- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: REGGAE STAR SHAGGY TOURS SOUTH AFRICA
- Date: 3rd November 2001
- Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA. (3 NOVEMBER 2001) (REUTERS) SCU SOUNDBITE (English) SHAGGY SAYING: 'Of course awards are great you know because of the simple fact that you are awarded by your peers you know, in recognition of the body of work that you deliver. But in a lot of instances they can be unfair so I don't dwell on them. You know, for instance in the M-TV award in America, we are never even, we are not invited at all. And there are people in the M-TV awards in America that sold a fraction of the amount of records that I sold. And were totally involved in the show. Which I thought was a big injustice - not just to me but just to the genre of music which I represent. '
- Embargoed: 18th November 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVA4QIESNN0XLU4VB7UPM2HC7M38
- Story Text: Call him Mr Lover Lover, or Mr Bombastic, or just plain old Shaggy, the self proclaimed king of the dancehall is on a roll, enjoying chart success like never before. Reuters caught up with the Jamaican born reggae star in South Africa where he has just wrapped up a three city tour.
Performing in South Africa's major cities Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, Shaggy offered his fans a set that included a selection of his most popular hits over the years.
Before a packed house at Johannesburg's 'Dome' stadium Shaggy had the audience of thousands partying well into the night.
The Jamaican musician is no stranger to South African audiences. This is his third trip to the country and hopefully not his last.
'Hearing that I am going back to Africa to South Africa especially is overwhelming. I've been here since 1993 when I came with 'Oh Carolina' and then I've been back since 'Bombastic' and I'm here again with 'Hotshot',' he told journalists in media interviews organised around his tour.
'I hope to come back and make many more visits because it's an audience that is my type of audience. Just like we were in Durban the other night and we were supposed to do forty-five minutes and we did probably about an hour and a half or an hour and twenty minutes or somewhere around there because the reception from the audience is just overwhelming. I like an energetic audience and the Africans just know how to party', he said.
Born Orville Richard Burrell in Kingston, Jamaica in 1968 Shaggy acquired his nickname -- after the hippy in Scooby Doo while still at school.
One of his most popular tracks to date is 'Luv Me, Luv Me' scored as part of the soundtrack for the film 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back,' which was filmed on location in his home country.
A former US Marine who ended up serving on the frontlines of Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War, Shaggy - popularly known as Mr Lover Lover -- has come under criticism for portraying women as sex objects.
'I celebrate women. I think women are the most beautiful thing in this world', Shaggy said defending the use of sexy, half naked women in his music video clips.
'You'll never see me say anything derogatory about women. Take for instance a song and a lot of people misunderstand this song. There was a school in America that banned the playing of ''It wasn't me' in the school bus on the radio station. That angered the radio station and they actually played it more. So it was not smart for this school to do that, ' the music star explained.
The moral of the song is - and I tried to explain it I said when asked about it - I said you know the heads of the school - the school board should actually hold a meeting in the auditorium and invite all the children and basically talk about 'It wasn't me'. And play it for them over and over because this song basically teaches them that infidelity is wrong', Shaggy said of his latest hit 'It Wasn't Me', off the Hot Shot album which was released just last year.
'That's what the song is saying. Because it's a story between Rick Rock and Shaggy - me saying that you should say it wasn't you. Him saying you're an idiot if you say it wasn't you. Because at the end of the song it says it sums it up: I'm gonna tell her that I am sorry for the pain that I caused. You may think that you're a player you're completely lost. Simply means - hey the bad guy didn't win in this story' he added.
Part of Hot Shot's success has been attributed to the collaboration work Shaggy did on the album with artists like Raven and Rick Rock.
'We just always have a chemistry and you know in some point I always thought that Shaggy was Shaggy and Raven so it's good to see that we are still together in this harmony', Shaggy said of the partnership.
Shaggy's long time protégés will release their own albums later this year or early next year.
'He's got a new album coming out right now. That we're very much involved in. I have my new record label which is Big Yard Music which is also distributed through Universal Records. And we are putting the new Raven album out and it will be a worldwide release as well as the Rick Rock album - Prince Midas and a couple of other acts on the label.' Despite his current success Shaggy has had some rough patches in his music career. The failure of 'Midnight Lover " resulted in his parting ways with Virgin Records.
'The break between 'Midnight Lover' which was the album that was not successful and 'Hot Shot' was not my fault. I was dropped from my record company . I had no way of putting my music out so I basically had to shop for a new deal.' Shaggy is now signed under the Universal Records label and hopes that despite the difficulties of the past - he'll continue to turn out chart topping tracks like 'Luv Me, Luv Me', while pushing for his kind of reggae dancehall music to be acknowledged and respected within the music business.
'Of course awards are great you know because of the simple fact that you are awarded by your peers you know, in recognition of the body of work that you deliver. But in a lot of instances they can be unfair so I don't dwell on them. You know, for instance in the MTV award in America, we are never even, we are not invited at all. And there are people in the M-TV awards in America that sold a fraction of the amount of records that I sold. And were totally involved in the show. Which I thought was a big injustice - not just to me but just to the genre of music which I represent.' ----ENDS--- - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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