Shaggy |
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Wed. October 30.2002 4:34 PM EST |
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Shaggys Lucky CharmHit-making reggae rapper talks anonymity and orgasms. by C. Bottomley |
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Shaggy (VH1.com) |
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I dont dig filler, says Shaggy. Every song must have a meaning. Every song must be listenable. Nice theory. But some songs are more listenable than others, and the Jamaican-born MC realized that in 2000, when a Hawaiian disc jockey rummaged
The new Lucky Day finds Shaggy trying to prove that, even in spite of hit singles like Oh Carolina and Angel, hes no novelty. He makes a convincing case. Lucky Day is filled with irresistible hooks, like the one that drives the Spaghetti Western theatrics of Hey Sexy Lady. Party jams such as Shake Shake are balanced by thoughtful material like Strength of a Woman, which might be the first time a toaster has fronted a string section. Fans that lapped up the bawdy It Wasnt Me, will be pleased to know that the disc also has its fair share of salty schoolyard humor, particularly These Are the Lips. Which one of these tunes will be the airwaves-choking track that will follow you everywhere for the next several months? Shaggy figures the radio DJs will pick the hits like they did last time, and that the ladies who love his music will once again be swaying in place and singing every word. He talked to VH1 about being the dancehall star nobody knows, the females in his life, and why men always think with the wrong head. VH1: You sold 10 million copies of Hot Shot. Did you ever imagine that to be possible? Shaggy: I never expected to sell 500,000 copies of a record, much less 10 million! N Sync and Britney Spears sell those kinds of numbers, but they have a huge marketing machine. Theyre on milk cartons, you know? Im selling 10 million records and I cant even get on the front cover of a magazine. I thought, I must be making some damn good music! VH1: But even if youre not on TV, your voice is instantly recognizable. Shaggy: Its a signature sound. A lot of people, especially females, are drawn to the vocals, and the fact that I always sing tongue-in-cheek borderline sexy lyrics. Thats because Im a sexual person. I think women are beautiful - all shapes, all colors, all sizes. I love sex. I put that whole vibe on a record. VH1: Have any babies been conceived to It Wasnt Me? Shaggy: No one has said it to me personally, but its no secret that I make make baby music. Im warning the ladies - Lucky Day is 14 tracks of orgasmic pleasure. They got to watch out. You might listen to this record and get pregnant. Its that kind of a vibe to it. VH1: What music do you put on when you want to get it on? Shaggy: I like the old stuff. There used to be great love songs - stuff made by guys like Lionel Richie and Smokey Robinson. Theres not a new act out there that moves me like that. Im not gonna try to bang some chick to Metallica! [Laughs.] VH1: So you dont listen to your own music while youre making woo? Shaggy: Nah! Thats eerie! VH1: Youve described Lucky Day as pro-woman. Who are the women that made a difference in your life? Shaggy: Im from a single parent family. My mom struggled and came to the United States and never forgot her one son. Shes one of those old school Jamaican moms - you get a boot to your ass if you dont do something. But she did that out of love. The mother of my children has been a great inspiration. Even though were not together, she could have brought a lot of bitterness to it and she didnt. Lord knows I wasnt the nicest of guys. I was cheating and doing all kinds of things. For her to sit through all of that and still hold her head up was good for me. When I see my two boys today, theyre pro-Shaggy - Im feeling that! The female Im with now is also an inspiration, because she came into my life when I had been dropped from Virgin. I was going through a lot of problems, and she helped me. VH1: Does your mom listen to your records? Shaggy: Shes a big fan. She was one of the reasons I dont cuss on my records or do songs that are derogatory to women. Its always done in a fun way, and my mom is always with that. VH1: She never says, You got a little too freaky on this track? Shaggy: No. My mom tells the dirtiest jokes you can think of. She had a dinner party for me and brought out this bottle of liquor called Hot Sex. She says, Now were gonna get rowdy on Hot Sex! VH1: Youve been accused of writing sexist lyrics, yet women adore your music. Whats wrong with that picture? Shaggy: Theyre not sexist at all. When issues came up with It Wasnt Me, I said, Has anyone ever listened to this record? At the end of the record, RikRok, who is the one who got caught [cheating], says, Im gonna tell her Im sorry for the pain that Ive caused/ You may think that youre a playa but youre probably lost. Were not condoning cheating on your chick! It might be the playa thing to do but we know what happens to all playa, they always end up getting played! VH1: Is the Lucky Day song These Are the Lips a sequel to It Wasnt Me? Shaggy: It is. Im still giving RikRok advice. He says, I dont know if I should ask my wife to go down, because it dont feel right. She kissed my kids goodnight! Im like, If you dont want to give Miss Lady at home the freaky-deaky, shell go to somebody else. Youre not going to be happy knowing that somebody else is freaking your chick like that. Them lips that kissing your kid tonight might be kissing somebody else! [Watch Clip] VH1: Why cant men stay faithful? Shaggy: I have a song about that. It says: Got caught with my girls best friend/ Never stop - got busted again/ Seems like Im never gonna win/ When it comes to the settle down thing/ Because we always think with the wrong head/ Laying in the wrong bed/ Caught in the wrong web/ Im busted! Its as simple as that! You think with your d*ck! Ive had situations where Ive had a one-night stand and the minute I get that nut off, Id be saying, Why did I do that? Its like premature ejaculation. Ive done it long enough to learn how to control my thing. The older you get, the better you are. Its like fine wine! [Watch Clip] VH1: You end with the pro-tolerance song Walking in My Shoes, which after the conversation weve just had, may be a side to Shaggy we havent heard before. Shaggy: My mom used to work at a hospital. Shes very outspoken and has a very heavy Jamaican accent. Bookwise, she aces things; shes brilliant like that. She was good at what she did, so she would train people [at the hospitals] for positions higher than hers! I was like, Thats stupid. She said, Yeah, but the minute they hear your accent, they automatically think that youre not as smart as them. I thought she was just being miserable, until someone asked me for my email address and said, Do you have computers in Jamaica? I was like, Whoa! Where the hell do you think I live? It made me realize that because Im Jamaican and have this accent you think that were primitive. Thats what Walking in My Shoes is about. You dont know me, to judge me like that. This coconut may be smarter than you! VH1: Who are the dancehall artists that influenced you? Shaggy: Supercat was a big influence. Josey Wales was a big influence. Shabba Ranks - big influence. Buju Banton, U-Roy & all these people are great influences on me. When I see Bounty Killer, Beanie Man or Elephant Man onstage and theyre rocking it, I want to get back in there. But the minute that I start doing it, I get bored. Ive already done it. There was a time when I was the top dancehall artist on the streets. I had hit records like Big Up, and it got me nowhere. I see a bigger picture that I want to achieve. [Watch Clip] VH1: Growing up in Jamaica, which sound system [DJ party] would you never want to miss out on seeing? Shaggy: You go to a Stone Love dance because theres drama. Kilimanjaro was a big sound system, or Silver Hawk, back in the day. I was such a dancehall fan I would be at any one of them. Im like that! Im in the holes! In the dungeons! Now I cant go into a dance and have fun now. Everybody wants to be around you. Its not like when I was in the corner and chilling by the speaker boxes with my friend. A case of Heineken, a spliff and I was all right. For news, bio, songs, CDs, and more go to the Shaggy Artist A-Z pages. |
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