Institute for Caribbean Studies (ICS)
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Orville Richard Burrell, better known by his stage name Shaggy, is a Jamaican musician, singer, DJ and actor, who scored hits with the songs "Oh Carolina", "Boombastic", "In The Summertime", "It Wasn't Me", and "Angel".
Shaggy enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1988 and obtained the MOS of 0811 (Field Artillery Cannon Crewman). He served with a Field Artillery Battery in the 10th Marine Regiment during the Persian Gulf War. The highest rank he achieved was lance corporal, although he was reduced in rank twice. Shaggy perfected his signature singing voice while he was in the Marine Corps.
Shaggy, who took his stage name from the character Shaggy, from the TV show Scooby-Doo, decided to pursue his music career and his first hit in 1993, "Oh Carolina", was a dancehall re-make of a ska hit by the Folkes Brothers, which appeared in the film Sliver. The same year, Shaggy appeared on Kenny Dope's hip hop album The Unreleased Project. He worked together with producers such as Sting International, Don One, Lloyd 'Spiderman' Campbell, Robert Livingston and Frankie Cutlass on a remix from his Maxi-Single title "Nice and Lovely". He had further big hits, including "Boombastic" in 1995,the theme tune of a popular Levi's commercial, and sang with Maxi Priest on his Top 20 hit from 1996, "That Girl".
In May 2009, Shaggy performed at the closing ceremony of the 2009 IPL tournament held in South Africa. He also performed at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in the same month, held in Bangalore, India. In August 2009, he performed live at the Ottawa Reggae Festival in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Here he revealed plans for a new single, "Fading Away", which featured Kevin Rudolf and Lil Jon. He later cancelled this release in favour of "Fly High", a track featuring Gary Pine, which was released on December 5. Shaggy was also invited to perform at the Festival Creole, a festival held every year from November 28 to December 6 in Mauritius.
In November 2018, Shaggy featured on the title track of Olly Murs' sixth album "You Know I Know". In May 2019, he released the album Wah Gwaan?!
