This artist made people the world over sit up and listen with his release of “Oh Carolina” (1993). He further held their attention with the release of singles like “In The Summertime” and “Boombastic” (1995).
Now, he’s back with his down-to-earth mix of jazz, R&B and reggae in his latest contribution to the world of music, “Hotshot”.
“Luv Me, Luv Me”, heard on the soundtrack of “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”, has a great beat and is sung in Shaggy’s thick, nasal syllables. Drums, guitar and brass combine to create the bonus track “Chica Bonita”; the track is cute, slow and pleasant. It has a typically Caribbean feel to it. The title track has the singer recommending himself to a lover. The drums here are impressive.
In “Lonely Lover”, T-Lo and Shaggy come together to create a listenable track; both rhythm and beat have an appeal for the musical ear. “Dance and Shout” is a song that wakes you up with its fast and heavy drums, and has Shaggy establishing his status as a “love specialist”.
“Angel” is a slow song with simple lyrics. “Hope” has a groovy beat. Finally, “Keep’n It Real” has deep lyrics. With lines like “not everything you want is really what you need”, the song’s message is to keep your chin up and look out for a brighter day.
“Hotshot” would be attractive to lovers of reggae and pop. One drawback, though: Shaggy has compiled quite a few of the songs in this collection with other artists, so much so that he’s lost in the music and myriad voices around him. Wish we could have heard more of him.
This article was first published on 14 Dec 2000.