Vidol Pierce, The artist with a unique gift of fusion

BY SYDNEE WALCOTT

As it’s well known, fusion music is a blend of different genres to create one new genre. Popular examples include: rock and roll (a fusion of gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues and country music); reggae (a fusion of rhythm and blues, calypso, blues, ska, world music and jazz), house (a fusion of funk, soul, disco, dub, synth-pop and jazz) R&B (a fusion of jazz, blues, gospel and soul), and pop (a fusion of rock and roll, R&B, hip hop, dance, jazz, electronic and folk music).

There’s a plethora of artists we have to thank for successfully creating new fusions of music for us to enjoy. Another artist we can add to this list is Vidol Pierce, who professionally goes by Vidol.

Coming from a Jamaican family, Vidol is a Toronto-based artist who is doing what he loves. He uses his Caribbean roots and his passion for music to create another new music fusion.

Growing up, both Vidol’s parents introduced him to a world of genres. His mother introduced him to gospel, interpretive dancing, and reggae. His father introduced him to some of the same genres along with music from the 50s, dancehall, hip hop and roots. He also grew up watching Much Music. Ultimately, music was a space for himself. Vidol grew up in a busy house and loved being able to just put on his headphones and wither away on an escape to the music he listened to.

Vidol always wanted to entertain in some sort of way. As a kid, he would dance like the late Michael Jackson, or Usher. However, with his words and music, he kept things to himself inside. It wasn’t until his early college years when a friend encouraged him to make music. After writing a couple of songs, Vidol realized it gave him a much needed relief to express things out loud. “It always felt right to keep going and experiencing that,” said Vidol.

“It always felt right to keep going and experiencing that.”

Making a dream a reality requires steps, and there were countless steps Vidol took to bring his singing career to life. Already having relatives and friends who also made music, Vidol sought help from them and networked with others to attach himself to them and learn what he needed in order to succeed. Early in his career, he partnered with a couple of friends, and they created a little studio for them to record their music in. Having that space was well-needed for Vidol because it gave him a space to learn and grow as an artist. He aims to work with people who are involved in his journey, or just want to be involved. Throughout an artist’s journey, Vidol values sticking with a team that wants to be part of that journey by watching the artist continue to grow and be truthful to help ensure the artist can succeed the best way they can.

While listening to Vidol’s music, one thing listeners can discover is a touch of the role his Caribbean heritage plays in the music he makes. When he creates, or hears melodies, or has production ideas, Caribbean grooves, bounces and rhythms are the first to come to mind for Vidol. Sometimes, he’ll also incorporate patois into his music.

With the use of patois and rhythm and grooves with Caribbean roots, Vidol likes to include the aforementioned in his music to help inspire listeners to connect to their Caribbean roots. Through his branding and image as well, he will often style his hair in certain styles that stem from the Caribbean. When shooting a music video, he will incorporate certain environments that are often used in music videos for dancehall songs.

Currently, a majority of Vidol’s music milestones come from streaming. In 2023, he released a project on Spotify that received up to 400,000 streams with one song alone receiving 200,000 streams. Seeing that some of his streams are global and his music is being played consistently, he’s happy to know he is getting noticed. Along with achieving streams on Spotify, Vidol also took to the stage at TDOT Fest, Toronto’s biggest annual summer festival, as a performer.

Vidol’s most recent single, “Your Luv,” is a song filled with a fusion of: R&B, reggae, house, and pop elements. Vidol likes to make his music by often drawing from the variety of genres he likes to listen to. He does not shy away from using at least two genres to experiment and blend the sounds to get the best out of song. The producers he also worked on the song with, Dusani and Felix, are also not afraid to think outside of the box and get creative with different genres. He describes the two as producers who are great at making music, creating songs with: R&B, pop and house elements, and pushing artists.

As his music career continues to grow, there’s a long list of artists Vidol would like to collaborate with. Some of them include Coldplay, Adele, Burna Boy and Don Toliver.

As a Caribbean Canadian artist, Vidol would like to see his career evolve and branch off onto other ventures. He would like to become an arena act and eventually branch over into the film and television industry. He’s always had a liking towards film and television and analyzing and creating stories. Vidol would like to use that aspect to help bring a cinematic feel to his music. Ultimately, he wants to put himself in a position to help his loved ones and give back to the community he grew up in and to the people in a way.