Come Fly Wid Reggae Star Shaggy (Part 2 of 3)

Continued from Part One…

Shaggy: I think as you get success, you get less inspired because you’re not forced. So you’ve got to keep the hunger. Which is why I rarely do records with big superstars. Recently I did “Habibi (I Need Your Love)” with Mohombi and Faydee, two unknown guys. I did “Banana” recently. Over a billion streams with Conkarah, an unknown guy. And I did “Go Down Deh” recently with Spice, who’s certainly not a big superstar. And now I have a new record called “Move” with another unknown artist by the name of Lavinia.

And the reason for doing this, it’s not strategic in any way. For one, it’s how inspired I am by these people; Lav, here’s a girl that is really a dancer. She holds a note good, so I’m like, “Okay, but I could make her sound great.” And her voice compliments mine. So that is inspiring to me. When you get people that are in the trenches with you, it’s the inspiration that you get from them that makes you do these things. All I want to do at this point is to stay inspired.

These artists don’t have the same name recognition as you. There have been quite a few singles. At this point, are you focusing on these self contained projects, singles rather than albums?

You know, if I listen to my manager, it’d be like, “You really need to do a Shaggy album because it helps your touring, it ignites your fan base.” You got to understand:, I’m doing Shaggy for the last 30 years. If I’m doing a Shaggy album right now, I have to be saying something. It’s gotta move me. And right now I’m getting most of the inspiration from these people. So I’m looking for the inspiration that is going to make me find something that is special. And to me, if you’re not going to go for greatness, then why do it?

The single “Peligroso,” that also takes things in a little bit of a different direction…

Maffio is a great producer. He does a lot of these Latin artists. He sent me just a beat, and he says, “I’m doing something. Could you give me a verse?” I spit a verse. Sometimes the inspiration will come through, maybe from the track, maybe from a joke, maybe from a person in the room. I take it from anywhere and any place. I don’t have to be in any particular place, you know?

And I’m not the guy that’s like, “Okay, it’s three in the morning. I gotta get up because I’m inspired.” No, I’m not that guy. I go into the studios from seven to ten, and between seven to ten, you’re gonna get the song. Now, the trick is whether I like it or not. I write a lot of shit I don’t like, and I don’t care if anybody else likes it. I make music selfishly.

If you create something you don’t like, do you set it aside with the possibility of using it later?

I’ll finish it even if it’s not moving me, because that’s my work ethic, I was in the military for four years, and I’m just that kind of a guy. It’s very rare that I’ll go back to it, but I have done that before where I go back to something, take a piece of it, or parts of it, or the idea of it, or maybe the subject matter of it and flip it again.

On a good day, I’ll write an average of four songs. I could sit down and knock four of them out. But nobody wants to do that because first of all, it’s boring as fuck. I’m clearly good at it, but I find it the most tedious fucking thing ever. No, I do not enjoy the process.

That’s why I surround myself with a lot of people; it has to be a room full of jokes. Because it is so boring. And you’re just sitting here with your thoughts, and I’m not that guy. I’m a stage guy. I want to be on stage. I will sing the same song 30 times as long as I get 30 different reactions.

I’ve been listening to Come Fly Wid Me: The Sinatra Songbook Inna Reggae Style. It’s an inspired album concept. Those songs sound like they were written to be arranged the way that you do them. Is that something that had been gestating in your mind for a long time?

What if I tell you that is my favorite album that I’ve ever done?

First of all, it was the most challenging thing forever because Sting [this time, the former Police man – ed.] saw something in me that I couldn’t see. We’re on the fjords in Norway and we’re doing the tour in support of our album 44/876 at the time. We had a day off and he’s like, “Let’s get a boat!” We went out there and he’s jumping in this water. It’s freezing! You know, I’m from Jamaica; I’m not gonna jump in that shit. He’s like, “Oh, come jump in, Shaggy.” I’m like, “No, I don’t feel like freezing my ass off.” He’s over there in his little Speedo. And I’m like, “Yo, fuck that.”

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