Will Gittens’ music is an amalgam of his life experiences and travels. His work blends the sounds of spaces he’s visited and lived like Africa and the US but at the day’s end, he is, as David Rudder sang, Trini To the Bone.
His Trinidadian heritage forms a major part of the music he calls Afro Island.
He is set to release his new EP in September called Afro Island I which is mainly a mix of afrobeats and the Caribbean/island sound, he said. Of course, that means, that soca and calypso form an essential part of it.
Gittens, 30, and his brother JR, the sons of Trinidadian singer/songwriter Sterling Gittens, worked together to craft it. There will be six songs on the EP including the singles Magik and Pressure.
He began recording some of the songs in 2019 and throughout the pandemic but began putting more work into it last year.
A press release said, “Each single on the EP is completely different and beautifully combines their time in TT with the years they spent living and travelling all over the states and the African Diaspora. A blend of Spanish, reggaeton, Nigerian and Ghanaian influences can be heard throughout the EP.
“Their Trinidadian background is organically embedded in the music they create with the incorporation of high-energy rhythms and groovy instrumentals, combined with their own multi-cultural influence to produce the final sound.”
[caption id="attachment_971633" align="alignnone" width="681"] Will Gittens says his sound is the evolving sound of soca and calypso. -[/caption]
Gittens studied at the Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts.
He is no stranger to the digital music space having amassed 493,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel and his work got over 50 million views on different streaming platforms.
But his overall aim is to broaden the definition of soca and calypso.
“All of those different flavours are what the Trinidadian sound is. Growing up, having that influence and being there, having the influence of the wider Caribbean like Bob Marley, when I think about the island sound that is what I think about.”
His many followers know him for doing covers of some of the world’s most popular songs today including Adele’s 2021 hit Easy On Me. His own song Zodiac also became a TikTok viral sensation last year.
Gittens’ strong digital and musical presence has led to collaborations with popular US entertainers like John Legend, Trey Songz, Trinidad James, Rick Ross and Ludacris.
At eight, the Gittens family left TT for Nashville, Tennessee. Since then, he has spent time in major US cities such as Atlanta and now, Los Angeles.
He and his brother also wrote for artistes like Tank and Chris Brown through their company JB Entertainment. The release said the production company also did musical collaborations with corporate brands like Disney, Universal Music Group, Pandora, Converse, MTV, and Warner Music Group.
[caption id="attachment_971632" align="alignnone" width="768"] Will Gittens has got over 50 million views on streaming platforms and has 493,000 subscri
