Music Scene
A reggae encore for Hawai'i

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Shaggy belts out a tune during a concert at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., in June. Hawai'i gave the reggae star a leg up. Associated Press Shaggy 7:30 p.m. today Pipeline Cafe $25 526-4400

Shaggy is the single-monicker reggae-pop star of "It Wasn't Me," "Summertime" and "Oh, Carolina" fame, whose "Boombastic" CD won a Grammy Award in 1995 for (what else?) Best Reggae Album.

Since then, he's had a love affair with Hawai'i, after his "Hotshot" CD and its former chart-busting hit, "It Wasn't Me," was "discovered" by local DJ Pablo Sato, whose exposure last fall on I-94 generated enough sales and a buzz that ultimately crossed the Pacific and caught the ears and attention of Mainlanders earlier this year.

For once, Hawai'i was ahead of the curve.

Clearly, the track that revitalized Shaggy's career was "It Wasn't Me." For that, Shaggy has a lot of mahalo for his Hawai'i fans.

But Shaggy (real name, Orville Richard Burrell), has been one to watch from the beginning.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, home of reggae, he found his niche in New York. This, after a stint in the U.S. Marines and service on the Persian Gulf front line.

Depending on which story you believe, Shaggy got his handle from his grade school days in Jamaica because of his then-shaggy hairdo. Or he reminds people of the "Scooby Doo" character of the same name.

Because he was deejaying before he was singing reggae, he knew what worked and what didn't on the dance floor. Early on, he was part of the burgeoning New York reggae dance scene, linking up with the top reggae DJ of the Big Apple, Shaun "Sting Int'l" Pizzonia, who remains one of the two producers Shaggy works with these days.

In his early career, he also toured with Maxi Priest, the high priest of reggae from Britain, whose work was both inspirational and influential on Shaggy. Bob Marley and Shabba Ranks also have made an impact on his life.