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Shaggy, who is set to release 'Clothes Drop' in September, in performance at the 'Jamaica Reaches Out' tsunami relief concert at Jamaica House, St. Andrew, in March.Nathelie Taylor, Gleaner Writer
INTERNATIONAL RECORDING artiste Shaggy has gone wild this summer with a hot new album that's sure to make a lot of people's Clothes Drop. Scheduled to be released on September 20, the 14-track album is Shaggy's sixth, but the first for his new label Geffen Records.
Of course, the title has quite steamy connotations. With a couple of the songs devoted to music, fun and the irresistible appeal of women, this album is sexually charged. Stopping for a short chat before his appearance on BET's 106 and Park, 'Mr. Lover Lover' shamelessly admits that "I just wanted a title that was a little provocative. So, basically, the title of the album reflect the tune dem. It's a celebration of women's sexuality and dancehall sexuality. Let's not sugar-coat it; dancehall is sexual, the whole Caribbean culture is sexual. You caan have soca without the wining and yu caan have dancehall without the tongue-in-cheek sexuality."
He mischievously adds "so, y'know, if yu life nah go well and yu husband nah treat yu right, yu just put in Clothes Drop and have yourself an orgasm or an 'eargasm'."
Many seem to be experiencing just such a climatic feeling with Wild 2Nite as this, Shaggy's first single, is now getting regular rotation on MTV and BET in the USA. And, Shaggy expects even better things from the album itself. With undisguised confidence seasoned with his full laugh, Shaggy states "we expect good things from this album. We nuh make album fi flop, y'know. We absolutely want them to do well, so we expect this one to do well."
While that lofty dream may always be at the forefront of the minds of Shaggy's album-producing teams, he does have a track record of fluctuating results. Remarkable hits and disappointing near misses have come to characterise his trail of albums over the years.
Take for instance his fourth album, Hot Shots. Released in 2000, it was a major success, selling a whopping 10 million units internationally. Featuring such hits as the chart-topping It Wasn't Me and Angel, the album was a certified winner and undoubtedly a hard one for him to follow up. And, the 2002 MCA Records-released Lucky Day seemed to have proved this. His fifth album, although featuring major hits like Hey Sexy Lady and Strength of A Woman, paled in comparison while still charting very respectable sales of just a little over 2 million copies worldwide.
Shaggy himself admits that not all his albums have done as well as he had expected or as they could have. Yet he places no blame for his unlucky streaks on the songs themselves. Instead, he attributes his bad breaks to what he calls 'circumstances'.
"Well, dat a no my fault. I would boil dat down to circumstances. It's like 9/11 did happen, or dem shut down di record company or something. Take for instance Lucky Day. Right as we released it them shut down the record company, fire the president and get rid of everybody inna di company. Yet still, we end up selling 2.3 million and end up getting three top 10 records worldwide ... So, at the end of the day, I don't boil it down to the songs dem," he justifies. He emphasises that without the financial and marketing support of a record company, an otherwise good album will not reach its true potential.
SUPPORT
As for the support for Clothes Drop, Shaggy states that he has received that albeit only just recently. "We a get some support so far. It kinda hard inna di beginning, 'cause we go with a song that we neva did a see eye to eye. You know, dem neva really go wid it 'cause it neva sound like wey out deh. So, myself and Robert did haffi just work it wid wi own money until we start to get some sort of a response. Then dem start to see that MTV a add it, BET a add it and one and two other radio stations a add it and then dem start to say 'mek we start jump in now'. So, now, within this week, was the first dem really start to give we some budget and work with we on it," he said.
Shaggy thinks Clothes Drop is the album that will "bridge the gap between dancehall and mainstream." Citing other dancehall artistes, Shabba Ranks and Super Cat, for instance, who produced more acceptable remixes of their dancehall tracks so they could even be considered for the mainstream U.S. market, Shaggy insists that Clothes Drop has managed to maintain the truly authentic feel of dancehall music while still having an appealing crossover element.
"Even when we did Boombastic we couldn't get it in its original form on mainstream radio, so we had to go and put Marvin Gaye under it," he states. "These are the things that we have to do to survive the game. So, now that we've survived the game, now that dancehall in its authentic state has really come to the fore, we're at a point where we have the original authentic dancehall while still maintaining a crossover audience."
As one has come to expect from a Shaggy album, there are a number of collaborations that give Clothes Drop an international flavour. G-Unit's Olivia, for instance, is featured on the current single Wild 2Nite, which the 'boombastic' one quickly asserts is a 'Shaggy kind of dancehall song'. According to the Grammy-winning artiste, Wild 2Nite has "a dancehall flavour with the whole Shaggy twist to it. I mean, you not gonna see a Shaggy track that sound like how a I-Wayne tune or Sean Paul tune or a Elephant Man tune sound. My tune dem a go different. So from you hear it, it's a signature sound. You might a wonder, 'hmm, a wha dat?', but it's cool."
POTENTIAL SINGLES
The focus right now is on Wild 2Nite, so don't expect another single just yet. Nevertheless, Shaggy notes that "there are many potential singles, cause if you listen to any of my album dem mi always try to put as many singles on as possible." Playfully boasting that "my singles are like fine wine, they get better as time go along," Shaggy goes on to explain that "there are so many tracks that have single potential, but we just taking it one step at a time."
Shaggy is treating video production for the other tracks in a similar fashion. He erupts in laughter when asked how soon the next video can be expected, stating "unno just get dis video last week, how unno want more video already? I mean, we believe inna di tune dem still, but we not concentrating on other videos right now."
Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am is a guest on Shut Up and Dance; the PussyCat Dolls' Nicole makes her mark on Supa Hypnotic, while newcomer Natasha Watkins adds her vocals to Ultimatum and Don't Ask Her That. A number of well-known local talents have also contributed to Clothes Drop. Rayvon, who teamed with Shaggy on the hit Angel, is back on Back In The Dayz, while Brian Gold gives of his voice to Would You Be. Noticeably absent, however, is Shaggy's good friend Rik Rok. But, Shaggy quickly affirms that the crooner is still all over the album because "him help me write most of the tunes."
There are a few non-Jamaican producers as well, such as Will.I.Am who produced Shut Up and Dance, Soulshock and Karlin with Supa Hypnotic and Scott Storch on Don't Ask Her That. Local producers Sly and Robbie, Tony Kelly and Robert Livingston are just a few Jamaicans who have also produced tracks on the album.
