We All Remember That It Wasn't Him, But What Is Shaggy Up To Now?
He was the one and only Mr. Bombastic, and he managed to completely sweep the nation with his reggae style that we all loved, but where did Shaggy end up after the early 2000s? Well, first let's take a look at where he started.
Shaggy was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and his real name is actually Orville Richard Burrell. He was raised by a single mother, and at 18 years old, they ended up moving to Brooklyn, New York. It was then that he decided to join the U.S. Marine Corps, which stationed him in North Carolina.
He spent a lot of his time off perfecting his music, and was known to use his days off to drive to New York City to record his songs. He ended up landing a record deal with Virgin Records in 1993, and he released the album Pure Pleasure later that year. Critically his first album didn't do great, receiving mixed reviews across the board.
His second album was released only one year later. It was called Original Doberman, but it still didn't have the success he so desperately desired. His big moment came with his third album Bombastic which fans seemed to love and critics approved of as well. He won a Grammy Award for "Best Reggae Album" and had five singles make it onto the Hot 100 chart.
But then came the time for the real hits. Hot Shot came out in 2000 and it included several songs that you absolutely still know to this day, specifically "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel." It became a number one selling album and ended up going Platinum six times over.
What happened to him after his huge album? It feels like we haven't heard from him since, so where has he been?
Shaggy did actually release a bunch of albums after Hot Shot, it just seems as though none gained as much notoriety. Over the next eleven years he would release seven albums including, Lucky Day, Clothes Drop, Intoxication, Shaggy & Friends, Summer in Kingston, Rise, and Out of Many, One Music.
While his albums may not have the same craze surrounding them, several were nominated for Grammy Awards over the years. But even though he was still producing music, people have managed to forget about him. However that doesn't mean he's not still performing!
He performed at the opening ceremony for a huge cricket tournament in Dubai and then went to the MayJah 2017 Music Festival, but he has actually been spending a lot of his time with his new charity organization.
Shaggy created The Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation which hosts a biennial concert called Shaggy And Friends. He has teamed up with Wyclef Jean, Sting, and many other talented musicians to raise money for the Children's Hospital in Jamaica.
This years concert takes place on January 6th and January 7th, 2018, in Kingston, Jamaica. He has raised millions of dollars for the hospital, with $55 million being donated in 2016 alone! If you want to donate you can check out their Facebook page for details.
So while he may not be making the top of the charts like he used to, he has found an even better way to help people.