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Shaggy (musician)

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Shaggy

Orville Richard Burrell (born October 22, 1968 Kingston, Jamaica), better known by his stage name Shaggy, is a Jamaican-American reggae singer & rapper. He is perhaps best known for his 1995 single "Boombastic" and 2000 single "It Wasn't Me". He has been noted as having a baritone-range singing voice, and he is easily identifiable by his trademark slurred way of rapping and singing. It is said to have taken his nickname from his "shaggy" hair. He is the second reggae artist and the only dancehall artist to receive a Diamond Certification for his 2001 album Hot Shot denoting for worldwide sales of more than 10 million copies. 6 million of those copies were sold in the United States.[1][2][3][4]

Early life

At the age of 18 his family moved to the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, New York from Jamaica.[5] In 1987, he took singing courses in Brooklyn and was discovered a year later, while singing in the streets with friends. In 1988, he joined the United States Marine Corps as a Field Artillery Cannon Crewman with 5th Battalion 10th Marines. While enlisted in the Marines he served during Operation Desert Storm during the Persian Gulf War. It was during this time that Shaggy perfected his signature singing voice, breaking the constant monotony of running and marching cadences with his flair for inflection. It is also where he got the inspiration for his song "Boombastic."[citation needed]

Music career

1990-2000

Upon his return from the Persian Gulf, he decided to pursue his music career and his first hit in 1993: "Oh Carolina", was a dancehall re-make of a ska hit by the Folkes Brothers, which appeared in the film Sliver.[5] The same year, Shaggy appeared on Kenny Dope's hip hop album "The Unreleased Project". He worked together with producers such as Sting International, Don One, Lloyd 'Spiderman' Campbell and Robert Livingston. He had further big hits, including "Boombastic" in 1995,[5] the theme tune of a popular Levi's commercial.

2000-2005

He then had a major comeback in 2001, with big hit album Hot Shot, which went diamond. The album featured worldwide number-one hit singles "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel", the latter of which was built around two song samples - Merrilee Rush's 1968 hit "Angel of the Morning" (which was remade in 1981 by Juice Newton), and The Steve Miller Band's 1973 hit "The Joker". The album hit number one on the Billboard 200 and UK albums chart.[5] However, his 2002 release Lucky Day, and the 2005 album Clothes Drop,, failed to match Hot Shot's success, although Lucky Day still went gold.[5] The albums, however, found success in Europe, especially with heavy airplay for the single Hey Sexy Lady. Shaggy remade the Scooby-Doo theme song on the soundtrack entitled "Shaggy, Where Are You?". Shaggy also recorded the theme for Showtime, a 2002 movie. Shaggy's last top 40 single in the US was Angel from the album Hotshot.

2005-2010

Following the release of Clothes Drop, Shaggy began to increase his number of live performances. In March 2007, he performed the official song of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, entitled "The Game of Love and Unity", alongside Bajan entertainer Rupee and Trinidadian soca artiste Fay-Ann Lyons, at the opening ceremony of the tournament, held at The Greenfield Stadium, Trelawny, Jamaica. Later that year, he left Universal and released his latest album, Intoxication under his own label, Big Yard Records, with distribution rights by VP Records. In August 2007, he joined Cyndi Lauper live on stage in Singapore for the Sonnet Music Festival, where they performed "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" together. In October 2007, he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Distinction for the rank of Commander.[6] In January 2008, he completed a six-date arena tour with Belgain singer Natalia. He later performed with band En Vogue in Antwerp, to a crowd of 78,000 people. In April 2008, Shaggy was chosen to record the official anthem for the Mascots (Trix and Flix) of the Euro 2008 football tournament held in Austria and Switzerland. The song, "Feel The Rush", topped charts in most of Europe. In June 2008, a live DVD of his concert material was released under the name "Shaggy - Live". In July 2008, he appeared on VH1's "I Love The New Millenium", talking about his video "It Wasn't Me". In August 2008, he performed live at the Dar es salaam festival[7], to mark the Zain Global Brand launch in Tanzania. The concert was held at the Leaders Club in the city of Dar es Salaam. In December 2008, Intoxication was nominated for Best Reggae Album at the 51st Grammy Awards. In May 2009, Shaggy performed at the closing ceremony of the 2009 IPL tournament held in South Africa. He also performed at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in the same month, held in Bangalore, India. In August 2009, he performed live at the Ottawa Reggae Festival in Ottawa, Canada. Here he revealed plans for a new single, "Fading Away", which featured Kevin Rudolf and Lil Jon. He later cancelled this release in favour of "Fly High", a track featuring Gary Pine, which was released on December 5. Shaggy was also invited to perform at the "Festival Creole", a festival held every year from November 28 to December 6 in Mauritius Island. In January 2010, "Rise Again", a track featuring Sean Paul, Sean Kingston, Alison Hinds, Shontelle Layne, Edwin Yearwood, Destra Garcia, David Rudder, KesDieffenthaller, Tessanne Chin, Etana & Belo, was released to support victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake which struck on January 12. His collaboration with the Balkan group Sahara (consisting of the Romanian singer Costi Ioniţă and the Bulgarian singer Andrea) and French House DJ Bob Sinclar on a track entitled "I Wanna" was a commmercial success, released as a single in March 2010 throughout Europe. Shaggy later performed the track several times during Miami's Winter Music Conference in April 2010. In May 2010 he once again performed before Cricket Audiences at the ICC T20 World Championships, also providing between play performances. On July 17, 2010, he performed at the Party FM Meja Jam Concert in Country Fair Entertainment Park, Medford, N.Y. Later that month, he recorded the song "Target" with Japanese reggae singer lecca, which was released on her album, "パワーバタフライ" (Power Butterfly).

2011-Present

In 2011, it was announced that Shaggy would release his first new album in four years. Preceded by the single "Champagne", featuring Sahara, the album was released digitally on January 19, 2011. Entitled Shaggy & Friends, the album features many collaborations, including songs with his long-time collaborators Rik Rok and Rayvon. A physical release of the album is expected on June 6, 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Year Nominated work Award Result
1996 Boombastic Best Reggae Album Won
2002 "It Wasn't Me" feat. rik rok Best Pop Collaboration with Vocal Nominated
2006 Clothes Drop Best Reggae Album Nominated
2008 Intoxication Best Reggae Album Nominated

American Music Awards

Year Nominated work Award Result
2002 Shaggy Favorite Male Pop/Rock Artist Nominated
2002 Shaggy Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist Nominated
2002 Shaggy Favorite Internet Artist of the Year Nominated

References

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