Beyond The Voice: 5 Tunes From Tessanne Chin

Words by Michellee Nelson~

“Bread an buttah” to di worl’!  As you’ve probably heard by now, Jamaica’s darling Tessanne Chin is the season five winner of NBC’s The Voice, after stealing the show week after week with renditions of Whitney Houston’s “I have Nothing,” and other soulful ballads like Emeli Sandè’s “Next to Me” that helped to showcase her range as a vocalist,.

While Tessanne’s voice might have been new to Americans, Jamaicans know her booming alto from yaad where she has been an established singer for some time. In 2006, her single “Hideaway” took off in Jamaica, later appearing on her debut album, In Between Words. Since then Tessanne (or #ChinitaGoodaz and #BlessTess as she was known on Twitter) has added duets with Trinidadian singer Kes and Shaggy, and touring with Jimmy Cliff, to her repertoire. She even sung rock music early on in her career, though it was pop fused with reggae performances like Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” and “Underneath it All” by No Doubt that propelled her to the top spot on The Voice. Tessanne is no stranger to singing competitions either having served as a judge on Digicel’s Rising Stars. We can’t wait to see where Tess goes from here.

Help us Countdown our top 5 moments from the newly crowned winner of “The Voice.” The countdown begins here.

5. “You Got What I Need” feat. DJ Bambino

Tessanne teamed up with DJ Bambino for “You Got What I Need” off the Gyal Season riddim. Chin shows off some of her lyrical chops on this one. Listen and tell us what you think.

4.”By My Side” with Third World 

Tessanne has even recorded with Third World, one of the longest-lived reggae bands of all time. Listen to their collaboration on “By My Side,” a reggae tune with a very classic feel.

3. “Back To My Love”

Off the “I Believe” riddim, “Back to My Love” is another Chin favorite back in Jamaica. Groove to this lover’s rock tune and see why.

2. “Loving You” feat. Kees Dieffenthaller

Doing Reggae music pretty much guarantees the entire Caribbean knows who you are. “Loving you” with Kees from “Kes the Band” put Chin on the map in Trinidad in a major way.

1. “Hideaway”

“Hideaway,” Tessanne’s first hit single in Jamaica, has helped to propel her on the way to household name-status and established her as force in Jamaican popular music. Check out our favorite song by her to date, below.

+1. The Voice Covers – “Underneath It All, Try, Redemption Song”

Her home island might not have been very forgiving if she hadn’t covered at least one Bob Marley song. Chin spread the often quoted message, “emancipate yourselves from mental slavery” with Marley’s “Redemption Song,” and stole the show.

Chin’s introduction to the world stage was ushered in by a memorable performance of Pink’s “Try.” Tessanne got all four judges to turn their chairs for the powerhouse singer, and the rest is history.

She channeled both Lady Saw and Gwen Stefani all in one performance of No Doubt’s “Underneath It All” and brought the Jamaican dancehall to The Voice studios. With pop-infused performances like this that brought the entire audience to its feet, it was clear who the standout contestant was.