Jamaican- American, raggae- dancehall star, Shaggy recently released his song Boom Body with Akon and Aidonia. Shaggy who began his career in the 90s, speaking about what connects him to the young audience says, “I keep my finger on the pulse of things. Music is my only job. I’m not interested in many other things. I may dabble into things here and there but I like what music represents to culture. Part of staying cool and fresh comes from the cultural shift that music crates.”
Shaggy has been touring India since the 90s, “From the time Mumbai was Bombay,” he says. He adds, “The food is always a big part of my visits, I’ve had some of the best curries in the world. I’ve always had a great time in India. The big part has been going to Indian weddings, I’ve performed at quite a few. You guys have some of the most elaborate weddings I’ve seen but the crazy part is getting to the wedding. I’ve never seen traffic like that while going to weddings and I don’t know how there aren’t accidents. The craziest driving I’ve seen in the world is in India, no country in the world can top that.”
Shaggy recounts that his son Robb Banks was recently in India as part of the lineup at Rolling Loud that made its debut in Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar. He says, “He put on the long shirt that males wear (kurta). He wore it on stage and rocked it. He really indulged in the country’s culture and I love that about him. He’s always doing crazy stuff.”
Shaggy says being an independent artiste, he may not have massive budgets but it also has its own advantages. He says, “Being an independent artiste I can move at my own pace. Some artistes get caught in their own legacy, where they are scared to put out music based on what they have done before. Im the opposite. You look at any huge artiste and they have more flops than hits but noone is remembered for their flops. The minute you give a hit it erases every flop you’ve had.”
Though he has sucessfully stayed relevant over several decades, Shaggy adds that he has no illusions about creating a legacy. “My kids dont know who Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley is. They may know Bob Marley, being Jamaican that’s part of the culture but eventually everything fades.” He adds that rather than following trends he has always focused on creating songs that the local DJ can play and ensure people have a good time dancing.
Moving on to his next album Lottery, he says, “It comes out in March. Expect songs with Robin Thicke, Anthony Hamilton, Sting and many other artistes.” He adds that collaborations with artistes like Akon only takes them one listen to know which track will be a banger.
