By Richard Johnson—

 Shaggy–

THE growing popularity Shaggy’s latest single, I Need Your Love, is having a ripple effect on some of his previous tracks.

According to iTunes Reggae chart, It Wasn’t Me and Angel, currently hold the top two positions, respectively. Both are from his 2000 album Hot Shot.

Hot Shot was the highest-charting studio album of 2001 on the Billboard Year-End Album Charts, and dethroned The Beatles on Billboard’s 200 album chart in February 2001.

HotShot:albumcover

Bob Marley & the Wailers (Three Little Birds), Matisyahu (One Day) and UB40 (Red Red Wine) complete iTunes top five.

Speaking to the Jamaica Observer from New York yesterday, Shaggy said his latest track is bringing ‘Brand Shaggy’ back to the minds of listeners.

“Some research was done and it was revealed that persons are reconnecting with the Shaggy brand having listened to the new track. This connection is all to the older music. Therefore, it is not surprising that the songs are back on the charts… that’s just how it works and the new song has made it easier,” he said.

He said there was no marketing push on his part.

“It shows that people are still listening to these songs. Both these songs are classics anyway. When we make them, we make them good, so they can be timeless,” he said.

I Need Your Love is currently holding the number 39 spot on the Billboard charts. The track features Australian singer/songwriter Faydee, Romanian singer/songwriter/producer Costi Ioni and Swedish-Congolese artiste Mohombi.

“The track is doing exceptionally well. We were on MTV this week and we are slated to be on the iHeart Pool Party — which is a major event. This puts us in a very good position,” said Shaggy.

Shaggy
Shaggy

He disclosed that the rest of 2015 will be dictated by how well this track does. In the interim, he is looking forward to a tour of Australia later in the year and already has a number of stops booked in Europe during the summer. In addition, his work in the studio continues.

“I just recorded a track with Pitbull yesterday. I did something with Magic! for their album and recording a second track with Charlie Wilson. Plus, there’s a bunch of things in the works which I can’t disclose just now.”

In the meantime, Shaggy is settling into his new record deal with Sony and a new management team which he said was decided on after lengthy discussions.

“We were in discussions with five different companies. Sony was the only one that didn’t want a piece of everything… so we chose them and it’s been good so far,” he added.

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