Shaggy

Shaggin' with Shaggy
By Troy Schmidt

So you are here with the TV Show, Blind Date (as part of a Singles Party). Have you ever been on a blind date?
No. I’m not that risky. I like to see what the hell I’m dealing with.
What’s your idea of a perfect date?
A chick that is extremely funny. Got to have that personality thing going. Witty. Quick. She can’t be boring at all. Got to look good too! Ain’t with the ugly chicks. I know ugly chicks needs lovin’, but just not by me. That’s all…Somewhat intelligent. Normally I like the dumb chicks, because I like to fool them up. I’m with the intelligent chicks these days. I’ve gotten a little older and little wiser.
Are they turned on by your war record?
Yeah, it kind of helps a little bit. Because I sing these Mr. Lover-Lover songs and “he’s a roughneck too.”
Do you tell them stories like you had Saddam Hussein lined up in your crosshairs and you were about to take him out?
No, but that’s a good one. I should try that next time.
What did you learn in the Gulf War?
The Gulf War was good in terms of shaping my character. The discipline and all of that. But I don’t think it impacted me musically. Certainly in terms of my attitude, my drive, my determination. I got all that. Strict discipline.
Was going off to war scary?
It wasn’t scary going there. It was such a motivation vibe. “Ooo, yeah, let’s kick Saddam’s ass!” It got scary just one time, when there was bombing. It was far off, but just the fact that it was incoming…people were diving for cover.
Think you came back from the war better?
Absolutely. It makes you realize how much you take for granted. How many times do you get up out of your bed and not even make it. I was like, damn, I don’t even have a bed now…How many times have you had your mom’s cooking and you’re like, "eewww, I don’t want to eat that?" You realize how important it all is.
Would you agree that reggae at its root is very upbeat?
Depends on the type of reggae. Certainly there is upbeat reggae, then there is reggae with a more spiritual vibe. Bob Marley, the authentic reggae beat. It comes from ska, rock steady, reggae, dance hall. I think I am first and foremost considered a dance hall and reggae artist, then a pop artist in terms of popular music. My music is more fusion music. I don’t do reggae in its natural form…I have to find my own style…I may be criticized by reggae purists, but at the same time I am respected by reggae purists. For my achievements. For the attention being brought to all Caribbean music.
How is reggae spiritual?
You take a song like “War.” “Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior…Until the colour of a man's skin, is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes, there’ll be war.” There’s a certain amount of spirituality to that. Those are very powerful words. They were actually words written by Emperor Haile Selassie, who is the Emperor of Ethiopia, which is the core of the Rastafarian religion…The core of reggae is very spiritual, very revolutionary. Dance hall is more upbeat…It’s party. That’s the era I’m from.
Do you think a lot of music these days is too angry, too prejudiced, too negative?
I’m not going to knock it, because basically everyone has a right to voice their opinion. There is a market for it. These things bring attention to a lot of things. Things in life we may not want to hear. For instance, racism is there, but we don’t want to hear it at times. It’s alive and well. Prejudice. It’s alive and well. Classism…A lot of these artists, who we look at as “negative,” there is a positive side to them as well. It brings attention, it brings controversy, to a subject that is being ignored. That is what I appreciate about it. I think music tries to get too philosophical, artistic, and forgets about the basic aspect of music…to entertain…When I’m on stage, that’s like any other high I’ve ever experienced. I want to see smiles when I’m up there…I don’t write negative things because I don’t have anything to be negative about. Life has been good to me. For somebody else that has experienced negativity in their life and they want to write about that, I totally respect that. That’s what you lived. That’s what you know. I have experienced good things in life…No matter how bad you have it, there is always someone worse than you.
How has life changed for you having the #1 album?
Funny, I’ve been doing this for 10-12 years, ever since “Oh Carolina,” and I’ve been consistent with the hits—“Boombastic,” “That Girl,” “Luv Me, Luv Me” with Janet. But just four months ago (shakes head), this was on the way out. We put a first single out and it did not react at all. This album came out on the first week with barely 17,000 records. It did not look good. I was doing venues that hold a thousand people and two hundred showed up. It’s amazing how one song can turn it all around for you. People then start loving the whole album, the embodiment of the work…I didn’t have this huge publicity machine behind me. That makes it all the more better tasting.
Plus you beat Jennifer Lopez, who has that publicity machine going. The album, the movie, her husband in the news.
It feels good. And I’m a Jennifer fan, because I love that ass. But at the end of the day, it feels good. A lot of sweat.
If you’re named after a Scooby character, what is your favorite Scooby snack?
I don’t think I have a Scooby snack, but you know who I liked most on Scooby Doo. Scrappy…he was a loud mouth. A ballsy dog…that’s who I see myself as. Biting off things I really can’t chew.
Well you can’t change your name to Scrappy. It's too late.
It’s funny, when the Shaggy name came in, and it was something I did not enjoy very much as a kid, “Shaggy Dog, Shaggy Dog,” then I went to England and learned it meant something else. Now all of sudden when I meet chicks I tell them, “yeah, I’m a shagger.” That’s the new reason for my name, thanks to Austin Powers. “Got my mojo, baby!”
What teacher had a profound influence on you?
There was an art teacher…she was very influential…I was very good at painting, pastels. I could have very easily gotten a scholarship (in art), but I just chose to go into the military. I think she was disappointed in me. I’m sure she’s over that now.
When you have a song you are going to sample, what goes into choosing the right song?
I have a producer, Sting International, who is mainly the person who uses samples. I remember with “Oh Carolina” he had the Peter Gunn riff and the melody started to come to my head. “Boombastic” with Marvin Gaye, he remixed it. I actually chose that sample because I thought Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” had a sexiness, it just worked. It told a great story…Like “Angel in the Morning,” it’s an ironic situation with that song. Who would have thought “Angel in the Morning” with Steve Miller’s “The Joker”? We did it. It just clicked. Sting’s a DJ and from ceiling to floor is all records. He just finds these things…It’s a cool thing to sample. Those songs that are on those records are not available today. Different instruments. The way it’s played. The feel. Some people just can’t recapture that.
If there was a fire in your house, what would you save?
That would be my recording studio. (Laughs) That’s where all the hits are being pumped out right now…It’s funny, “It Wasn’t Me” goes to #1, and in the credit section of Billboard it says the type of console you use. I’m looking at all these songs, they use Eve, SSL, Euphonics, all these huge, half a million dollar boards. And “It Wasn’t Me”…is done on a Yamaha O2R. It’s a $5000 board. It’s not the board or the equipment. It’s the engineer!
What are you reading right now?
I couldn’t tell you what I was reading. It’s kind of a whirlwind right now. USA Today, mostly.
Our Hard Rock motto is “Love All, Serve All.” What does that mean to you?
There is so much to love about life. I feel in life there are no losers. Even when bad things happen to you, it happened for a reason…To love all and serve all, there is so much to love about life. And to serve, your life is not yours. I heard Bob Marley say that his life is for the people. If his life was for him alone, he didn’t want life. There’s something very powerful in those words.