Despite all his success, Shaggy admits he is still learning to this day.
The international Dancehall superstar says he has learned a lot from platforms such as YouTube.
According to Shaggy, Youtube is an ‘artiste’s best friend,’ as it provides unprecedented access to everything music.
The deejay made the declaration during the recent Jamaica Music Conference panel discussion.
The “Boombastic” star admits that Youtube is his go-to online mecca to watch and learn performance styles.
“Me ah watch a dance weh keep outta Skateland the other day with man like Tenor Saw a clash (back in the 1980s); me a learn at my age right yah now,” he said.
However, the deejay also expressed the importance of keeping up with the times noting that performance styles have changed.
Shaggy went on to compare how he approaches local performances as opposed to international ones. “(On a show overseas) I’ll sing a song to the end. Out here I do the intro, hook and me gone to the next chune. If you think as an artiste you doing a full song, nobody attention span here is past a verse. Me guh to the deejay and seh from you hear, ‘ Mr Lover Lover, mhm, she call me Mr Boombastic‘, just cut the chune,” he said.
Shaggy’s statements were also recently echoed by BBC 1Xtra host Seani B, who implored artiste to make use of the platform. In his opinion, anyone not using the available platforms in this era is doing themselves a great injustice.
Shaggy remains one of Jamaica’s most successful artistes of all time, with a highly decorated career. In 2001 the deejay made history by becoming the only Dancehall artiste to sell 10 million copies of his album “Hot Shot.”
