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January 01, 2007
Dancehall/Pop artiste Shaggy is still on the grind
After one decade, six albums, two of them multi-platinum, five #1 hits, and eleven top ten singles world wide, Grammy winning Big Yard recording artist Shaggy is still on the grind. Making music that celebrates his culture and being an ambassador for Reggae music has always been the driving force in the heart of Jamaica's only living Diamond-plus selling artist.
In the early 1990's Shaggy entered the scene with his deep throaty remix of the Ska classic 'Oh Carolina', the first major Reggae record to come out of the dancehall underground. Soon after, the steady dub rhythm of the platinum selling Boombastic solidified Shaggy as a dancehall hit-maker winning the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.
When Hotshot dropped in 2000 no one could have predicted that this was going to be the album to set Shaggy totally apart from any artist on the dancehall stage. Hotshot, the best-selling album in 2001, sold over 13 million albums world wide and topped the charts in the US, UK, Germany and Australia simultaneously. The album was seven times platinum certified in Canada and six times platinum in the US. Hotshot rocketed to the top of the charts with two phenomenal singles, "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel", which featured Big Yard proteges Rik Rok and Rayvon, respectively.
Fall of 2005 found Shaggy releasing Clothes Drop an album that gave his audience chart topping dancehall singles like "Wild2Nite" and "Ready Fi Di Ride". Steady contributions to the dancehall are what keep Shaggy current. He is one of very few Reggae artists who always have a fresh new record pulsing through the dancehall market. And fall 2006 being no exception, he released one to keep the masses guessing with "Reggae Vibes", a well-received tune that finds Shaggy taking on the role of singing. "Vibes" is the first song to ever feature this famed deejay singing, just more proof that with Shaggy's ingenuity anything is possible.
To date, Shaggy has sold over 20 million albums, but he doesn't take that achievement lightly. Knowing that records are meant to be broken, today we find Shaggy in the studio putting the finishing touches on his eagerly anticipated but still untitled album due in 2007. "Church Heathen" on Big Yard's new Heathen riddim is the hottest new song in heavy rotation on Jamaican radio and in the clubs, and this single is just a taste of what's to come. In his new project Shaggy is going full circle, pulling together the original crew for collaborations that include artists such as Redd Foxx and Screechy Dan, alongside side Rik Rok and the ever-solid Rayvon. For production, the project boasts the creative excellence of Sting International, Robert Livingston, Tony Kelly, Christopher Birch, and Dave Kelly. Working from his strong foundation and always expecting the best, Shaggy is doing his part to make good music, make a difference and prove that the 'world is just one big yard!!'