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 protégés 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 Red Fox 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 and Christopher Birch. 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!!’
