Tarrus Riley gives ‘Heartbreak Anniversary’ new groove
With over 200 million views on YouTube, Giveon’s Heartbreak Anniversary is easily one of the biggest hits in recent music history.
And now the R&B track has a new reggae flavour, thanks to singer Tarrus Riley.
“Most a di time (during the pandemic) we indoors and not travelling and so we a listen more music. I get fi hear more stuff and that song really stood out. It nice,” he said. “I am a songwriter and I can spot a good song when I hear it. The lyrics and the melody nice and I tried to be authentic in my re-creation of this song like in everything else I do. I just really checked for the melody and the lyrics as I said, but I know that when you sing a song you also want to be yourself.”
He added: “I want when the man who make the song hear it and realise say respect and thought and effort went into it. As a man weh write songs too, when I hear people sing my song, mi like fi know say dem put fi dem likkle vibe to it.” Riley said his version was a gift, particularly to his female fan base.
“I think reggae make music sound soulful. There’s something about reggae music and the riddim that just makes it a musical treat for the people. This song is a gift especially for the ladies,” he said. Speaking of the ladies, Riley has been attracting more attention from his female audience in recent times. With the release of songs like Lighter, EZ Nuh and Just Like That, the singer’s sexy side has become a lot more evident. But, according to Riley, embracing his sex appeal is nothing strange.
“I have always been interjecting likkle things about how love is important. I am a lover, not a fighter. I wouldn’t call myself ‘Sexy Ras’ cuz mi nah put sexiness before Rasta. Mi prefer the girl dem say da Rasta deh sexy,” he said with a laugh. Riley called his sultry tracks “love expressions”.
“I won’t gwaan like mi a dis big sex symbol, I have bredren in the music that can do that well. But we sing songs about lovemaking and den a next time we sing about the culture. One main thing the songs always ooze is quality,” he said.