Internationally acclaimed dancehall superstar Shaggy covers the August issue of Canada’s L3 Magazine where he share his thoughts on the negatives of reggae music, reinventing himself and his new album Summer In Kingston.
The “Hot Shot” deejay said he is in the process of reinventing himself.
“At this point in my career I have to reinvent myself because that’s what you do. I have to come with a style that’s organic and credible. Still has to crossover, hence the tone of “Sugarcane”.”
Shaggy, who is widely regarded as dancehall’s most commercially successful artist, told L3 that the negative message in the genre is pushing away corporate involvement.
“We as dancehall [artistes] are not aligning ourselves with the corporate sector. When you have hip-hop artistes such as Lil’ Wayne going on tour, you have Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s and whomever that want to sponsor their tour and be a part of it. Nobody wants to do that for reggae because of the negative overtones, and they don’t want their family products to be involved with that.”
Shaggy said he did Summer In Kingston to show a different side of Jamaica.
“In doing Summer in Kingston, I want to show the other side of [Jamaica]. You can’t have people thinking that when they come to Kingston they’re going to get shot. There has to be a balance!”
Way to go Shaggy, keep reggae alive!