Dancehall superstar's new album celebrates women

• No question what he's got on his mind

By Chris Jordan
Home News Tribune

Shaggy has more on his mind than the lyrics for his next song. As an ex-Marine, he has a few opinions about America's role in Iraq. Gannett News Service

Nope, that's not the title of a Vassar College women's studies term paper.

It's a line from a new song called "Strength Of A Woman" by dancehall reggae superstar Shaggy. Women get big ups on his new album, "Lucky Day."

"Look at everything around the world regarding reproduction," said Shaggy, in his buzz saw baritone voice. "Everything you say, take for instance 'Mother Nature,' it always indicates it's a woman. You figure from plants to humans, all the way down, everybody has to reproduce.

"Man can't reproduce, so how can we be God? Think about that ... it's a question. It doesn't necessarily give an answer."

Tracks like "Full Control," featuring singer Barrington Levy, and "Strength Of A Woman," celebrate strong, independent-minded women.

"There are those women who degrade the name of women, and there are men who degrade the name of women," Shaggy said. "But for the most part, we can't live without them. It's a wonderful situation, their mere existence, and I wanted to celebrate that."

And give the fellas a few pointers.

"Lovemaking should be fun," offers Shaggy in the track "Lucky Day." "The ladies should be satisfied before you're up and done."

"Lucky Day," released Oct. 29, moves a step or two away from the pure reggae pop of Shaggy's 2000 breakthrough "Hot Shot" and toward a rawer, more dancehall sound. There are fewer recognizable samples as compared to past work, and the melodies aren't as blatant.

"The pop market is a very fickle market, and that's why for me to go into the teeny-pop, TRL (MTV's Total Request Live) mode, it's not really for me," Shaggy said. "I want some credibility. I want to build a fan base, I want people to like my albums even more so than singles."

Singles like "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel" from the "Hot Shot" album.

That album was an effervescent and edgy mixing of reggae, R&B and pop that put the performer — and dancehall reggae — into another stratosphere, thanks to more than 10 million copies sold.

But before he became the king of the dancehall, Shaggy, born Orville Richard Burrell in Jamaica, was a U.S. Marine who found himself in the thick of battle and covered in soot from Kuwait's burning oil fields during the Persian Gulf War.

He's not sure we should make a return visit.

"I'm kind of twisted as far as, is it a fight against terrorism or a vendetta?" Shaggy said. "Bush made statement on national TV, 'Yeah, this is the man who tried to kill my dad.' Is that what it's about?

"I don't think it's wise to go in there without the support of the international community," Shaggy said. "I don't think the country should sit there and play police or play God, so to speak."

No question what he's got on his mind

"Lucky Day," Shaggy; MCA

Shaggy makes few claims of seriousness. Marley is rarely on the mind of this modern reggae singer, whose specialty remains the sort of sticky rhymes on sex and manhood that helped propel 2000's "Hotshot" album to sales of more than 6 million in the United States. So his new album is more playful than deep, fueled by mischievous charm and sultry visions.

"It takes a real man to make a woman complete," he sings early on, demonstrating as much amid the female moans of ecstasy and electronic riffs of "Hookie Jookie." Soon enough Chaka Khan herself is joining Shaggy on the devious hip-hop soul of "Get My Party On."

Aside from the sex talk, Shaggy still finds a few moments of spiritual uplift on "Full Control," a duet with reggae veteran Barrington Levy.