings, reggae music represents the happiness of the North American beach culture he enjoyed as a youngster. When recording music, he often taps into the waterfront summer-fun aesthetic of his youth, from which his reggae affinities were born.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of reggae music,” said Giddings. “I grew up on the west coast of Canada, spending most of my days at the beach and traveling up and down the American coast surfing, so reggae has always been a part of that culture and my life, and it has influenced me greatly. It has always been my goal to infuse my music with the spirit and vibe of reggae.”
An iTunes preview of Jesse Giddings’ single, “Back To Me,” can be accessed by the link below:
