Nathelie Taylor, Gleaner Writer 
SHAGGY
IT'S MIDNIGHT in Brussels, Belgium, and Shaggy wants to sleep. The day has been quite long, the usual, really, where witty lyrics are penned and thousands of excited fans are treated to a thrilling performance. And, he's gonna do it all over again tomorrow.
Sounding rather tired,
his voice husky and low
with imminent sleep, Shaggy graciously allows the The Sunday Gleaner a few minutes of chatter that brings us up to date with what he is up to now. And that is a lot.
Shaggy is presently on a 52-show tour in Europe that will see him performing in places like Holland, Germany and Austria. It's not surprising that he has fans in all these countries; the special touch that he has brought to the dancehall genre is well known and loved all over the globe. Shaggy has, after all, been around for the past 15 years, has seen it all, has done it all and has perfected his own special thing. So much so that he confidently boasts "I am still the man to beat."
Shaggy has been quite successful since he released his first album in 1993, Pure Pleasure, with the still infectious Oh Carolina remake. Since then, he has won a number of awards, including the coveted Grammy and has produced chart toppers with each subsequent album, including Boombastic on Boombastic in 1995, the sensational Rik Rok collaboration It Wasn't Me on Hot Shots in 2000 and heavy hitters like Strength of A Woman and Hey Sexy Lady on his most recent album, Lucky Day, released two years ago.
Yet, at age 36, Shaggy just keeps going and going. It seems he just cannot get enough of music and, to be fair, he seems to simply also cannot stop making hits.
LATEST PROJECTS
Thus the latest projects his European tour and a new album which is expected to drop in March/April 2005. The tour is long and taxing, but Shaggy would have it no other way. "I do music for touring. If you take the touring out of music, I won't want to do it. There's a great rush from a live audience," he said. On this tour, which ends on December 23 (he just may be home for Christmas), he has along with him legendary acts such as James Brown and The Pointer Sisters, in addition to a large orchestra. "I think it's a 30 or 50 piece orchestra. Man, it's huge. It's a very elaborate show. We perform to about 20,000 people nightly. It's wonderful," he said.
The upcoming album is presently nameless, although Clothes Drop is a possible option. A strange name indeed and when pressed for an explanation, all he slyly offers is "You will know why that name when you see it." The album will contain 12 14 songs ranging from culture to gospel to a healthy does of sexiness. The first single is expected by January.
AGAINST THE GRAIN
While he maintains that "It's not the typical dancehall album. I love going against the grain and that is captured on this album," Shaggy has executed the tried and true formula that has helped him garner success with the previous ones working with people he knows and trusts. That list of the privileged includes Chris Roberts, Sly and Robbie and Tony Kelly, none of whom he thought twice about working with. He says about Kelly. "I've been working with him since the Boombastic album, on the Midnight Lover album, on Hot Shots. I've been working with him for years. He's one of the best producers and I just have a chemistry working with him." Kelly has produced about five songs for this new album, including Love Me Up and Repent.
As for artistes, Shaggy admits to preferring new acts against the 'superstars'. "Mi work wid everybody still. Maxi Priest was like the only superstar I've worked with. I tend to work with new acts or I do songs with my brethren dem," he said.
So, how does Mr. Lover Lover think album number 11 will fare against his previous winners? He explains. "Lucky Day, for instance, didn't stand up to Hot Shots in sales. Only about two million copies were sold for Lucky Day, because our record company in New York folded so it did not do so well. But we don't make records to flop. So this new album should do better than Lucky, 'cause we're back on a record company that's functional."
BACK SEAT
For years, Shaggy has been one of Jamaica's most well-known dancehall artistes. Then Sean Paul burst on the scene and it suddenly seemed as if Shaggy took a back seat to Sean's fame. Shaggy, however, does not think Sean's successes have clouded his. "Sean's affected me in a positive way. It's been a battle to get songs in the mainstream. Boombastic in its original form was not accepted into the mainstream and had to be remixed with a Marvin Gaye sample. The same thing with Supercat, Shabba, Capleton etc. Times have changed, where the 'street people' get listened to more and Sean's credited for being in the right place at the right time. Now dancehall is in a good place."
Shaggy has helped put dancehall music in that good place, but insists that the process was a collaborative one. "A lot of people have developed dancehall Shabba, Sly and Robbie, Yellowman, Supercat, Sean. A whole heap a people play dem part. I help put it mainstream as well. We all sold diamonds, which was unprecedented. And we opened a lot of doors. When I signed to Virgin we did videos for US$50,000 $60,000. After Hot Shots, guys like Beenie Man and Sean could bargain for over a million bucks."
