Shaggy, stage name of Orville Richard Burrell, (Kingston, October 22, 1968) is a Jamaican reggae and hip hop singer. He went to live in New York as a teenager, grew up as a DJ and at 18 went to live with his mother in Brooklyn. Born in Jamaica, Shaggy moved to Flatbush, Brooklyn as a teenager and began to get involved in the reggae scene, achieving his first hit on the dance floor with the song "Big Up".
It was by promoting dances in the streets with a soundsystem that Shaggy learned to loosen his tongue to the sound of dancehall. This nickname came because of his thinness, which earned him - while still at school - the nickname Shaggy (original name of Shaggy from Skoobie-Doo).
At age 20, he enlisted in the United States Navy and was sent to Iraq in the Gulf War. While stationed at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, he recorded the song "Oh Carolina" in a small studio in New York, dressed in an American uniform. Despite using an original base from another artist, the Jamaican musician gives all his personal touch by introducing new lyrics and working together with producers such as Sting Intl., Don One, Lloyd ’Spiderman’ Campbell and Robert Livingston.
PROFESSIONAL TRAJECTORY
Shaggy decided to pursue music, and in 1992, with a version of a classic Jamaican song, "Oh Carolina", originally performed by the Folkes Brothers, Shaggy reached the United States and England. The song is an overwhelming success, particularly in England, where the single sells more than 600 thousand copies, playing persistently on several British radio stations, especially on Radio One, a radio station that barely played reggae, during 1993. In addition to his music, his affability and charisma also impress the British, as evidenced by his four consecutive performances on the television program Top of the Pops. Then, a duet on the song "One More Chance" with English reggaeman Maxi Priest, brought him to Brazil, coming to make a brief appearance in his colleague's show at the Hollywood Rock festival. He ended up stealing the night. The success of "Oh Carolina" does not go unnoticed in the eyes of the great Virgin Records, which signs a million-dollar contract with him that includes the recording of the album "Pure Pleasure". In 1993, "Pure Pleasure" was released alongside the hit "Oh Carolina". His biggest moment, however, was yet to come: the album "Boombastic". The eponymous single, the theme of a Levi's commercial, made Shaggy one of the most played artists in 1995, earning him his first platinum record, as well as a Grammy for best reggae album. In 1997, Shaggy released the album "Midnite Lover". In 2000, he returned with the album "Hot Shot", reaching number one on the European and Billboard charts, selling six million copies in just three weeks with tracks such as "Angel", built on Juice Newton's old hit "Angel of the Morning", and using samples from "The Joker", by the Steve Miller Band. Twenty-six weeks later, however, in February 2001, the single "It Wasn’t Me", featuring Ricardo RikRok Ducent, took the album to the top of the chart, surpassing even the Beatles' compilation album 1 (ONE). In 2002, the singer released the album "Lucky Day" with appearances by other artists on some songs, such as Barrington Levy, Brian & Tony Gold, Chaka Khan, Ricardo "Rik Rok", among others. That same year he participated in the soundtrack for the film Scooby-Doo, with the song "Shaggy, Where Are You?" by Atlantic Records. He returned in 2005 with the album "Clothes Drop" featuring Olivia, will.i.am, Fergie, Nicole Scherzinger, among others. On March 11, 2007, Shaggy performed the official song of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, titled "The Game of Love and Unity", at the opening ceremony at Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny, Jamaica. In the same year, he joined Cyndi Lauper in Singapore for the Sonnet Music Festival, singing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". In August 2007, Shaggy's eighth studio album, "Intoxication", was released. The album's first single was "Church Heathen". The second single was "What’s Love", recorded by Konvict Muzik with singer Akon. In 2008, UEFA chose Shaggy to record the official anthem for Euro 2008 mascots Trix and Flix, called "Feel the Rush". But the European federation did not consider this the official song of the tournament, even though it has to do with Euro 2008. On December 4, 2008, "Intoxication" was nominated for the "best reggae album" category at the 51st Grammy Awards.